Criminalization Of Prostitution

Great Essays
Prostitution has been defined as “the act or practice of engaging in sexual activity for money or its equivalent.” With the exception of a few counties in Nevada, the United States has criminalized prostitution based on the premise that it is degrading to sex workers, the vast majority of whom are female. Proponents of criminalization also argue that it reduces the demand for human trafficking victims as well as the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Despite the prohibition of prostitution, there are still an estimated 1 million prostitutes in the United States today. Sex work persists in various forms all around the country including street prostitution, escort services, strip clubs, bars, brothels, massage parlors, and more. The current …show more content…
These cultural beliefs contribute to the unequal enforcement of prostitution laws among sex workers and clients, thus reducing female sex workers’ economic opportunities and exit options. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, approximately two-thirds of prostitution arrests in the United States are of female sex workers. The National Institute of Justice estimates that only 10% of all prostitution arrests are of male clients. Even though the purchase and sale of commercial sex are both technically illegal in the United States, the unbalanced enforcement of prostitution laws renders the purchase of sex essentially legal. Meanwhile, female sex workers are much more likely to accrue prostitution charges on their criminal records, which not only limits their options for employment outside of the sex industry, but also perpetrates their dependence on prostitution to make a living. As a result, female prostitutes are often trapped in the commercial sex industry and cannot obtain the resources to break out. The social and economic costs of criminalizing prostitution are disproportionately high for female sex workers, while male clients reap most of the …show more content…
Approximately 50,000 women and children from around the world are trafficked in the US every year, mainly from Latin America, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe. These women and children are coerced into engaging in commercial sex acts against their will, facing the same health issues, violence, and economic burdens associated with prostitution as described above. To some extent, the illegalization of prostitution decreases the prevalence of voluntary prostitution due to the risk of arrest and conviction. However, sex traffickers are less swayed by this policy because the risk of criminal penalty falls on the trafficked prostitute rather than the trafficker himself. Furthermore, if voluntary prostitutes leave the market, sex traffickers have an even greater incentive to continue trafficking to keep up with the demand for commercial sex. Even though conviction of the prostitute may result in a slight loss of income for the trafficker, the benefits of trafficking for sex traffickers outweigh the costs. Therefore, the current criminalization of prostitution in the US could encourage sex trafficking where the risks of arrest are higher and penalties are

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Sex Trafficking Thesis

    • 1483 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Sex trafficking awareness has increased over the past few years in the United States. Many believed that trafficking only occurred outside of the United States, however, with the increase in awareness and education many myths surrounding this awful crime are beginning to be crushed. The United States is the number one destination for victims trafficked from Latin America and the Caribbean and one of the top three destinations for the victims trafficked from Asia (Hepburn & Simon, 2010). Approximately 800,000 individuals are trafficked across international borders annually and 80% are women and 50% of the women are children. In fact, there are 50,000 victims trafficked into the United States yearly and about 400,000 United States children who…

    • 1483 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Prostitution has been an intriguing criminal offense that has been frowned upon since 1910 when the Mann Act was put into place which prohibited transporting prostitutes across state lines. Because it is up to the states to deem prostitution illegal, Nevada has allowed ten of its counties to permit prostitution while the rest of the country has made it a criminal act. Although it has been criminalized within the last 100 years, women selling their services has been around since the beginning of civilization beginning in 2400 BCE with the ancient Sumer’s. It is estimated that there are 70,000 prostitutes in the US currently and that number is not going down (Brewer et al. 2000). During the Progressive Era, many states decided that it was immoral,…

    • 997 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Consent Of Prostitution

    • 1041 Words
    • 5 Pages

    One of the topic we discussed in our women and gender studies class is prostitution, which happens with both sexes but is filled with mainly women. Prostitution can be forced or it can be chosen. The two articles I am going to use in my essay are; “Getting Away With Hating It: Consent in the Consent of Sex Work” by Charlotte Shane and “Prostitute 'Nancy' Shares Her Story: 'You Can Lose Your Life If You're Out Here'” by Rachel Cook. Both articles contain real life accounts from actual prostitutes and the way they see their profession. I am going to use both in my argument that prostitution cannot be just like any other job and therefore should not be made legal or be legal where it is.…

    • 1041 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Melissa Farley, in her book, “Prostitution and Trafficking in Nevada Making the Connections,” explains her experiencs after investigating eight legal brothels in Nevada and interviewing both women and brothel owners. Much to her surprise, these women did not get any better treatment than those who partake in illegal prostitution. In fact, it is a modern form of slavery. One interviewee described the place in which she was kept as a “pussy penitentiary.”…

    • 205 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Summary: Sex Trafficking

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The writer is determined not to be just a problem identifier but also a problem solver. She goes on to suggest two ways we can minimize prostitution, more law enforcement and increased awareness. Critical Response Erin Weaver stands with the viewpoint that sex trafficking is a worldwide problem. She supports her point with evidence of government sanctioned statistics, local and international instances, as well as reports from qualified people who work to prevent prostitution.…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dbq Human Trafficking

