Should Prostitution be Illegal or Not?

GRSJ 102, midterm

Prostitution has been known as the oldest profession to date, but also known as the one profession laden with the most issues. There are currently three different methods being used to solve the issues of prostitution, however many people have drastically differing ideas as to whether or not each method is effective. In particular, Jacqui Hunt declares in her article "Debunking the Myths: Why Legalizing Prostitution is a Terrible Idea" (Hunt, Debunking the Myths) that the goals for legalizing or decriminalizing prostitution are never met.


The first Myth that Hunt attempts to debunk is "The Legalization/Decriminalization of Prostitution Makes Things Safer for the Women Involved" (Hunt, Debunking the Myths). Safer in these terms means safety against physical and sexual violence. In her attempt to debunk this myth, Hunt vaguely references specific lines from articles to prove her point. The New Zealand government report line she quoted doesn't actually say anything about whether or not there is more violence, but rather just demonstrates a point that those who have experienced physical or sexual violence have a reluctance to report to the police (Hunt, Debunking the Myths). This is mainly caused by Rape Trauma Syndrome (Dancing Darkness, RTS) or Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (Wikipedia, PTSD), though there are a whole host of other problems (Liberate Yourself, Why I Won't Report) and attempting to put the blame solely on the governments policing system is futile. The graph presented in the New Zealand review article about the adverse experiences prostitutes have has no before-and-after comparison (PLRC Report; 4.3, General Safety), so there's no way of dictating whether or not an improvement has been made. However there is some evidence in the interviews with non-governmental organizations that the violence has abated to some degree, and that the prostitutes feel a little encouraged that they can report the assaults (PLRC Report; 4.3, General Safety).

In terms of the other cases mentioned in Myth one, the murder in Amsterdam's red light district is just one case. It should be noted that there will always be violence and there will always be cases for people to draw on, so one single case of murder is not a sign that the method is failing. That could have very well have been the only murder for a lengthy period of time in Amsterdam's red light district, but yet it still would have been cited against the "myth" that legalization/etc makes prostitution safer, regardless of whether or not the prostitutes working there could have felt incredibly safe.

In the New South Wales, Australia cited examination Hunt uses, there is a very specific focus on one location of prostitution: brothels (Hunt, Debunking the Myths). It is convenient in this case that brothels are mentioned as they are known to be the main location for criminal activities. Numerous countries have had to shut down their brothels as they become the hub for sexual trafficking (Davies and Reilly, Screws on Brothel), but all the other locations, windows, in-doors and on the streets, are either not as affected (Anna, Forced Prostitution?), or never reported on. Without looking at the large picture, one cannot determine with any degree of accuracy that their findings are true, and this is no less true for determining whether or not legalizing/etc prostitution is safer.

When one actually looks at the data, a very different light shines. Comparing the United States of America, where prostitution is illegal, to Canada, Denmark, France, Greece, Iran, Israel, Mexico, Netherlands, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom, all where prostitution is legal in some way we get to see clearly the benefits of legalizing/etc prostitution. The only country that has a higher murder rate than USA is Mexico, for Rape it is Canada and for Adults Prosecuted and Prisoners, the USA has the most per 1000 (Liberator; 11.A, Crime). While there is no information about the correlation between higher crime rates and laws that prohibit prostitution, or if there even is a correlation at all, there is definitely a correlation with the countries that have legalized prostitution in
some way, as the evidence of their lower crime rates point out.


The 2nd Myth deals with "The Legalization/Decriminalization of Prostitution Improves the Health and Well-Being of the Women Involved" (Hunt, Debunking the Myths) and this one ties in really closely with the first myth. Hunt once again mentions the New Zealand PLRC report wrongly. She selects a specific quote in which the author(s) of the report "were not aware of any substantial change in the use of safer sex practices by sex workers as a result of the enactment of [the law that decriminalized prostitution]" (PLRC Report; 4.1.1, Safer Sex), and completely disregards the sentence right after that that dictates "that most sex workers had already adopted such practices" (PLRC Report; 4.1.1, Safer Sex). No report can be made on her second reference on mental health, as the page is not found. However, New Zealand's report is more than enough as many references point towards an increase in confidence due to "sex work no longer being 'criminal'" (PLRC Report; 4.1, General Health).

