Prostitution and Pornography in Australia: the Legal Issues Surrounding - Essay Example

Introduction Prostitution has been one of the most debated issues in terms of its moral, social and legal aspects. There are those who are supportive of prostitution as a way of life for persons in need of going that way. Others see prostitution as an enemy of societal morals and as a crime. However, there have not been enough studies on the issues and most attitudes towards prostitution are based on personal feelings rather than well researched scientific inquiries. Research question Does the criminalization of prostitution lead to more crime? Prostituting has been associated with a number of criminal such as drug abuse and other social misconducts. However, it is possible that the reason that prostitution is associated with these issues is because it has been legalized. One of the basic tenets of criminology is that it crime is anything negatively affects the people in society. Prostitution does not necessarily affect people and therefore there is no reason to incriminate it. Prostitution has been associated by a number of other negative factors such as drug abuse, human trafficking and modern slavery. However, there is no enough evidence to show that prostitution on its own is enough to bring these issues up. This study is geared towards finding whether decimalization of prostitution is likely to reduce the effects f these issues. Hypothesis Prostitution has a very long history. In many cases, it is related to poverty and negative moral standards. However, in a modern world, the nature of prostitution is changing. There are several issues that can be identified with regard to prostitution. The first is that prostitution cannot be eradicated forever and the second is that prostitution is a changing social phenomenon. Of importance is the fact that there are a number of prejudices against the profession. For instance, while it is clear that the history of prostitution is closely related to poverty and violence against women (women being the mainly the prostitutes, but with a rising number of male prostitutes), there is also a reality that modern prostitution is changing and most modern prostitutes are not necessarily wretchedly poor, not do they become victims of violence from their clients. This study looks to break the myth regarding prostitutes and looks forward to identify the issues surrounding prostitution. It seeks to prove that a number of traditional beliefs about prostitutions are wrong and misinformed. Legalization of prostitution can be used to reduce a number of criminal, moral, economic and social issues that arise from criminalization of prostitution. These issues include drug and substance abuse, human trafficking and violence against women (prostitutesi). Methodology Data collection This study will look at data from different countries and jurisdiction. Since there are some jurisdictions where prostitution has been legalized, it will be easier to determine whether this has led to a reduction of the other forms of crime such as drug abuse and human trafficking. The internet will be used as a base for collecting this information. Most of this data is readily available since most government institutions share this information on their websites. This study will collect and compare data from countries where prostitution is legal and where the same is illegal with an intention of determine whether criminalization leads to higher crimes in other areas. The assumption is that the in places where prostitution is criminalized, there will be a high propensity for other related crimes such as human trafficking by pimps and madams as well as increased drug abuse by those who engage in the practice of prostitution. The study will however take an open ended approach and the results of data will be the final verdict. The study will compare data as follows; Drug abuse Data and statistics about the rate of drug abuse by prostitutes in places where prostitution is illegal will be compared with the same data in places where prostitution is legal. This will provide a base to determine how legalization affects the rate of drug and substance abuse. Human trafficking Data and statistics about the rate of human trafficking in places where prostitution is illegal will be compared with the same data in places where prostitution is legal. This will provide a base to determine how legalization affects the rate of drug and human trafficking. Other related crimes Data and statistics about the other related crime in places where prostitution is illegal will be compared with the same data in places where prostitution is legal. This will provide a base to determine how legalization affects the rate of drug other related crimes Results By looking are data two sets of jurisdiction (i.e. where prostituting has been legalized and where it has not been legalized) it will be easy to determine whether there is a direct correlation between the various types of crimes and prostitution. Significance of this study The findings of this study will reveal the real impact of prostitution how modern law should address it. This study will provide deeper insights ion prostitution and how law should regulate it or whether the law should regulate it at all. More than that, it will reveal the actual effects of regulating or falling to regulate prostitution by criminalization or legalization of prostitution. Every year, governments use millions of dollars trying to crack down on prostitution and prostitutes. Understanding the nature of prostitution can be a very important way of addressing the issue of prostitution. Prostitution is not a capital crime and is more of a moral and social issue. In this regard, a deeper understanding of the nature of prostitution and how it fits within the society and the legal structure will give a better understanding of how governments can deal with this issue. So far, over 80 percent of governments in the world are have not legalized prostitution. By understanding how legalization and criminalization of prostitution relates to other crimes, it will be easier to understand how other means such as government policy can be used to deal with the issue of prostitution and this come up with a better way of dealing with prostitution. This study looks forward at the dynamics of prostitution and how it relates with other crimination. In particular, the main objective of this study will be to look at how criminalization of