Imagine having a tough day at work. Now imagine working in a Brothel and at the end of that bad day a client is refusing to pay because according to the client, you didn’t do your job properly. Catherine, a sex worker in New Zealand turned activist, recalls a time, “when a client didn’t pay and police arrived and escorted him to the ATM to withdraw the money,” (Smith, 2015, Para. 12) This is a rare occurrence in the sex work industry, being a sex worker in the modern world means that you put yourself at risk by doing your job in the shadows because of the stigma associated with that line of work and the lack of support from law enforcement. Sex work is defined as the exchange of money or goods for any sexual services (phone sex, dominatrix,
…show more content…
Trafficking: Understanding the Difference,” the confusion between sex work and sex trafficking has put sex workers at risk. Laws and law enforcement trying to help those who are sex trafficking victims pushes sex workers into a corner by putting victims on a par with workers. Sex workers are put in harm 's way by not being able to access basic human rights such as the right to health care, an education, or legal help due to their job being mistaken for being involuntary (Para. 6). Sex workers live in fear of law enforcement; they are concerned that they will not be able to work if they don’t hide in unsafe places do to being found by police and forced to stop working or be prosecuted. Decriminalizing sex work would allow a policy to be put in place, compelling workers to register as an employee of sex work. This has the potential to bring victims who are being coerced into sex work to the surface and allow the victims to be helped rather than law enforcement trying to help workers as …show more content…
Contraception is not used as often as it should due to not having laws in place that support sex workers. For the most part, the law prohibits sex work when the act of penetration is involved. It is estimated that if decriminalization was to take place then the spread of HIV among sex workers would be reduced about 33-46% (Breiner, 2015). Clients are not expected to use contraception 100% of the time because sex workers have no force, like the law, to back them up causing them to be more vulnerable. Sex workers also don’t use contraception out of fear of law enforcement using the condom as DNA evidence in a case against the worker or the client. Sex workers are not only obligated to protect themselves from the law but they must protect their clients as well in order to keep their clientele. With the protection of sex work being decriminalized, sex workers could deny a client 's business if they didn 't follow any policy pertaining to contraception set in place by the worker. If protected, sex workers wouldn’t feel scared to use contraception out of fear of law
Trafficking: Understanding the Difference,” the confusion between sex work and sex trafficking has put sex workers at risk. Laws and law enforcement trying to help those who are sex trafficking victims pushes sex workers into a corner by putting victims on a par with workers. Sex workers are put in harm 's way by not being able to access basic human rights such as the right to health care, an education, or legal help due to their job being mistaken for being involuntary (Para. 6). Sex workers live in fear of law enforcement; they are concerned that they will not be able to work if they don’t hide in unsafe places do to being found by police and forced to stop working or be prosecuted. Decriminalizing sex work would allow a policy to be put in place, compelling workers to register as an employee of sex work. This has the potential to bring victims who are being coerced into sex work to the surface and allow the victims to be helped rather than law enforcement trying to help workers as …show more content…
Contraception is not used as often as it should due to not having laws in place that support sex workers. For the most part, the law prohibits sex work when the act of penetration is involved. It is estimated that if decriminalization was to take place then the spread of HIV among sex workers would be reduced about 33-46% (Breiner, 2015). Clients are not expected to use contraception 100% of the time because sex workers have no force, like the law, to back them up causing them to be more vulnerable. Sex workers also don’t use contraception out of fear of law enforcement using the condom as DNA evidence in a case against the worker or the client. Sex workers are not only obligated to protect themselves from the law but they must protect their clients as well in order to keep their clientele. With the protection of sex work being decriminalized, sex workers could deny a client 's business if they didn 't follow any policy pertaining to contraception set in place by the worker. If protected, sex workers wouldn’t feel scared to use contraception out of fear of law