Reduction of Risks in Prostitution by Legalisation

Prostitution is defined vulgarly by the society as a street walker, a call girl but the dictionary defines it as “the act or practice of engaging in sexual activity for money” (Merriam-Webster). Because sexual activity has always been treated like a taboo topic; hence, we became ignorant about the subject and the lines between prostitution, sexual assault and write slavery are blurred which leaves us with a black and white picture. This trade is largely known in the world and is continuously growing with approximately 40 million prostitutes worldwide. In some countries, such as Germany and Australia, this practice is legal, while in others, such as Canada, laws are in place to prevent prostitution from being practiced (Devin B., 2013). It is largely profitable for the sex trafficking industry, making annually 58 billion dollars a year. The justice system is unfair towards the women in the industry: for every eight prostitutes who get arrested only two johns are (Flowers, Ronald B., 1998). The Us department of Homeland Security defines Sex trafficking as a modern-day slavery that involves the use of force, fraud, or coercion and states that 50,000 to 100,000 women and girls are trafficked each year into the United States. Human trafficking is more widespread than we imagine, thousands of women and children are trafficked either in their country or abroad. Generally, these women or girls are immigrants, from a low class social background, runaway teenagers or prostitutes. And we all can agree that sex trafficking is illegal since it is a corrupt form of exploitation. The government approach toward prostitutes threatens their wellbeing, they are being killed everywhere and still we cannot get the law on their side (Elian P., Emma B., 2018). One way to help women in these situations is to legalize prostitution and regulate the economic logic governing it

All individuals should have a right to economic freedom and to secure an income they are fit with. For example, millions of women choose to be prostitutes for financial reasons, let us be honest, it is a rapid way to make money. In an interview I had with an acquaintance at Chestnut Hill College, she stated that her parents no longer want to support her economically; therefore, she chose this path to take care of herself, and she said “why “working” if you can have free money.” I believe that everyone has a friend who knows someone who engages in sexual activity for a settlement. Prostitution should be allowed to anyone who is willing to do it. An adolescent should be allowed to work as a prostitute if she wants to. It is hypocrite for some states to prosecute adults for having sex with adolescents under the mask of statutory rape. The law argues that people below 16 are too immature to make a decision (child labor act); but the law punishes them when they do mistakes. If they are too immature to make decisions then they should not be punished for whatever they have done.

In sexual matters, consent is a notion that has become paramount. In particular, it makes it possible to distinguish between what is not rape and what falls within it. It is, however, a concept with ill-defined contours, which gives rise to controversy, particularly on the issue of prostitution and on that of sex trafficking with regard to the ethics of sexuality. This paper aims to shed light on the terms of the debate. It first questions the foundations of sexual consent, analyzing the differences or conceptual confusion between desire and will. If these two words, will and desire, are often confused and considered as interchangeable in everyday language, it is necessary to identify the distinctions that make it possible to name two different processes which are different in their founding, and which may even sometimes oppose. So, can we desire something but not want to act on it, which happens commonly in the sexual domain. Does prostitution violate human right or is it a normal job? How do we or can we set the boundaries since there is such a thin layer between the two? Moreover, what is the illegal age where consensual sex still appear as rape?

The legalization of sex work, from my perspective, would undoubtedly decrease the psychological and cultural stress on sex workers. We should not forbid and morally judge what women and consenting citizens do with their own bodies, prostitution is nothing but a profession, meaning it is a regular activity exercised to obtain livelihoods. It is broadly known that everyone comes to the conclusion that prostitution is a disgrace but just like homosexuality, the ones who do not discriminate, don't until their biological children come out. According to the Business Dictionary a “job” is “a task performed by an employee in an exchange for pay, and its criteria consist of duties and tasks that are defined and specific”. Many injustices are done in the work environment such as: show favoritism, unequal pay, gender inequality, sexist comments and still the society perceives these jobs as decent and adequate but for prostitution it is the opposite even if it is a similar job with the same criterion. Not all prostitutes are confronted with violence, but indeed many are. This does not mean that prostitution should be illegal. When a president or secretary of state is stabbed or receives a bullet, no one believes that being a president or a secretary of state should be illegal. Anyone is susceptible to violence and crime.

From another frame of reference, prostitution is a form of exploitation, pimps and traffickers are the real beneficiaries of the trade in the countries that have chosen to legalize it with the situation of prostitutes barely improving. Men from all backgrounds are purchasing on a daily basis sexual acts (Havocscope, 2019), and the practice becomes more extreme where prostitutes become objects of consumption. The women are not protected and sometimes death occurs. It is considered as a physical and psychological violation and I believe that the bodies age faster, damage faster, die faster not only because of the repeated of sexual intercourse but as well as the abuse, addictions and other factors.