prostitution leads to the rise of other crimes. So far, there is only speculation as to how legalization or criminalization affects other related crimes such as human trafficking. However, there are no specific studies that indicate how the legalization of prostitution can be used to reduce other issues. This study will also focus on other non criminal aspects that are seen to be related to prostitution such as poverty and lack of education. The results of this study will be useful for government policy as well as lawmakers in order to help in making better laws regarding prostitution and better policies regarding the same. Prostitution is known as part of the oldest businesses and for this reason it has the oddest history. However, unlike any other profession, it reviews some of the most varied attitudes and from the society. This makes it a very important subject of study. Most people feel that that prostitution is a vice and that it should be eliminated from society. On the other hand, some argue that prostitution is one of the ways of satisfying human needs and that there is no means eliminating it from the society. Attitudes towards prostitution are many and varied, there are those who feel that prostitution is a result of poverty and social as well as moral defiance,. For this reason, these people feel that prostitution and its related voices should be eliminated altogether. Conversely, some individuals feel that prostitution is not as much a vice as it has been labeled and feel that that is should be legalized and be protected by law as any other profession. The truth is that none of these are entirely right and that it is possible for policy makers to reach a grey area or a middle ground in addressing this situation. From a legal perspective, prostitution is not a capital offence and it is more of a social issue. In this case, all laws regarding prostitution can be seen as being based because they treat prostitution as a criminal offence. The basic tenet of prostitution refers to the fact that individuals or groups of people should not engage in things that affect other people in advice ways. In this regard, the only negative thing about prostitution is the fact that it is associated with other factors that are seen and having adverse affects to the society. Those who argue against prostitution say that prostitution has been associated with other vices such as drug abuse, violence against human beings and even post traumatic disorder. While these accusations are true in a way, they are also false because there is no way to identify what leads to the other. For example, there is no means of determining whether prostitutions is the cause of these vices vice versa. At the same time, it is not easy to determine whether these vices arise from the fact that prostitution has been criminalized in many areas. There is not sufficient data to verify whether criminalization of prostitution is the cause of other crimes such as trafficking. Although some authors and researchers have pointed out to the fact that prostitution relates directly to other negative issues such as human trafficking and child prostitution as well as forced prostitution, there are no people who have tried to identify whether the same case would be true if prostitution was no criminalized. However, a number of studies such as one carried out by Kain for Forbes magazine reveals that legalization of prostitution can lead to decreased drug abuse rates. This gap in understanding how prostitution rates to these other social, moral and legal issues need to be addressed d in a serious way and determine whether legalization of prostitution could help in reducing these issues. Modern science should be able to help in understanding and interpreting the available data about prostitution and related criminal and social factors such as drug abuse and human trafficking as well as a host of other legal and social issues. On the other hand, the assumption that prostitution is negative on its own can is detrimental in identifying the way forward for many governments in the world. Prostitution has remained a mystery to in many places especially due to its moral standings. However, in a modern world, it is good to separate the social issues surrounding the issue of prostitution in order to identify the legal issues surroundings the same. For this reason, it will be important that the comprehensive study be done of the issues. The world as a cosmopolitan global village will need a unifying theory about the reality of prostitution and this will act as a way to distinguish the moral and the legal issues regarding prostitution. This paper looks at these issues and tries to identify the ways through which they can be handled in a legal way and how the government can use policy to address the issues of prostitution. Arguments from a social and moral perspective will not suffice as good solution because the global environment is made of may differentiate cultures and moral attitudes. By identifying the core issues surrounding prostitution, it will be easier to identify a unifying and central way of addressing prostitution. This study will therefore not focus on the moral or social aspects and concerns of prostitution as a profession but will limit itself to the legal aspects of prostitution and how legal and policy tools can be used to address the issue. Better laws With regard to laws relating to prostitution, there is no one country in the world that has any law that best addresses the issue of prostitution. More than that, approximately all countries seems to have their own laws regarding prostitution. The only reasonable elucidation of this is that there has never been any deep understanding of prostitution either as a profession or as a crime. In some countries, the law criminates the client to a prostitute but spares the prostitutes herself. In other countries he law targets the prostitutes and makes the act of engaging in sex for financial or economical gain a crime. In this regard, there needs to be a better understanding of prostitution in order for governments to be able to develop better laws and that best address the issue of prostitution. At the same time, a deeper understanding of how criminalization of prostitution relates to other misdeeds will lead to a better perceptive of whether the government should use legal tools or policy tools to address the issue of prostitution. As already discussed, the issue of prostitution is more of a moral and social