Earlier this week 13 women ranging in age from 19 to 62 were arrested during a prostitution sting here in Jacksonville. The Florida Times-Union wrote an article on the arrested and shared it on their Facebook page. Over 180 people shared it and commented on the post.
"So sad that is all Duval has to offer. Lol. Nasty. Yuck"
"I threw up in my mouth a lil looking at these women who would pay them they should be free"
"I would pay money not to have sex with any of them...Hideous looking bunch!"
Most commentators made fun of the looks of women, but few did come to the defense of the prostitutes. One woman said that these prostitutes have a right to do whatever they choose to do with their body, and it is not our place to judge.
Soon after, someone replied: "...And I can't get over one of the comments on here that it's their body and they can do with it whatever-That's so what's wrong in this country. Last time I heard prostitution was against the LAW!!!!"
And to be fair, this poster is right. Prostitution is not legal. But should it be?
In 1920, an amendment to the constitution went into effect which made the production, transportation and sale of alcohol illegal. This lasted precisely 13 years, after it became apparent that full enforcement of the law was not possible, and the financial benefits of legalizing alcohol were too tempting to ignore during recession.
In his 1932 letter, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., a former supporter of Prohibition admitted failure, mentioning increase in crime, and how citizens have openly ignored Prohibition.
Law has no effect on demand, and where there is demand, there will be supply. Whether or not prostitution is legal, it will continue. So why have we not learned from our mistake?
Opponents of prostitution believe that legalizing prostitution would lead to global increase in human trafficking, violent crime, sexually transmitted diseases, and promote the repression of women by men.
Let's take each issue one by one.
Spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases
The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that sex workers in countries where prostitution is illegal tend to have inconsistent condom use or a lack of condom use, which increases risk of STI and HIV infection.
You might wonder why they forgo using condoms if their health is at risk, but when police officers use condoms found on women as evidence in criminal prostitution cases against them it all makes sense. That is what was found from a 2012 study by the Urban Justice Center.
On the other hand, by legalizing prostitution the government can regulate it to protect both the sex workers and the consumers.
According to a study presented at the 20th International Aids Conference in Australia in 2014, cases of HIV transmission among sex workers could be decreased by 33-46% if prostitution was legalized.
In certain counties of Nevada prostitution is legal and regulated. Sex workers have to get monthly tests for syphilis and HIV and weekly tests for gonorrhea and chlamydia. All sex workers also have to use condoms.
This could be the case for all women in this line of work.
Safety of Women
According to a study done by American Journal of Public Health, a sex worker has a 32% to 55% to experience workplace violence within past year, and 45% to 75% of lifetime prevalence of any or combined workplace violence.
In San Franciso, where prostitution is illegal, 82% of sex workers have been physically abused, 68% of sex workers have been raped, and 83% of sex workers have been threatened with weapons.
That's the direct result of lack of regulation. When people have no labor rights like freedom from discrimination and the right to a safe work environment, they get abused.
After Germany and New Zealand made prostitution legal, sex workers were able to have access to health services, social system, and protection of labor laws. This dramatically decreased cases of violence against sex workers.
By keeping women on the street, we are putting their lives at risk.
Global Human Trafficking
In 2009, United Nations reported that sex trafficking accounts for 79% of all human trafficking, making it the most common form of human trafficking in the world.
Some argue that if prostitution is legal then it would be hard to distinguish which of the women working in brothels were there of their own choice and which were not.
However, the facts tell another story.
In 2001, Germany legalized sex work, and over next decade instances of sex-based human trafficking decreased by 10 percent,
In 2003, New Zealand legalized prostitution, and they found no increase in trafficking or the number of sex works after 5 years.
By keeping prostitution illegal, we also make it hard for women working as prostitutes to seek help due to fear of arrest and how society stigmatizes that type of work.
And finally,
Repression of Women by Men
We argue that women in this line of work are repressed by men, and they need us to protect them. Isn't that a bit facetious?
If we are promoting the rights of women, shouldn't we be for women's rights to choose what they want to do with their body? Doing otherwise is sexist, and puts women working in this line of work at a risk.
The reality is that this issue, just like most other issues we discuss, is not black and white. There are studies that have data which suggest that legalizing prostitution is bad, and there are anecdotes from women that worked as prostitutes which suggests that legalizing prostitution would lead to a higher risk of human trafficking (Last Vegas Review Journal). So maybe outright legalizing prostitution might not be the best idea. However, whatever we are doing now is obviously not working and it is putting our women and public at risk, so maybe it is time to rethink prostitution. Because after all, prostitution is here to stay, regardless if it is legal or not.
