The sexual landscape has drastically changed since our time on the African savannah. Humans have effectively separated pleasure and procreation. This is no minor achievement, seeing how the former can be said to drive the latter. Without pleasure, procreation seems less likely if not less fun. But if we can have the pleasure without procreation, well, then, we can have our cake and eat it too. The question, as it pertains to prostitution, is do we want to live in a society where we can buy the cake.

Many competing sides give many competing reasons as to why the answer should be no, yes, and “I dunno, maybe.” With all of them, though, there are common goals (Carrasquillo, 2014; Immordino & Russo, 2015). Everyone wants to reduce harm and the spread of disease. Everyone also wants to safeguard sexual autonomy, civil equality, and career opportunities (Carrasquillo, 2014; Immordino & Russo, 2015). The problem is that we want all of these things, completely and together. That’s a problem because it’s an impossibility (Carrasquillo, 2014). Every stance – prohibition, regulation, decriminalization – has its flaws (Bruckert & Hannem, 2013; Carrasquillo, 2014).

Take the United States’ stance of prohibition. These laws originated, without coincidence, right alongside the women’s suffrage movement and the law to ban alcohol (Dueholm, 2014). “Like alcohol,” Dueholm says, “prostitution never really went away. Unlike alcohol, it never really came back, either.” Instead what happened was it moved into the penumbra of society, unlike its very rich and booming sister-profession pornography. Cutting off the red-light district’s electricity, in other words, didn’t stop people from buying and selling sex because people had no problem doing it in the dark.

The intentions of prohibition are laudable. Laws against prostitution aim to put a cap on the spread of diseases and harm. They try to end what is often seen by many as degrading and exploitative work. But the evidence shows that criminalization exacerbates the problem rather than solves it (Bruckert & Hannem, 2013; Carrasquillo, 2014; Dueholm, 2014). As Carrasquillo puts it, even though no option is perfect, “all [of the] alternatives are better than criminalization.” (Carrasquillo, 2014).

One reason criminalization isn’t working is that it makes it harder to get out of the industry for those wanting to. Many prostitutes turn to having sex for money because life has dealt them a bad hand – there is no other option. One study found that, across nine countries, 90% of prostitutes wanted to stop (Farley et al., 2003). Laws criminalizing prostitution close doors for these individuals because it slaps a felony on their record, making it harder for them to find other work.

Another side-effect of prohibition is that prostitutes who are abused or raped (most of them are [Farley et al., 2003]) often don’t report the crime because they’re fearful that they’ll get in trouble (Carrasquillo, 2014). Prohibition doesn’t solve the problem, it compounds it.

“In recent years,” Yarber says, “there has been a shift throughout the world from prohibition of prostitution to legalization [or decriminalization]…” (Yarber, Sayad, & Strong, 2012). The United States seems to be sticking with prohibition, though, despite evidence showing its defectiveness.

There is ample reason to believe that legalization would be more conducive to the goals of society and people individually (Bruckert & Hannem, 2013; Carrasquillo, 2014; Immordino & Russo, 2015). With regulation, selling sex would require a license and frequent STI tests – for both buyer and seller. On top of this (as in Nevada’s legal brothels) the buyers could be screened and interviewed before the sale. In Nevada brothels, violence, rape, and abuse of all stripes are practically non-existent. This is to say nothing about the tax revenue that could come from legalizing prostitution (Carrasquillo, 2014). If one doesn’t mind sex-money.

But, as I mentioned at the beginning, no alternative is a panacea for society’s concerns. Rather, it is a choice between the lesser of two evils. Regulation, and even decriminalization in full or partial form, does not address women’s autonomy and struggle to gain equality. This is because the women working at brothels like the one’s in Nevada have rules against what the women can and cannot do with their bodies. For example, some have to remain on the brothel’s premises while contracted (Immordino & Russo, 2015). “Perhaps most troubling,” Immordino and Russo (2015) say, “is the state law that mandates that the name and photograph of any brothel worker who is HIV positive be published publicly.” This proves that even if legal, improvement would still be needed to make this a safe industry.

The prostitution debate tugs on all of our visceral and moral strings. And we find it hard to think rationally about anything we find emotionally repulsive, like the selling of sex for money. This is not to pit reason against emotion. Rather, it is to say one cannot exist without the other – and emotion plays a bigger role than we often realize (Hadit, 2013).

They’re are many different kinds of people who sell sex for money (Dueholm, 2014); and just as many people who buy it (Yarber et al., 2012). Sometimes life deals a hand that forces people to turn to prostitution – sometimes people willingly sell sex (Dueholm, 2014). These are the facts that we have to work with. Either scenario requires that we not prosecute people. In the first case, prosecution makes the hole these people are trying to get out of even deeper. In the second case, we encroach on sexual autonomy. I think the first case is a lot worse than the second. We already restrict certain sexual behavior, like bestiality, incest and, for a while there, sodomy. Understandably, the fear is we don’t want to make another mistake like we did with sodomy and homosexuality.

I think legalizing prostitution is the best option for society. This doesn’t mean I support the inequality and exploitation of women. I simply believe that laws should work to strengthen society and that our current laws against prostitution aren’t doing so. Legalizing and regulating prostitution, though it may be viscerally displeasing, seems to be the best option for achieving society’s goals while allowing sexual autonomy.

 

 


 

Works Cited

Bruckert, C., & Hannem, S. (2013). Rethinking the Prostitution Debates: Transcending Structural Stigma in Systemic Responses to Sex Work. Canadian Journal of Law & Society, 28(1), 43–63. Retrieved from http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.stedwards.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=9&sid=ed361b87-8f85-43d3-83ff-af819de450b4%40sessionmgr114&hid=111&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=sih&AN=91881065

Carrasquillo, T. (2014). Understanding Prostitution & The Need For Reform. Touro Law Review, 30(3), 697–721. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.stedwards.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=334e128b-67ba-436c-bab8-7db58c7e45e0%40sessionmgr4004&hid=4110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=101585894

Dueholm, B. J. (2014). Sex, Love & Commerce. Christian Century, 131(1), 28–33. Retrieved from http://eds.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.stedwards.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=6&sid=334e128b-67ba-436c-bab8-7db58c7e45e0%40sessionmgr4004&hid=4110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5h&AN=93583468

Farley, M., Cotton, A., Lynne, J., Zumbeck, S., Spiwak, F., Reyes, M. E., … Sezgin, U. (2003). Prostitution and Trafficking in Nine Countries: An Update on Violence and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Jouranl of Trauma Practice, 2(3/4), 33–74. Retrieved from http://www.prostitutionresearch.com/pdf/Prostitutionin9Countries.pdf

Hadit, J. (2013). The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. Vintage. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/The-Righteous-Mind-Politics-Religion/dp/0307455777

Immordino, G., & Russo, F. F. (2015). Regulating prostitution: A health risk approach. Journal of Public Economics, 121, 14–31. doi:10.1016/j.jpubeco.2014.11.001

Yarber, W. L., Sayad, B. W., & Strong, B. (2012). Human Sexuality: Diversity in Contemporary America (8th ed.). Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Human-Sexuality-Diversity-Contemporary-America/dp/0078035317

1 thought on “Turning On the Red Light

  1. Two research articles included for Side A 5/5 pts

    Two research articles included for Side B 5/5 pts

    Summary of Side A and Side B 20/20 pts

    Who you agree with and why? 13/15 pts
    (Include strengths and weaknesses)
    Specific strengths and weaknesses of the research

    APA Formatting/ Grammar/ Length 5/5 pts

    Total 48/50 total

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *