Why We Need to Start Talking about Prostitution
Before I start…
Take a moment to think about yourself. There’s at least one thing in your life that you get a bit defensive about一which makes sense since there isn’t one definition of ‘normal’ and we don’t all live cookie cutter lives. Maybe you often find yourself defending a hobby you have, or don’t like one of those universally popular foods and always get a lot of backlash for it. But now imagine having to justify your career as a prostitute or sex worker.
Even though younger generations feel more comfortable having discussions about traditionally ‘taboo’ topics, much of the older generation would likely disapprove of ‘this kind of talk’. But this isn’t about trying to change people’s beliefs; because quite frankly, we need to be able to respect when others have different opinions than our own, no matter how much we might disagree. Rather, the conversation needs to be about how we deal with issues where legislation could either end up protecting rights, or restricting them.
The Importance of Informing Ourselves
In my own experience, I have always been raised to be understanding of others beliefs and choices. I also find it critically important to be thoughtful and careful when developing my opinions 一 that you should be researching evidence for and against your initial beliefs and having constructive conversations with both sides. For instance, there are only a handful of topics that I feel comfortable enough that I’d be able to explain and support my position. By this I mean that I have read many articles on and engaged in healthy debates and conversations with others. Rather than just seeing one news article with a catchy headline that claims that one person is evil and then preaching it to all my friends, I delve deeper to fully understand the situation.
Food for Thought
One of the most important things I’ve learned regarding this topic in relation to the media is that statistics surrounding prostitution are frequently inaccurate. For instance, the Dallas Morning News published an article in 2013 in which they reported a figure of 300,000 sex traffic prosecution cases per year, when in actuality, this figure is closer to 2 people. Although this may just appear to be a careless error, the more probable reality is perhaps more troublesome than the fake statistic itself. Author of Lies, Damned Lies and Sex Work, Maggie McNeill, talks about how common misconceptions and inaccurate figures have been spread through the media. In fact, many articles claim that there are 100,000 to 300,000 children forcibly kept in sex slavery in the US. While this figure is initially very concerning, McNeill goes on to clarify that this 2001 survey conducted by students from University of Pennsylvania was actually estimating the number of children, adolescents, and youth (up to 21) at risk to ‘sexual exploitation’. She attributes this example of “statistical malpractice” to have come from the rise in “media fueled moral panic over sex trafficking”. As news companies discover topics that peque public interest, it is common that they’ll publish more articles on these topics in order to increase revenue. And often to get people’s attention, writers will use flashy titles that evoke concern, and in the process are often blowing things out of proportion.
Why Legalize?
A popular argument supporting prostitution is made in the comparisons to other professions that are actually legal. Jennifer Wright, author of Why Prostitution Should be Legal, points out that even though people cite the danger that comes with sex work, jobs such as firefighting, professional football players, and war reporters are all accepted. Furthermore, she notes the hypocrisy that ‘scandalous’ or ‘morally degrading’ careers of modeling and stripping are legal, and that morally questionable work like scam artists or selling ‘magic diet pills’ aren’t talked about despite the fact that they are taking advantage of vulnerable people to make a profit.
Here’s Where it Gets Tricky…
Although I already explained the connection between sex work as a profession and the ways it can be exploited (as in sex trafficking), I have yet to bring up the way this issue needs to be looked at depending on the different parts of the world. In the safer, more modernized nations, it is much more plausible to argue that sex work can be legitimized as a career that is not forced. But when considering that poverty-stricken countries also play in to the discussion, we need to remember that these arguments may not apply universally. From a 2008 report by Kaieteur News, there are often cases in which large families sell their daughters for ‘services’ in order to combat the dreads of poverty. The article then goes on to conclude that the solution to Guyana’s prostitution is in the education of the dangers of sex work.
Furthermore, in countries with high levels of criminalization of prostitution, those who face abuse almost never speak out in fear of being punishment themselves. Alongside this, people fear judgement and discrimination and will therefore often not disclose their activities to health care professionals. From the AMA Journal of Ethics website, I learned that once a female sex worker had been raped, yet “…was afraid to be judged by the hospital and that they’d call the police”. As supported by this woman’s story, I and many sources argue that in order to increase the safety of sex work, prostitution as a whole needs to be decriminalized and legalized to encourage reports of abuse. In the case of New Zealand, which has been actively working in past years to decriminalize sex work, the results have been optimistic. According to the article Decriminalizing Sex Work in New Zealand: Its History and Impact, it has been noted that “After decriminalization, that dynamic shifted dramatically, and importantly the focus on the sex worker wasn’t on the sex worker as a criminal. It was on the rights, safety, health and well being of the sex worker”. One specific example of this in New Zealand can be seen when in 2014 a sex worker successfully prosecuted a brothel owner for sexual harassment by her employer. Although it is by no means a complete solution, I for one definitely see it as a step in the right direction, giving me hope that this will spread to the rest of the world, opening up our society for discussion on this ignored topic.
What I Got Out of It — & What You Can Too
Personally, the process I went through in learning about the reality of sex work gave me a greater depth in my understanding on a topic I’d wanted to learn more about. Instead of coming out with just an opinion, I now have a much more extensive breadth of knowledge on both perspectives. And by writing this informative piece, I hope that I’ve allowed you to feel at least a bit more comfortable discussing this topic with others. Or maybe you didn’t feel uncomfortable talking about it, but just felt like you didn’t know enough and didn’t want to say the wrong thing. Either way, by reading about others’ perspectives and learning about the sides we’re arguing for, we’re able to create a more authentic conversation about the important topics. So, whether you agree with my beliefs towards the legalization of prostitution or not, it’s the discussion we’re creating that matters.
Works Cited
Albright, Erin, and Kate D’Adamo. “Decreasing Human Trafficking through Sex Work Decriminalization.” AMA Journal of Ethics, American Medical Association, Jan. 2017, journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/decreasing-human-trafficking-through-sex-work-decriminalization/2017–01.
Banyard, Kat. “The Dangers of Rebranding Prostitution as ‘Sex Work.’” The Guardian, Guardian News & Media, 7 June 2016, www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/jun/06/prostitution-sex-work-pimp-state-kat-banyard-decriminalisation.
Koster, Katherine. “17 Facts about Sexual Violence and Sex Work.” HuffPost, Verizon Media, 4 Dec. 2015, www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-koster/16-facts-about-sexual-ass_b_8711720.html.
McNeill, Maggie. “Lies, Damned Lies and Sex Work Statistics.” The Washington Post, 27 Mar. 2014, www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/03/27/lies-damned-lies-and-sex-work-statistics/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6707f9792eb2.
“Prostitution, a Growing Problem Fuelled by Poverty, Poor Education.” Kaieteur News, 13 Nov. 2008, www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2008/11/13/prostitution-a-growing-problem-fuelled-by-poverty-poor-education/.
Sanders, Teela, and Lucy Platt. “Is Sex Work Still the Most Dangerous Profession? The Data Suggests so.” The Conversation, Conversation US, 10 Aug. 2017, theconversation.com/is-sex-work-still-the-most-dangerous-profession-the-data-suggests-so-81854.
Wright, Jennifer. “Why Prostitution Should Be Legal.” Harper’s BAZAAR, Hearst Magazine Media, 26 Apr. 2018, www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/politics/a20067359/why-prostitution-should-be-legal/.
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