Looking at the actual comparison data between the United States of America and the countries that have legalized/decriminalized prostitution in some form or way, the same trends occur with sexual and mental health as that occurred with violence. The USA is tied only with the United Kingdom in having the highest number of people living with HIV/AIDS and consequently the states has the most deaths caused by HIV/AIDS, drastically more so that the United Kingdom (Liberator; 11.B, Healthcare). In terms of divorce rates, United States of America is only topped by the United Kingdom, and in terms of suicide rates, the USA is topped by Mexico and Greece only (Liberator; 11.C, Social Conditions). Once again, we see a positive correlation between making prostitution legal or decriminalizing it and the
prostitutes mental and sexual health conditions.


Myth number 3 focuses on whether or not legalization and decriminalization improves the social protection of prostitutes (Hunt, Debunking the Myths). Hunt goes to quote a line from a 2007 German government commissioned report saying that there were no "measurable improvements to prostitutes' social protection'" (ARLSP; 5.3, Working Conditions) and working conditions had been observed. In terms of the social protection, it would be beneficial had prostitutes known of their rights. Less than 2/3rds of prostitutes, across the board, "knew that they had the right to join a statutory health insurance company ... an employment contract ... to initiate proceedings against clients for non-payment ... [and] could join statutory social and pension insurance schemes." (ARLSP; 5.1, Findings of the Surveys). In this, we can determine that the cause of prostitutes not having any social protection was not because the act didn't work, but because the government hadn't properly educated the prostitutes on the rights they had received with the enactment of the act.

As for the working conditions, the inability to improve this stems from "the legal uncertainty" (ARLSP; 5.3, Working Conditions) in how to in how prostitution is classified. Until the German government can adequately educate all participating parties on the details of the prostitution act, then there won't be any noticeable difference in the before-and-after image. In terms of the not wanting an employment contract, there are two main obstacles: Income and Secrecy. Many prostitutes do not wish to be known as a prostitute by family members and by future employers should they ever exit prostitution (ARLSP; 5.2, Impact).

As for the income, many prostitutes are poor and on low income. They need all the money they can get and signing up for an employment contract is not visually appealing when the direly needed income is being taken away from them. Twin prostitutes Louise and Martine Fokkens, at 70 years old, puts it like this: "There is no point working just for tax. That is why the girls are working from the internet and from home – you are less likely to be spotted by the taxman. The whole family used to live off your earnings and now the tax office comes up with crazy amounts you have to pay." (Bindel, Oldest Prostitutes).


The 4th Myth looks at the stigmatism for the women involved in prostitution (Hunt, Debunking the Myths). Hunt presents many sources in which the legalizing/etc prostitution acts have not done any good in terms of the stigmatism towards prostitutes, and this, unfortunately, is true. But she fails to mention that these views are dependant on the cultural beliefs of the society, and they will take time to implement and time to change. The greatest example of this is the LGBTQ community and their struggle for acceptance in society. Beliefs are very hard to push aside, and this is evident particularly with religion. Trying to say that these acts, which for most cases have only been implemented for about a decade at the time Hunt wrote the article, should have eliminated stigmatism is far too strict on the acts. Another thing to note that most change in belief systems require active change among participating members of the community. Unlike many people of the LGBTQ community, most prostitutes desire anonymity in their profession (ARLSP; 5.2, Impact), thus the amount of active change among participating members is much, much more lower than those of other stigmatized
communities.

When Hunt mentions of abuse and harassment by those who are drunk (PRLC report; 8.6.1, Social nuisance), one cannot help but imagine quite easily that any women could be easily abused and harassed by drunken others, yet as the report is focused on prostitutes, only data from that specific sample is taken. In other cases looking at the social nuisance aspect, most of it is on or by the street
working prostitutes. Not all blame can be put on society itself however, as the street prostitutes seem to have a tenancy to litter, so some of the stigmatism could be coming from the nature in which street prostitutes handle themselves.

Hunt goes on to mention about the "inherently exploitative nature" of prostitution and that it is "maintained and reinforced" because of the support the unjust power relationships between a prostitute and the buyer that legalization and criminalization give them (Hunt, Debunking the Myths). It is as though she is saying that prostitution is solely exploitative and that humans themselves aren't. It is common and even moral for a person to extract simple favours using their sexuality (Bromberg, Figurative, not Actual Degradation). We see sex become "a bartered service even within the sanctity of marriage" (Liberator; 3, Sex Within Monogamous Societies). Natural give-and-take situations occur in marriage, as sex can be traded for acts like doing the dishes, walking the dog and many other things. It becomes a commodity, and it certainly within the boundaries of a normal and healthy society. What makes the exploitation of sexuality a form of emotional violence is when you lead someone to falsily believe what they are giving in return for sex. However prostitution is "usually straightforward about what is expected in return" (Bromberg, Figurative, not Actual Degradation). Prostitution is then not, something that can harm another or the prostitutes themselves emotionally in this sense "because it is not involved in exploitative mind games" and instead "bears a sense of virtuousness" (Bromberg, Figurative, not Actual Degradation).

Hunt also seems to completely ignore how men behave and feel during prostitution, and how women perceive the men. Many men themselves don't know why the purchase prostitutes and even feel guilt and shame while doing so (Bindel, Why Men Use Prostitutes). At times they even believe that "that their sexual inclinations are inherited traits" (Bromberg, introduction) and that they cannot control why they go out and buy prostitutes (fleshtrade, farewell). She also ignores that at times it is all dependant on the prostitutes situation in how they view their buyer, as sometimes the prostitute is really happy with their buyers and maintains contacts with them and at other times, particularly among those who are being pimped, that they hate their buyers on principle (fleshtrade, A conversation with a prostitute). Other times the buyers are just plain weird and don't actually conform to her ideologies that the woman is subordinated and stigmatised, especially not by "a man who paid 50 euro to walk around like a dog for almost three hours. [The prostitute] only had to look at him from her bed." (fleshtrade, a prostitute on de Wallen and her boyfriend). In this sense we can see that Hunt does not "subscribe to this broader view of prostitution" (Bromberg, introduction) and in doing so rejects "prostitution as a valid way of life" (Bromberg, introduction).


Unfortunately, Hunt's myth 5 is the hardest to tackle. Because the trafficking is there. But it is important to note that the trafficking and pimping seem to be especially located in brothels. The Netherlands' inability to control traffickers caused them to "close approximately 2/3 of the legal brothels in Amsterdam" (Zehring, Legalizing Prostitution) and within one year, "illegal brothels in the
state of Victoria tripled in number" (Zehring, Legalizing Prostitution) when prostitution was legalized in Australia. Even more evidence from prostitutes' accounts themselves show that illegal activities is mainly in brothels and other similar buildings. Felicia Anna, a prostitute working in Amsterdamn for 4 years believes that the facts of forced prostitution are a myth among the window prostitutes in the red light district (Anna, Felicia), and she derives most of this knowledge from knowing a large majority of the prostitutes working there (fleshtrade, a prostitute on de Wallen).

So what is the solution? Well, for one, this is an obvious indicator that correlation does not mean causation. In this sense, the legal status of prostitution does not cause trafficking, and to go even further, prostitution itself does not cause trafficking. Indeed, the New Zealand report states this
clearly themselves (PLRC Report; 13, Trafficking). The biggest and easiest solution is to look at the source. Where are all the trafficked women coming from? From countries where women's rights aren't educated and where the women themselves aren't being empowered. The UN has been trying to do this for years as a solution in solving the world population problem, so it seems that solving one, solves the
other.


