Prostitution: Put on The Red Light for Legalization
The “world’s oldest profession,” prostitution, continues to thrive. There is mounting evidence
that prostitution is not a victimless crime, but rather, a serious human rights issue and a vehicle
for maintaining inequality between men and women (Post, 2011). Despite all the evidence
available, there is little or no effort by individual states to protect the women that are often in the
“profession” against their will.
Given that the majority of women are coerced into prostitution and 92 percent of prostituted women seek to escape (Post, 2011) prostitution should not be legalized because it cannot be fixed. If escape was possible, these abused and exploited women would need access to resources that could help with housing needs, education, jobs that provide the means to meet their basic needs, affordable health care, and perhaps, most importantly, emotional support. These life necessities should be the foundation of any reform or legislation focused on alternatives to the legalization of prostitution. As long as the women performing …show more content…
Many of the women engaging in sex work have come to the profession with a history of homelessness, poverty, and abuse. In a recent study, researchers found that more than 60% of prostitutes interviewed, reported childhood physical or sexual abuse (Russell, 1998). This exploitation of an already vulnerable group of individuals rises to the threshold of human rights violations, and any chance to effect change and improvement in the living standards for this group, must work in tandem with the police, prosecutors, and judges. As recently as 1991, police in a southern California community closed all rape reports made by prostitutes and addicts, placing them in a file stamped “NHI.” The letters stand for “No Human Involved” (Fairstein,
The “world’s oldest profession,” prostitution, continues to thrive. There is mounting evidence
that prostitution is not a victimless crime, but rather, a serious human rights issue and a vehicle
for maintaining inequality between men and women (Post, 2011). Despite all the evidence
available, there is little or no effort by individual states to protect the women that are often in the
“profession” against their will.
Given that the majority of women are coerced into prostitution and 92 percent of prostituted women seek to escape (Post, 2011) prostitution should not be legalized because it cannot be fixed. If escape was possible, these abused and exploited women would need access to resources that could help with housing needs, education, jobs that provide the means to meet their basic needs, affordable health care, and perhaps, most importantly, emotional support. These life necessities should be the foundation of any reform or legislation focused on alternatives to the legalization of prostitution. As long as the women performing …show more content…
Many of the women engaging in sex work have come to the profession with a history of homelessness, poverty, and abuse. In a recent study, researchers found that more than 60% of prostitutes interviewed, reported childhood physical or sexual abuse (Russell, 1998). This exploitation of an already vulnerable group of individuals rises to the threshold of human rights violations, and any chance to effect change and improvement in the living standards for this group, must work in tandem with the police, prosecutors, and judges. As recently as 1991, police in a southern California community closed all rape reports made by prostitutes and addicts, placing them in a file stamped “NHI.” The letters stand for “No Human Involved” (Fairstein,