The Bulgurs Case

Anyone capable of sexual reproduction should be permitted by law to work as a prostitute if willing. For instance, according to the National Post, on February 1993, two 10 year old young boys Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, tortured and killed a two-year-old toddler James Bulger. The two murderers were arrested and sent to jail till their eighteenth birthday. They were condemned for the action they commited; even more so there is a double standard in the law. A fifteen-year old consensually having intercourse with an older person is still considered as rape because she is immature but five year olds are judged as criminals. Moreover, in some states in the US, the legal age to start working is 14 and in other countries, such as Bolivia, children can start working at the age of 10 (Krishnan, M., 2014) and still prostitution at that age is considered as a form of commercial sexual exploitation. There is no exploitation if someone fully agrees to do something or from the other angle everyone is exploited everyone and by everyone. It is human nature to always use something or someone as a mean to an end. It is categorically impossible to do otherwise. Every independent country is built on freedom. Not legalize prostitution is a form of restraint, we all have free will that should be respected as long as we are not hurting anybody. Prostitution is only considered as it is because the society decides it is wrong, but just because we decide something is wrong does not mean it is. In the 70s it was an “abomination” for whites and non-whites to get married, many states had anti-miscegenation laws, in fact the prohibition was written in their Constitutions: “The marriage of a white person with a negro or mulatto, or person who shall have one-eighth or more of negro blood, shall be unlawful and void” (Jenks A. E., 1916). At that period of time, some probably genuinely thought that interracial marriage was wrong but now everyone with a bit of sense can tell how absurd that is. Let us apply the same thing toward prostitution.

Legalize it will create a legal infrastructure that would protect workers and clients. For example, It is a legal profession and should be subject to taxes and the status of self-employed workers. Not legalize it is a restrain to one’s freedom and violates one’s right. This legal framework who supposes to help women only impoverishes sex workers and push them to reduce their health requirements. If we understand this mechanic easily when there is a boss whose goal is to maximize profits, we must realize that penalization, even targeted at the client, pushes prostitution back into hiding and makes sex workers more vulnerable, especially when it is illegal. This law in no way is helping women. There should be rules and regulations in regard to a legalization that would ensure professional rights for sex workers and control the power of the employer and the clients so as to establish a perfect clear boundary between wage labor on the one hand and human trafficking or the exploitation of distress on the other hand just like there is for any other legal job. And it is not up to the ideologists, youtubers or moralists to decide what is acceptable and what is not. This must be established by the Department of Labor, to make sure that the job does not interfere with anything. These policies should be just, impartial and non-stereotypical.

Furthermore, its countenance will create a safer and healthier working conditions. We all can agree that only money guides the choice of work, it is the same for prostitution. No one will agree to work for free for the simple reason that to live. We have to take care of our essential needs; therefore, we have to have money and to have money we have to work, any convenient job. Non-consensual sex is sexual assault but consensual sex is either having a joyful moment with a partner or work. It should not be interpreted as “selling your body for money” as we use our body, emotion and love for all other jobs and they are just considered simply as a job.

After drawing the lines between consent and constraint, prostitution and sex trafficking, consensual intercourse and sexual assault, the government should legalize the act of prostitution while providing some legal codes:

• Anyone capable of sexual reproduction should be permitted by law to work as a prostitute if willing.
• Prostitution should not be discriminated and should be seen as a shameless job.
• Any violation of these codes can and will be punishable by the law.

If saying prostitution violates our humans right to dignity and equality then, restraint someone to freely work, doesn't it restraint our right to economic freedom. Being in favor of prostitution does not mean that we approve of women's sexual exploitation and violence against them. The problem is that criminalization does not help to counter the prevalence of the phenomenon and is harmful for the safety of sex workers. Moreover, associating prostitution with a deviant practice leads to the social stigmatization of prostituted women, helping to marginalize them. Legalize prostitution would reduce enormously the risks of the profession, help to promote safe environment for the workers and fight against forced prostitution. Sexuality between consensual citizens must remain a right, we are no longer governed by the church; therefore, the state must ensure by law this sex freedom priced. First, prosecute and punish procuring, a law to help these women working in this job, give them a professional status. We should advocate for the recognition of everyone's right to dispose of their body, which includes the right to prostitute themselves. This is not to say that prostitution is a good thing nor a bad thing (it is just work), but to consider that if it is a free choice it must be respected. The duties of the government are to regulate, protect and serve.