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages

    There are 800,000 people sold into slavery worldwide annually with at most 2 percent of the people trafficked into the United States. Most of the selling of persons happens in poor regions across the Asian continent, where the populace is growing, leaving traffickers to prey on the desperation found in destitution. Most migrants in these regions wanting work end up in a life of prostitution, which accounts for the activities of illegally procured women and girls in 46 percent of the cases (Source A). However, other reasons for trafficking include domestic servitude, farming, and factory work. Since rich countries as the United States have less of a problem with trafficking, a concrete role against slavery by passing laws that convict ringleaders is paramount.…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In her article “What’s Wrong with Legalizing Prostitution?” Janice Shaw Crouse depicts the difficult lifestyle and criticizes the legalization of prostitution. She focuses on the harsh environment and issues that plague the prostitutes throughout their services. Crouse also sheds light on the johns, pimps, and madams and their power over the prostitutes. Not only does she present evidence of the legalization of prostitution as harmful but also unhelpful.…

    • 210 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    prostitution will benefit a multitude of people and engender the countless number of problems faced in the United States. Sex trafficking is a well-known problem within and outside the United States. From indigenous Colombian drug dealers to the sixty-five year old grandpa from across the street, sex trafficking is everywhere. No matter where someone lives or how safe their environment, sex trafficking is likely to be occurring close by. In other words, this multi-billion dollar industry is one of the biggest threats to everyday American lives.…

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Would slavery still exist, even partly if the Civil War never occurred? To correctly assess this topic we must understand what slavery is. Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property, in real estate terms the word chattel means personal property; often slavery is called chattel slavery. Slaves can be bought, sold, and sometimes perhaps stolen or kidnapped. The timeline of their capture has a variety of ranges.…

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Prostitution has been a massive industry in countries and cities where it has been decriminalized. The tax revenue coming from legal brothels have been a major source of income and it has created more opportunities for the unemployed. The only place in the United States where prostitution is currently legalized is in the state of Nevada in certain cities and counties. In an article written by Annie Lowrey, she explained that, “one Lyon County official, for instance, told an NBC affiliate the county raises $300,000 to $500,000 per year from the local brothels” (2-3). This data collected from one county in Nevada demonstrates that money made from legal prostitution is significant.…

    • 1206 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Human Trafficking and Prostitution in The United States Human trafficking and prostitution is a social problem that many people in the United States are uncomfortable talking about because of the nature of the issue. However, it is extremely important that Americans begin to discuss the concerns that the rise in human trafficking and prostitution has created. While the social problem affects mostly women, many people are unaware of the men that fall victims. Americans, as well as other people around the world, need to discuss the problems that human trafficking and prostitution can create for children and adults. Statistics have shown that many people are affected by human trafficking and that even more people work as prostitutes.…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Prostitutes and their ‘Johns’ do not characteristically commit harmful acts, meaning the only crime they are committing is the exchange sex for profit. Prostitution is a victimless crime where no one is injured or harmed by the act, a person is paying for a product and the sex worker is providing that product. The legalization of prostitution would significantly reduce the rate of rape by of near twenty-five percent and reflects a reduction of approximately twenty-five thousand incidences annually. A significant step in preventing rape and other violent crimes against sex workers is to decriminalize prostitution in brothers and by call girls. Many crimes against sex workers are also committed by their ‘pimps’, who control the sex workers, taking most of the money they earn and keeping them addicted to drugs.…

    • 2167 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    (2007) found that depending on the type of services—escort sector, street prostitution, in-door prostitution, lap-dancing, etc.—all sex workers receive their pay differently, usually ending in material compensation. (p. 47) According to Hepburn, S., & Simon, R. (2010), most women are falsely promised a home and/or a job resulting in exorbitant fees, such as those for transportation and housing placing victims in a position of debt bondage. (p. 4-5) Batsyukova, S. (2007) recognizes traffickers often give manipulative ultimatums or threats to make the victims stay, resulting in limited compensation, violence and/or physical and emotional abuse. (p. 48)…

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Legalizing Prostitution Being known as the oldest jobs in the world, people have now considered it to be an occupation, while others believe it to be demeaning towards women. Prostitution does not favor or categorize race, color, gender or age. In this profession ethnicity or life experiences are not ignored. Prostitution has already existed all around the world and is not limited to any particular place; this can be spotted at nightclubs, during the day at your own home, having sexual activity with someone for a profit. Having the prostitution laws in the United States shows the confusion and in constant movement to stop it.…

    • 891 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Introduction In many countries, prostitution is illegal. Even in the U.S, which is such an advanced country, prostitution is only legal in eleven counties in Nevada. However, the Final Report on the Evaluation of the First Offender Prostitution Program, prepared by Michael Shively, et al., shows that fifteen to twenty percent of men in the U.S have engaged in commercial sex at least one time (10). According to the United States Census in 2010, there are 151,781,326 males in the U.S, so approximately 22.767 million to 30.356 million men have spent money on prostitution.…

    • 1012 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays