Prostitution
ProCon
This site presents in a simple, nonpartisan pro-con format, responses to the
core question "Should prostitution be legal?" We have divided questions
about the topic into the issues and sub-issues listed below. All individuals
quoted on our site are ranked based upon our unique theoretical credibility
scale.
Prostitution: A wife speaks out
BBC Radio 4- Woman's Hour
At the end of a week in which the Government announced new
plans to change the laws surrounding prostitution, Martha Kearney is joined
by "Sarah" whose husband used prostitutes for 14 years of their
marriage. Martha asks what effects did this have on Sarah and her children?
How did she deal with the feelings the situation provoked? And why did she
decide to stay with her husband?
Prostitution: A wife speaks out- discussion
The ensuing discussion of the above program.
Empowerment for Sex Workers? Notes from the Philippines
By Eric Ratliffe, in Research for Sex Work
Working with women in the Philippine sex industry over
the past six years, I have heard a lot about ‘empowerment’, but see little
in terms of empowering programmes and policies. Part of the problem involves
defining ‘empowerment’: the concept relates to one’s ability to make
choices, where ‘choice’ entails the possibility of alternatives when it
comes to ‘strategic life decisions’ regarding livelihood, marriage,
etcetera.1
Feminist Perspectives on Sex Markets
From Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Sex markets have been a concern to feminists because, historically, the
“skin trade” has relied predominantly on female service providers and male
consumers. Feminist theorists are divided on the question of whether markets
in pornographic materials and sexual services pose a threat to women in all
contexts. Some feminist theorists argue that when one is paid for sex, a
person contracts to give away her freedom and sexuality. Others argue that
selling sex harms women only because the work carries a stigma generated
from double standards of sexual morality and negative attitudes to sex,
which need to be challenged. The debate over sex commerce extends to a
number of social practices, including pornography, prostitution, escort
services, erotic dancing and strip shows, phonesex and cybersex, and s/m
parlors and swing clubs. Feminist philosophers have primarily focused on the
issues of pornography and prostitution, and have subsumed the other
practices under one of these broad categories...
Who Will Rescue Us from Those Who Rescue Us Against Our Will?
By Norma Jean Almodovar, on ifeminists.com
The "rescue and reformation" of prostitutes
has always been a big business. In the late 19th century, "fallen women"
(prostitutes) had literally hundreds of Rescue Organizations vying for their
souls and the money that went with their "salvation." Most of those
prostitutes unlucky enough to be so rescued could count on a life of slavery
as inmates in the laundries, asylums and penitentiaries built by "faith
based" organizations who raised thousands of dollars from the church-going
public, horrified by the stories of the "poor, betrayed and fallen women" of
the streets...
Introduction to the issues regarding sex work
From NSWP
Commercial sex takes place in many kinds of ways and involves
many different types of people, many of whom are in no way stereotypical.
People from various backgrounds and classes sell sex and they do so for a
broad range of reasons. These reasons often change over time. Some people
sell sex as a full-time occupation, while others sell sex only occasionally.
Although some people are willing sex workers and others are pressured to
sell sex, it is not helpful to see sex work as either voluntary or forced.
In fact, between the educated and resourceful woman...
Legalized Prostitution: Regulating the Oldest Profession
By Mark Liberator
The following page is a fact-based positional paper on
prostitution, not a scientific study. Use this piece to gain insight into to
the many potential benefits of legalizing and regulating prostitution. Few
people in the United States (and some people in other countries) appear to
believe in the legalization of regulated prostitution despite a considerable
body of convincing evidence that may support such a view...
Prostitution
Seen as Violence Against Women: A Supportive or Oppressive View?
By Liv Jessen on PENET
I am the head of the Pro
Centre, a national centre for prostitutes in Norway. I am a social worker by
profession and for seventeen years I worked daily among Norwegian and
foreign women and men who sell sex and among some of their customers. In
talking about prostitution and society's view of this phenomenon, it is
natural for me to base myself on the Norwegian/ Scandinavian reality.
