Helpful Information:
Issues
regarding sex work (NSWP)
Does keeping prostitution illegal protect women or
society?
Criminalizing prostitution certainly is effective at protecting those
arrested for prostitution from ever having a job outside of prostitution. It
is difficult enough for anyone with an arrest record to obtain employment,
let alone a record for a prostitution arrest. Furthermore, prostitution has
been illegal here in the US (except Nevada) since the mid-to-late 1800s, and
yet it is still prevalent across the US (and around the world). Its illegal
status has not protected society, but perhaps even endangered society due to
resources used for prostitution and related crimes arrests being taken away
from pursuing violent criminals, such as rapists, murderers, carjackers,
etc.
Wouldn't it be best to legalize and regulate
prostitution?
No. Legalization means more government bureaucracy, more laws, and more
public resources used for ineffective enforcement. Furthermore, in places in
which prostitution is legal, many other laws are made criminalizing
everything from living off the earnings of a prostitute (which makes
criminals of anyone over 18 living in a household with a prostitute- meaning
children, parents, partners, etc.) to advertising for the purposes of
prostitution. Illegal brothel laws are used to prosecute two or more women
living together (often cohabitating for their own safety). Overwhelmingly,
the enforcement of these laws has meant that people of color are
disproportionately targeted.
What about mandatory testing?
Mandatory testing is a false promise. Firstly, women's physiological make-up
renders them far more susceptible to catching a sexually transmitted
infection (STI) than passing one on. A CDC report once stated that only 3%
of STIs were known to be attributable to sex workers; far more prevalent
were the instances among sexually active young adults between the ages of
18-25. Furthermore, testing anyone will only ensure that at the moment of
testing, the individual has no detectable STIs. But some STIs can incubate
for up to 5 months without detection, so an individual may be transmitting
an STI even if s/he has tested negative. Mandatory testing also lends a
false sense of security to participants in the sex industry, as people may
try to justify not using condoms on the basis that a sex worker has been
tested and is clean. This can have devastating consequences in countries or
in situations where a sex worker has little power to demand condom use
either because of a gender and power imbalance, or because she may be
physically threatened by someone who demands sex without a condom.
(This page is in progress)