Myth 6, the last myth, is that Hunt is denouncing that "If We Criminalize the Buyer, We Are Not Acknowledging What Women in Prostitution Really Want" (Hunt, Debunking the Myths). This entire denouncement can be thwarted by a single claim from one prostitute, this prostitute "complains that social workers mainly focus on helping prostitutes out of prostitution, while many prostitutes want to leave the abusive situation, not prostitution" (fleshtrade, a conversation with a prostitute). Immediately, Hunt's claims are tossed into the bin, as she isn't actually taking account what prostitution actually want. Nor is she taking account the different kinds of prostitution in society. According to Sarah
Bromberg, "there is not just one, but at least nine" different kinds of prostitutes. Going through them briefly: The first one falls into poverty and turns to prostitution till they find somewhere else to work. Number two is born into "poverty and [has] a lack of education". Third, the prostitute may be forcibly abducted. Fourth prostitute starts prostitution because of "defects in her moral character" and may end up being pimped or trafficked. Fifth prostitute "may have been 'distanced' and demoralized by a fiercely competitive childhood". Prostitute number six, low intelligence and physical or mental health problems lead them to prostitution. Seventh takes "to prostitution naturally like 'fish take to water'". Eighth are attractive and very smart. And finally, the ninth prostitute has an irrepressible personality and actively seek out "the challenge of the most dangerous undertakings" (Bromberg, Introduction). Hunt does not even consider that making prostitution illegal would be very disadvantageous to the types of prostitutes who fall in categories that rely on their free will, and instead touts that the majority of prostitutes would benefit from this. This is incredibly problematic, as you cannot decide a solution to the fate of every member of a community based on a selective group of that community. It is the very same issue that every out group community is experiencing, be it Native Americans, the LGBTQ community, the homeless, prostitutes, you name it. Their wants and needs are being undermined in light of the bigger picture, the greater society.

In conclusion, Jacqui Hunt's article, "Debunking the Myths: Why Legalizing Prostitution is a Terrible Idea" has little to no proper evidence to support her claims in debunking these myths. Ranging from selectively taking out sentences from government data to completely ignoring the voices of the different types of prostitutes. In the points where legalizing and/or decriminalizing prostitution doesn't seem to help prostitutes, the fault is not that of the new prostitution acts, but either how they are implemented into society, whether or not prostitutes are properly educated about the act, or because of reasons completely outside of control of prostitution. It is in this, that it becomes clear that legalizing and/or decriminalizing prostitution does help prostitutes, whether they be in the field for free will or because of poverty, as immediate effects are seen, and time would just have to be given to see the others.












Works Cited:


Anna, Felicia. *Behind the Red Light District.* Wordpress Templates. n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.

Bindel, Julie. Meet the Oldest Prostitutes in Amsterdam – They're 70-Year-Old Twins." *The Guardian.* The Guardian News and Media Limited. 17 Sept. 2012. Web. 12. Feb. 2015.

Bindel, Julie. "Why Men Use Prostitutes." *The Guardian.* The Guardian News and Media Limited. 15 Jan. 2010. Web. 12. Feb. 2015.

Bromberg, Sarah. *Feminist Issues in prostitution*. Cal State University, Northridge. 1997. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.

Donkey. *Prostitution in the Netherlands* Blogger. n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2015 <fleshtrade.blogspot.ca>

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Kavemann, Barbara. "The Act Regulating the Legal Situation of Prostitutes – implementation, impact, current developments." SoFFI K.-Berlin. n.p. Sept. 2007. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.

Liberator, Mark. "Legalized Prostitution Regulating the Oldest Profession." *The Liberator* n.p. 8 Dec. 2015. <http://www.liberator.net/articles/prostitution.html>

Ministry of Justice. "Report of the Prostitution Law Review Committee on the Operation of the Prostitution Reform Act 2003". New Zealand Government. May 2008. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.

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Reilly, Tom; Davies, Anne. "Licensing Law to Tighten Screws on Brothel Chiefs". *The Sydney Morning Herald: New South Wales.* Fairfax Media. 11 October 2011. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.

"Sexual Arousal". *Wikipedia.* Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 8 Feb. 2015. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.

"Why I didn't and won't report my rape." *Liberate Yourself* n.p. n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.

Zehring, Cosima. "Legalizing prostitution increases human trafficking". *Examiner.com Entertainment* AXS Network. 28 June 2013. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.