Essay Example on Decriminalization of Prostitution: The Dark Side

Introduction

The decriminalization of prostitution has attracted significant pulls both in the political and social arenas. Some countries have passed laws declaring prostitution legal hence; the sex-worker and the recipient of the services cannot be termed as criminals. More often than not, the increase in tolerance for prostitution leads to an increase in the demand for human trafficking victims. Consequently, more women and children are forced into sexual slavery. A meager percentage of women willingly engage in sexual labour, and most of them fight to be free of it. The last two decades have seen debates over the legality and legitimacy of prostitution characterize the human trafficking discourse (O'Brien, 2015). Feminist inputs on prostitution laws reform and the legal status of prostitution in a country affect significantly the nature of legislation adopted concerning both human trafficking with its links to prostitution.

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When studies have been undertaken regarding prostitution, little consideration is given to the male population involved in this trade not as buyers but as the professionals. The feminist theory tends to dominate research on this subject with all the focus put on the female sexual experience and what challenges women in this profession face including abuse and violence. However, studies have indicated male sex-workers experience the same issues like those experienced by women sex-workers and their inclusion in concluding could count for a more informed and deeper-rooted analysis (Comte, 2014). With three stances ideologically placed regarding prostitution; sex-positive feminism, abolitionism, and decriminalization taking more precedence, the experiences of both male and female sex-workers should be compared and combined to provide a broader perspective about how human trafficking is affected by the legalization of prostitution or the criminalization thereof.

Legislation, programs, and research related to sex trafficking have usually been biased towards the invisibility of the male customer and also fail to hold these customers accountable to the role they play in the abusing and buying of women in prostitution (Raymond, 2004). Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), governments, and UN agencies have placed an insignificant tag on the male demand for sexual exploitation attributing this to the entrenchment of prostitution. Studies to establish the causes of trafficking and sexual exploitation rarely focus on the so-called customer (Raymond, 2004). The has been even less penalization by legislation, strengthened by myths that try to rationalize, of the male customers whose right to buy children and women for prostitution purposes are given a blind eye (Raymond, 2004). The legalization of prostitution only serves to confer more freedom for the continuation of the human trafficking trade, expanding the business even farther.

Pros and Cons of the Decriminalization of Prostitution

The legalization of prostitution has been documented to present both positive and negative impacts in the countries and regions within which it is practiced. States have traditionally been involved in attempts to control or eradicate, the practice of prostitution and consequently, human trafficking. Some of the motivating factors for this include the protection of women against abuse and exploitation, controlling the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), maintaining a balance in public order, and the basic preservation of morals (Outshoorn, 2005). Even though different opinions exist between activists and theorists on whether prostitution should be regulated in some way or abolished altogether, its decriminalization has accorded the sex workers some sort of protection by the law against violence and exploitation (Outshoorn, 2005). This means that it is then viewed as any other type of work and not as debasing and demeaning.

It is the end of the nineteenth century that saw prostitution and trafficking become significantly infused owing to the unequal distribution of wealth, industrialization, and urbanization which led to increased migration rates (Outshoorn, 2005). Several agencies and feminist movements caused constant pressure on the government demanding the abolition of prostitution and the complete lifting of the state regulation of brothels. The International Convention by the UN for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons of 1949 for instance, urged states and government to ban trafficking and prostitution (Outshoorn, 2005) entirely. Although there was little pressure during implementation, not all states adhered to this request but trafficking significantly moved from the public eye and prostitution was no longer a major political issue (Outshoorn, 2005). Therefore, these efforts promoted good morals and maintained public order.

The decriminalization of prostitution has been documented to significantly improve the condition of life and welfare of the sex workers through what is termed as sexual liberation. They are now protected under law against unnecessary criminalization, violence, abuse, and other forms of exploitation. For instance, the implementation of the Safe Harbor laws that served to redirect from the criminal justice system, child victims of child sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, to the children welfare system (Barnert, Abrams, Azzi, Ryan, Brook, & Chung, 2016). This ensures that these victims are sheltered from the unnecessary criminalization and further traumatization by providing guidance to health professionals, law enforcement agents, state legislators, child welfare providers, and other responders to the commercial sexual exploitation of children on the development and implementation of state Safe Harbor laws (Barnert, et al., 2016).

