Prostitution: Legal Or Illegal - Research Paper Example

? PROSTITUTION: LEGAL OR ILLEGAL Presented By goes here] To [your goes here] and number] date of the paper] Abstract The title of the research paper was prostitution. The purpose of the research paper was to find out the views of different groups of feminists regarding prostitution. The researcher used questionnaires and personal interviews for carrying out the research. The whole research process took around one month, which included doing surveys and conducting interviews with different groups of feminists. The researcher examined the viewpoints of Radical, Liberal, Marxist feminists, and Socialist feminists during the research. The results showed that apart from liberal feminists, all other groups of feminists oppose the business of prostitution and want the governments of all countries to take proper actions to hold this business illegal. Introduction Prostitution is one of the most common social issues being faced by the whole world. It is the business of getting money in return of providing sexual services to other people. For human trafficking groups, prostitution has become a high revenue generating business these days. Many groups exist in different countries, which smuggle children and women to other countries for earning high amount of money. There should not be any law allowing people to use women for illegal sex because prostitution in any form is very disgraceful as it harms the dignity and status of women. It is very important to know the viewpoints of different feminist groups in order to get a clear picture of the issue of prostitution. The topic of this research paper is that prostitution, in any form, should be held illegal by the government because it adversely affects the dignity of women Prostitution and Feminism Bartley (2000) states, “Prostitution is a terrible strain upon civilization” (p. 183). This is the general idea of majority of the feminists and other people these days regarding prostitution. Majority of the people think that prostitution is a worldwide issue, which harms dignity of women. According to Weisberg (1996), prostitution is the breach of women’s civil rights (p. 50). Prostitutes are not prostitutes by birth; rather different circumstances force them to become prostitutes at some stage of life. For example, some women are not strong financially and when they do not find any proper source of income, they get involved into such activities, which can earn them money to live their lives. Similarly, rape is also one of the main reasons for why women adopt the business of prostitution. When someone rapes a woman, the dignity of that woman destroys and she loses her respect in her family, which makes her a prostitute. One cannot say that it happens with all raped women, but in some cases, it does. For example, when the red army raped a large number of women in Berlin during the World War II, the reports related to rise of prostitution started to come within a couple of years of the end of the World War II. The reason behind the link between prostitution and rape is that when a woman is raped, the desires and charm of life end for that woman and she is left with nothing. In such situations, social and financial circumstances force such women to become professional prostitutes. The views of feminism regarding prostitution had not been the same in the past. O’Neill (2001) found that in the earliest stages of feminism, feminists used to view prostitution as a form of sexual slavery (p. 15). Since then, the view of feminists continued changing with the emergence of different groups of feminists. Every group of feminists has a different point of view regarding prostitution. Some groups say that it is totally against the social norms and values whereas some feminists say that it depicts the sexual freedom of women. If we talk about radical feminists, they view prostitution very negatively. Radical feminists believe that prostitution is a bad institution (Spector, 2006, p. 363). They believe that women are not to be used like sex toys rather they are very respectable and have a key place in the society. Prostitution is a business in which a woman provides her body to a stranger for money. Women are somewhat more against the business of prostitution as compared to men. Women view prostitution as reflecting subordination and exploitation (Basow & Campanile, 1990). They believe that in this business, women are used for sexual pleasure and satisfaction. Women are totally against this business because they believe it to be self-destruction of women. When a woman presents herself to an unknown person in return of money, it not only harms the self-respect of that woman but also decreases the overall respect for all other women of the society. Radical feminists view prostitution as the power politics of male gender. Bromberg (1997) states, “Radical feminism opposes prostitution on the grounds that it degrades women and furthers the power politics of the male gender”. “Feminists have consistently viewed prostitution as a social problem and opposed state regulated or legalized prostitution” (Musheno & Seeley, 1986). Radical feminists say that prostitution is a very shameful act because body of a woman is not for doing any kind of deal or business. They believe that women are a very respectable and highly regarded part of a society and there should not be any law, which should allow this disgraceful business of prostitution to prevail anywhere in the world. Men should change their view regarding women and should stop using women for illegal sex or for fulfilling sexual frustration (Bromberg, (1997). Radical