The Benefits of Legalizing Prostitution - Report Example

Wettergreen English 101 online 03/24 Persuasive Essay The Benefits of Legalizing Prostitution The sex trade is one of the oldest professions in the world, and it is also one of the most contentious. In modern times, many countries have outlawed prostitution, seeing it as a cause of sin, abuse of women, and the spread of disease. However, in other countries prostitution is still legal, although women who choose to work in the field are still frowned upon by most of the population. Although there is some truth to the claims that any form of prostitution puts women in a bad position, legalizing the profession would be a step in the direction of better rights. This is because legalizing prostitution would allow for health safety, the stopping of underaged prostitution, and the removal of the criminal class which currently benefits from the exploitation of illegal prostitutes. Unsurprisingly, prostitution is a profession that carries with it disproportionately high risks for the spread of diseases. In fact, the profession has been found to directly relate to the number of HIV cases in a given country: “it is the number of infected prostitutes in a country that is highly significant and robust in explaining HIV prevalence levels across countries” (Talbott). The “regulation [of prostitution] and “safe” sex” is one way that this disturbing statistic can be lowered (Shuster 20). In fact, this can be seen to be the case by looking at countries which already do have legalized prostitution, where “the incidence of AIDS is remarkably lower than it is in the United States, where prostitution is illegal” (Shuster 20). By legalizing prostitution, governments would be able to offer comprehensive health benefits programs to prostitutes. At the very least, women who choose to work in such trades would be able to benefit from health insurance as those who work in any other field currently do. By getting regular health check-ups and becoming better educated about the risks of what they do on a daily or nightly basis, prostitutes would be able to limit their exposure to HIV and AIDS and the rates of people sick with it would stop increasing as rapidly. Legalized prostitution could also put laws into place that would allow for the checking of clients, since it is largely from clients that prostitutes would get AIDS in the first place. By refusing service to clients with AIDS, the spread of the disease would be even further reduced. A 1995 study by Benson and Matthews found that a disturbing portion of street prostitutes were underaged—even in Britain, where the age of consent is lower. A full three quarters of the women surveyed had gotten into prostitution at 17 years old or younger, while “some 40% were 15 years or under” (399). This is clearly a problem, and suggests not only the exploitation of women, but the exploitation of children, something Benson and Matthews also touch upon by explaining the statistic as a suggestion that “the majority of women became involved in street prostitution at an age when they are vulnerable and impressionable” (400). Clearly, if prostitution were legalized, this sort of statistic would drastically increase if not go away altogether. Since child labor is illegal, and since prostitution would now be monitored by corporations or governments, children would no longer be able to be exploited in this way, and if they were there would be programs in place to help set them back on a different path. By keeping prostitution illegal, on the other hand, these sad cases will continue to be under the radar of the authorities until it is too late and the prostitution has already taken place, and then they will simply be sent to juvenile delinquency courts without really being helped. As Scamble notes, the illegalization of prostitution basically splits women into two classes: “those of us who are considered ‘good’ and ‘responsible’ and those of us who are considered ‘bad’ or ‘loose’ for refusing poverty by working in the sex industry” (93). Furthermore, this split creates an environment in which “prostitute women are criminals,” meaning that it is okay to commit violence and exploitation against them. (Scamble 93) Because prostitutes are themselves criminals under current laws, they “cannot rely on the protection of the police and the courts” against pimps and others who want to exploit their situation or abuse them. (Scamble 93) One obvious way to break this cycle of abuse and exploitation is to legalize prostitution. By removing the stigma of prostitutes as criminals, the police will be able to properly protect them, and to punish those who think they can attack prostitutes without fear of reprisal. Prostitutes would also no longer be in thrall to the pimps and other abusive users, and would not have to fear violence either from them or from their clients, as they would be in a more stable environment that was monitored by either a corporation or the government. Legalization would also send a strong message to the criminal underclass that prostitutes are women with legal rights. People opposed to the legalization of prostitution often claim that doing so would mean “that under certain conditions it is permissible to exploit and abuse women” (Hughes). They suggest that “if women are allowed to become a commodity” through prostitution, “they are consigned to a second-class citizenship” (Hughes). The argument essentially believes that prostitution is, and always should be, a crime, although on behalf of those who organize it and not those who are caught in the system. However, these arguments are certainly flawed in several ways. To begin with, they assume that the selling and buying of sex must necessarily be an act of coercion. This would seem to be an attempt to apply one’s own morals to the actions of others, as some women may actually enjoy the act of sex, even if it is with a partner who is a complete stranger. This is not to downplay the tragedy of those who are forced into prostitution, but legalization would actually decrease that statistic. Further, women are not the only types of prostitutes. To suggest that legalizing prostitution would turn women into second class citizens completely ignores the case of male prostitutes. In fact, some countries such as the Netherlands, prostitution has been legalized in various ways. The Netherlands allow people to own brothels, businesses where prostitutes can operate from instead of walking on the streets at night. The legalization of brothels “has undoubtedly improved working conditions” for prostitutes who work there (Hubbard et al. 11). Since the trade is regulated by the government, that also means that brothels who mistreat women will have their licenses revoked, as has happened in Amsterdam when owners employed sex workers who did not have permits. (Hubbard et al. 13). However, even here there are still some problems as “there is no clear evidence pointing to increased safety or decline in personal attacks” (Hubbard et al. 14). It can be seen, then, that the legalization of prostitution is a complicated and contentious issue. As with most real problems in the world, it is relatively hard to emphatically state ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to possible solutions. While it may be true that the legalization of prostitutes would not eliminate all exploitation of women caught in the system, it is also true that keeping the profession as a criminal one does not help either. On the contrary, by labeling prostitutes as criminals we risk making their situation worse, as they are denied the benefits that would go with working in a legal profession, such as health care, no exploitation at a young age, and police protection. References Hubbard, Phil, Matthews, Roger, and Scoular, Jane. “Regulating the spaces of sex work: assessing the impact of prostitution law.” Loughborough University, 2007. Hughes, Donna. “Legalizing Prostitution Will Not Stop the Harm.” The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, February 1999 http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/mhvlegal.htm Benson, Catherine and Matthews, Roger. “Street Prostitution: Ten Facts in Search of a Policy” International Journal of the Sociology of Law, Vol 23 (1995), pp. 395-415 Shuster, Kenneth. “On the Oldest Profession: A Proposal in Favor of Legalized but Regulated Prostitution” University of Florida Journal of Law and Public Policy, Vol. 5, Issue 1 (Fall 1992), pp. 1-32 Scambler, Graham and Scambler, Annette. Rethinking Prostitution: Purchasing Sex in the 1990s. Routledge,. London, 1997 Talbott, John. "Size Matters: the number of prostitutes and the global HIV/AIDS pandemic." PLoS ONE, vol 2, issue 6 (2007) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1891093/ Read More