Another of the benefits accrued sex-workers to a country or state that has legalized prostitution is their inclusion in policy making and the overall development of the economy. Since sex work is then viewed as any other type of work, sex workers are then perceived as respectable members of the society void of prejudice and judgment. They can then voice issues that affect them and receive services like everybody else. Furthermore, through the realization that prostitution is a dangerous profession, harm-reduction principles have been put in place to safeguard the lives of these individuals similar to the drug-use harm reduction principle benefitting drug-users (Rekart, 2005). Sex workers are exposed to risks not limited to violence, abuse, discrimination, criminalization, and exploitation; sex trafficking, child prostitution, and migrants' exploitation (Rekart, 2005). These harm-reduction strategies are aimed at empowering, education, preventing danger, providing care, decriminalization of sex workers, health and occupational safety as well as other human-rights-based approaches. These principles improve the lives of sex workers even on a day-to-day basis.

However, the decriminalization of prostitution is the consequent increase in the rates of human trafficking including that of children for sexual gratification. Economic theory is reported to conclude that the legalization of prostitution has two effects of unknown magnitude (Cho, Dreher, & Neumayer, 2013). One, it results in an upsurge of the rate of human trafficking, which is the scale effect resulting from the expansion of the prostitution market (Cho et al., 2013). The substitution effect, on the other hand, is the presumed decrease in the demand for trafficked women and children as customers now lean more towards legal sex workers. A study performing an empirical analysis of up to 150 countries found out that the scale effect takes precedence over the substitution effect (Cho et al., 2013). Therefore, reported human trafficking inflows are much more significant in countries where prostitution has been decriminalized.

The decriminalization of prostitution has led to the significant conceptualization of women's sexual labour and human economic rights. The relentless debates on the relationship between prostitution and human trafficking have seen the division between the radical and the sex work feminists who differ in opinions regarding the advocacy for women in the international sex trade (Limoncelli, 2009). This conceptualization results in the narrow definition or the complete ignorance of women's economic rights. Research emphasizes the importance of the incorporation, under globalization, of a critical women rights analysis (Limoncelli, 2009).

Despite some arguments perceiving the legalization of prostitution is a form of expression, liberation, and women agency, other cases conclude that it remains to be a form of violence against women, and that its decriminalization always calls for the increase in the rate of human trafficking to meet the heightened demand for sex (Swanson, 2016). Failure to account for factors such as challenges for law enforcement, differing laws among jurisdictions, and complementary theoretical frames continue to agitate debates on the legalization of prostitution, and therefore, hindering efforts and progress to curb human trafficking (Swanson, 2016).

Countries that have Decriminalized Prostitution

Several countries around the globe have incorporated into their laws that prostitution is legal. Such include the Netherlands where the 2000s saw the ban on brothels lift through the Dutch authorities (Huisman, 2014). This approach was aimed at regulating prostitution whereby the law allowed people of legal age to buy or sell sexual services voluntarily. It is brothels that adhered to specific licensing requirements that were allowed to remain in operation (Huisman, 2014). This approach operated from a viewpoint that licensing conditions for legalized prostitution reduced human trafficking. Empirical evidence is used to confront the above notion based on two aspects; the consequences of normalizing prostitution to the prosecution of sex trafficking offenders and the criminal justice system, and how regulatory authorities and the criminal justice agencies work together in both the regulated and the non-regulated sectors of the prostitution markets (Huisman, 2014).

Researchers conclude that just regulating and apply licensing conditions to the prostitution market is not enough to curb human trafficking. This is because many are the illegitimate characteristics of the prostitution business and the fight against sex trafficking requires brutal force and efforts other than just its regulation through decriminalization. Also, it is reported that despite the adherence to the licensing conditions by brothels and other prostitution establishments, very little is done in the way of protecting sex workers in these establishments. For instance, research indicates that in the Netherlands, 40% of sex workers experience sexual violence, 60% are physically assaulted, and 70% are subjected to verbal threats (Batsyukova, 2007). This is irrespective of the administrative enforcement of the laws as mentioned above and the requirement that all sex work establishments be subjected to health and occupational safety routine checkups. These regulations are also meant to make the prostitution market unattractive for business and therefore the reduction in human trafficking as a result.

Another country that has legalized prostitution is Denmark. The decriminalization of prostitution occurred in 1999 in Denmark following the argument that a legal trade would be easier to regulate as compared to an illegal one. However, the profiting from the operation of escort agencies and brothels by third-parties is unlawful, as is the prostituting and pimping of minors. Also, the perception that prostitution was a leading cause for the spread and transmission of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) w...