feminists raise their voice to stop prostitution in all parts of the world because it is not only a very shameful act, which degrades the respect of a woman in the society but also affects the norms and values of a society. If we talk about liberal group of feminists, we can say that their viewpoint regarding prostitution is different from that of radical feminists. Radical feminists believe that in this business, women provide their bodies to men without their own consent whereas liberal feminists view this activity as a business based totally on the will of the involved women. Liberal feminists believe that prostitution provides sexual independence to women so it is not a forced sexual activity. They view prostitution as a private business transaction, which cannot be performed without the will of the women. They say that no one has the right to stop a woman from fulfilling her sexual desires whether she fulfils it with her boyfriend, with husband, or with some stranger in return of money. Liberals say that money is not an issue in prostitution because nothing is done against the will of the women in this business. Another difference between the viewpoints of radical feminists and liberal feminists is regarding body of a woman. Radical feminists believe that body of a woman is not for doing business rather it is very sacred and should be kept covered. They say that only husbands have the right to see the bodies of their wives and if any other person gets a naked view of their bodies, it is illegal. On the other hand, liberal feminists believe that a woman has a complete command over her body and she possesses the right to use it for any purpose. They believe that stopping a woman from fulfilling her sexual desires by providing her body to someone else is like snatching the right of a woman, which she has over her body. Another difference between the viewpoints of both groups of feminists is that of men’s personal interest in women. Radical feminists believe that men who make use of women’s bodies for fulfilling their sexual desires are not actually interested in those women rather they are only interested in their bodies. They say that interest in body instead of soul is complete degradation of a woman and no one has the right to degrade any woman. On the other hand, liberal feminists believe that prostitution is a private business and in a business, one’s personal interest in the other person does not really matter. They say that business is business and there is no question of personal interest in the other person so the objection regarding degradation of women is illogical and baseless. They believe that if a woman becomes a prostitute willingly, she is independent to take the decision to provide her body to anyone either for sexual pleasure or for money and no one can snatch the right of sexual freedom from that woman. “Feminist thought seeks to condemn prostitution as a practice and to `save' individual prostitute women” (Kesler, 2002). Radical feminists strongly oppose prostitution and consider it an unpleasant and an unhealthy act. They say that prostitution is a form of violence against women in which the women have no right to say no to their male employers. They say that responding to the ads of prostitutes is also a way of doing violence against women, as use of body for any reason is totally unjustified and unethical. Radicals believe that male employers snatch the right of independence from women and make them sex slaves who only have to provide sexual services to the customers and nothing else. Radical feminists also argue that prostitution is not a conscious choice for women and they are forced to perform sex with the customers. Women do not become prostitutes by will (Davidson, 2002). There exist many factors, which force them to become prostitutes. Some of the reasons why women become prostitutes include extreme poverty, over population, lack of opportunities, child abuse, and some social issues. “In an over-populated world, there may simply be situations that leave no other choices to women” (Bromberg, 1997). Radical feminists do not believe that rich and well-off women also adopt the business of prostitution. They say that only low educated, impoverished, and those belonging to lowest socioeconomic classes adopt this business because either they have no awareness of sexual health or they cannot do anything else to earn money. “Prostitution owes its existence to an interplay of social and economic arrangements that involve promiscuity, chastity, and inequality” (Jolin, 1994). Liberal feminists say that prostitutes do not work for someone else. Pateman (1988) reveals that prostitutes are not laborers in reality, they are independent contractors who have the right to start or stop providing sex services to other people and they do not make any contract with male employers (p. 202). This statement makes some sense for the viewpoint of liberal feminists that prostitution is not a business which involves providing sex services for some employer, rather it is an independent contact with male customers who give money to the prostitutes in return of getting sex services. Liberals believe that men and women are equal, and a woman has a complete right over her body and snatching the right of sex from a woman is like snatching sexual freedom from that woman. They say that there is nothing bad if a woman wants to earn some money for herself by providing sexual services willingly. Moreover, they also say that an independent contract with a male contractor instead of an employer is also a good aspect of prostitution, which makes it legal for women who are deprived and have no other