Web Resources   Emergency Services   About Sex Work   Publications   Childcare   Healthcare   Financial  
About Sex Work:   FAQs   History   Quotes and Facts   Articles   Statistics and Research   People
 
Frequently Asked Questions  (in progress) Do you have a question? Email us here.

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)

Fair Use Notice
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding and knowledge of legal, political, human rights, economic, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. in regards to sex workers.  We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

 
 

       welcome     about us     calendar     news     legal page     resources     get involved!     links