issue than a legal issue and in this case, a better understanding of prostitution will enable in identifying the best ways in which the issue can e dealt with. Policy making The study will provide a platform in which the government can create better policies to determine help deal with the issue of prostitution. At worst, the results of the study must be able to reveal the real issues surrounding prostitution and how they can be addressed using government policy. This will help in shedding off any prejudices against prostitution and also help in revealing any illogical arguments for and against prostitution. This study will also help in secluding modern prostitution from ancient prostitution. In doing this, it will look at ancient prostitution and how that has affected the attitude towards prostitution. This will be aimed at helping in clearing the air and looking at modern prostitution without the most of negative attitudes towards prostitution that arise from ancient prostitution. For instance, it is a better idea to differentiate between a prostitute in ancient Rome and a modern prostitute in a red street in London. Once these differences are set, it will be easier to understand modern prostitution and this will lead to better laws and government policies regarding the issue. This study looks to reveal the issues that are pertinent to dealing with the issue of prostitution and any related legal issues. By dealing with the issue directly, it will provide the basis on which any government can use to develop the right mechanics to deal prostitution. This will aid in creating a better legal approach to deal with the subject and make sure that the issues pertinent to it are well established. Literature review Sullivan (1997) looks at prostitution and pornography in Australia and looks at in the broader societal scope. She looks at the legal issues surrounding the regulation of prostitution in Australia and how this affects the public opinion on the profession. Her article is a direct look at how governments deal with the issue and how the wrong information has been used to deal with the issue of prostitution. Susan reveals the how the modern regimes all over the world and especially in Australia affects tries to deal with prostitution in the wrong way and how this has affected the legal aspects of dealing with prostitution. Her work deals with understanding the modern aspects of prostitution and how criminalization of prostitution affects prostitutes and the society as a whole. This literature offers a deep insight on how misinformation may head to the wrong attitudes towards an issue. However, Gangoli and Westmarland (2009) try to answer a number of questions regarding prostitution such as the relation of violence to prostitutes and the economics admissibility of prostitution. They look at the issue of legalization and criminalization of prostitution from a neutral perspective and try to understand the role of prostitution in the modern society. McGinn (2003) views the past of prostitution and how this has changed. He looks at the ancient Rome and how prostitutes in Rome were treated by the society. He provides very important views on where modern prostitution got its current image and where most of these issues have their roots. McGinn brings a better understanding of prostitution and how modern law addresses the issue. Weitzer (2011) looks at the way prostitution has been regarded differently in the past and draws an example of the United States of America where some states criminalize prostitution while others are more prone to it. This book provides a deeper understanding of legal, social and moral aspects of criminalization or legalization of prostitution as an economic right. The International Labor Office (1998) on the other hand looks at prostitution in terms of basic human rights, morality, employment and economic rights and looks at how legalization of this profession affected people. It provides a clearer image of how prostitution falls in the economic order and the radar of criminology. Lee and Person (2012) on the other hand argue that neither recrimination nor crimination of prostitution can help in curbing crimes related to prostitution such as human trafficking. They argue that a hybrid system should be used be used if any success in curbing these ill is to be achieved. Farley (2003) however, seems to disagree with this view. His article does not refer to either legalization or criminalization of prostitution. He looks at how prostitution affects the prostitutes and argues that prostitution has the ability to cause posttraumatic disorders to prostitutes. His study showed that over 89% of former and current prostitutes suffered some kind of post traumatic disorders. In his article, Kain (2003) reports how decriminalization of prostitution in Portugal led to a reduction of drug abuse by over fifty percent. Kain argues that legalization of prostitution can be used to curb other criminal and legal issues such as the drug abuse. Kain also argues that since legalization of prostitution leads to zero arrests of prostitutes, it is easier to rehabilitate prostitutes who are on drug as opposed to when they get arrested and locked up. Bibliography: Farley, M. (2003). Prostitution and Trafficking inNine countries: an Update on Violence and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Journal of Trauma Survaey , 9 33-74. Gangoli, G. &. (2006). International Approaches to Prostitution: Law And Policy In Europe And Asia. Bristol: The Policy Press. Kain, K. (2011, 05 07). Ten Years After Decriminalization, Drug Abuse Down by Half in Portugal. Retrieved January 31, 2013, from Forbes Inc: http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2011/07/05/ten-years-after-decriminalization-drug-abuse-down-by-half-in-portugal/ Lee, S. &. Persson, P. (2012). Human Trafficking and Regulating Prostitution∗. Columbia University Department of Economics , 1-46. McGinn, T. (2003). Prostitution, Sexuality, and the Law in Ancient Rome. London: Oxford University Press. Office. (1998). The Sex Sector: The Economic and Social Bases of Prostitution in Southeast Asia. Geneva: International Labour Organization. Scheb, M. (2008). Criminal Law. London: Cengage Learning. Sullivan, B. (1997). The Politics of Sex: Prostitution and Pornography in Australia since 1945. London: Cambridge University Press. Weitzer, R. (2011). Legalizing Prostitution: From Illicit Vice to Lawful Business. New York, NY: NYU Press. Read More