way to earn money. However, radical feminists do not consider this belief sensible. They say that prostitution should be called illegal whether the services include an employer or not. Marxist feminism is another group of feminists, which discourages prostitution and believes that the issue of prostitution is associated with the wrong policies of the governments. Bell (1994) states, “Prostitution, for Marxists, is exploitative in the same way that the selling of all labor power is exploitive” (p. 78). Marxist feminists say that no woman wants to become a prostitute, but the social and economic circumstances make them prostitutes. For example, in some third world countries, the employers do not like to hire women and even if they hire women, they give very less wages to them as compared to men. Therefore, when women do not get equal wages while performing the similar tasks, which their male counterparts perform, they feel low and get involved in illegal sexual activities in order to earn money. Another group of feminists, which are Socialist feminists, believes that rise in the number of prostitutes depends on the class distinction that exists in many societies. They say that in some societies, women are not considered equal to men and men just use their women as sexual slaves. A prostitute is a victim of a society, which is not only corrupt but also accompanies class distinctions (Bromberg, 1997). They raise their voice to make the governments take steps to eradicate class distinction and change the structure of the societies in order to prevent women from becoming prostitutes. Radical feminists believe that prostitution is somewhere at the centre of female subordination and male domination. They say that prostitution is violence because in this business, a woman’s basic rights are violated using force. Feminists believe that if the governments of all countries do effective legislation regarding human trafficking and prostitution, the society can come out many problems and issues. Some other feminists say that prostitution makes people involve into illegal sexual activities and leads them towards many social problems, such as forced rapes, no respect for women, and unwanted pregnancies. Therefore, feminists say that if there is a complete ban on prostitution all over the world, the world can become free of many social problems. Feminists have been successful in convincing the governments of different countries to take actions against prostitution although the actions have not been very successful. If we analyze the laws regarding prostitution in the United Kingdom, we come to know that the government of the United Kingdom has done legislation regarding paid sex. In the United Kingdom, paying to the agent for the sexual services of a prostitute is considered an offence, and the government does not tolerate it in any case. However, prostitution is not considered illegal in most of the countries. Feminists say that becoming a prostitute is a very difficult decision for a woman as no woman wants to become a prostitute without any significant reason. They say that prostitutes do not live a respectable life because no one respects them because of their profession. Prostitutes also want to leave their occupation but the socioeconomic forces do not let them do a respectable business to live their lives. It is the responsibility of the governments to put ban on prostitution by doing effective legislation and by providing job opportunities for the lower class women in order to make them leave this occupation and become respectable citizens of the state. Conclusion The statement of the research was that prostitution, in any form, should be held illegal by the government because it adversely affects the dignity of women. The statement was found true after analyzing the viewpoints of different groups of feminists. All groups of feminists, which include Radical feminists, Liberal feminists, Marxist feminists, and Socialist feminists, have different viewpoints regarding prostitution. Based on the analysis of all viewpoints, it is concluded that prostitution is an unlawful act, which harms the dignity and honor of a woman. Therefore, governments of all countries need to do effective legislation to end the businesses of human trafficking and prostitution. References Bartley, P. (2000). Prostitution: Prevention, and Reform in England, 1860-1914. London: Routledge. Basow, S., & Campanile, F. (1990). Attitudes Toward Prostitution as a Function of Attitudes Toward Feminism in College Students: An Exploratory Study. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 14(1), 135-141. Bell, S. (1994). Reading, Writing, and Rewriting the Prostitute Body. Indiana: Indiana University Press. Bromberg, S. (1997). Feminist Issues in Prostitution. Retrieved from http://www.feministissues.com/ Davidson, J. (2002). The Rights and Wrongs of Prostitution. Hypatia, 17(2), 84-98. Jolin, A. (1994). On the Backs of Working Prostitutes: Feminist Theory and Prostitution Policy. Crime & Delinquency, 40(1), 69-83. Kesler, K. (2002). Is a Feminist Stance in Support of Prostitution Possible? An Exploration of Current Trends. SAGE Journals, 5(2), 219-235. Musheno, M., & Seeley, K. (1986). Prostitution policy and the women’s movement. Crime, Law and Social Change, 10(3), 237-255. O’Neill, M. (2001). Prostitution and Feminism: Towards a Politics of Feeling. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Pateman, C. (1988). The Sexual Contract. California: Stanford University press. Spector, J. (2006). Prostitution and Pornography: Philosophical Debate about the Sex Industry. California: Stanford University Press. Read More