I will argue that it is justified for the government to implement the Swedish model, that is, to criminalise the purchase of sexual services.
Government’s role in a country is to protect, stabilise, and ensure the welfare of its people, and therefore, one of the most important functions of a government is to protect its people’s rights and dignity through the regulations it makes. Prostitution, or the act of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for money, is commonly seen as a serious threat towards a society’s morality and humans’ right, autonomy and dignity.1 Therefore, it is a widespread practice for governments to try to reduce the occurrence of prostitution, commonly by criminalising prostitution, or making the selling of sex illegal.
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However, the implementation of Swedish model places the burden on the clients, or buyers of the sexual service, which sets it apart from the other two alternatives. This may be seen as a form of invasion or intervention done by the government towards the personal life and decision of their people. These are important and controversial issues that need to be assessed carefully to provide justification for the implementation of the Swedish model. Therefore, I will focus this essay more on assessing these issues specific to the implementation of the Swedish …show more content…
Prostitution is deemed as an “immoral” occupation especially in a more conservative and religious society since sexual activities are viewed as a sacred activity that is done by a married couple under the religious and traditional view. Traditional and radical feminists also viewed prostitution as “immoral” since it reinforces both male dominance over women and gender inequality. 7
Aside from the immorality of prostitution, engaging in prostitution exposes the prostitutes towards different risks, such as sexually transmitted diseases, violence, social stigma, and lack of legal protections. These factors have made prostitution to be viewed as immoral and inherently wrong.
However, aside from the values assigned by religions and cultures towards sexuality, prostitution is essentially providing bodily services with certain risks, which in Nussbaum’s view is just the same with other occupations such as being a domestic worker, chicken plucker, or even a colonoscopy artist. 8 Therefore, these characteristics are not enough to justify that prostitution is morally wrong, as we will not classify those similar occupations as
Additionally, prostitution is characterized as immoral because they are paid for using their body. By adhering to analogy, the stigma of prostitution is from illogical perceptions. By comparing a factor worker to a prostitute one may regard that prostitution has less risks.
For most of the nineteenth century, prostitution was not considered a distinct crime as it was viewed as a “necessary evil.” This view changed during the Progressive era when prostitution began being viewed as deviant behavior, potentially leading women to more crime (Lucas, 1995, p. 47). However, it was more than just related to the specific crime of prostitution as the role of women in society was changing at the time with more women in the workplace and outside of what was thought to be a woman’s place: the home (Lucas, 1995). Prostitution was, in a sense, a symbol of changes in women’s “behaviors and attitudes” causing fear and dismay as it was a threat to gender and societal norms (Lucas, 1995, p. 48). At this time, the view of prostitution coincides with deviant behavior ideologies, which view certain social behaviors as deviant from the norm or expected, in that women were departing from the typical roles and values associated with womanhood (Erikson, 1962).
Prostitution has continuously remained “shielded” from the perceptiveness of society because of its objectionable characteristics. However, the problem still remains and in my opinion, “it will still exist for years to come.” Ultimately, the Bylaws of Canada has not been able to decipher or impede this problem, apart from triggering elusiveness in the acceptance of anything that is lawful and unlawful in relations to prostitution. All over the world prostitution entwines with the economy of every city, with a potential of legal and non-legal revenue.
Sex Trafficking is a form of modern day slavery that exists throughout the United States and globally. It is one of the biggest lies in society (Farley et., 2014). The Vanderbilt Law Review indicates that the majority of prostitutes do not enter the prostitution lifestyle on their own free will choice, but instead becomes a prostitute due to a variety of vulnerabilities that both pimps and traffickers exploit. This explains why young women get blindsided and think they are becoming a prostitute when in reality they are a sex trafficking victim (Elrod 2015). When the United States made prostitution illegal, it did not change the mentality of the johns.
In the past few decades, a debate has arisen over the legalization of prostitution in America. Proponents of the cause claim that legalizing and regulating it would bring about a reduction in crime, improve public health, aid the poor, boost tax revenue, improve conditions for existing prostitutes, and allow those who willfully choose this path to do so without fear of punishment. Opponents claim the practice to be immoral and believe that permitting prostitution would escalate sexually transmitted diseases, cause increases in human trafficking, and further the oppression of
The mere fact that sexuality is integral to personhood does not render it market-inalienable. Instead of the ‘integral part of personhood’ proposition, this essay argues against commodifying sexuality on the basis that it causes gross impairment to prostitutes’ subjectivity. The impairment is so gross that it makes prostitutes subordinate to the clients, degrading their personhood. Such impairment is then unjustifiable. IV.
Yet, prostitution is stated as a positive work because it provides for the
Prostitution is a widely recognized topic, anyone and anywhere can get involved into this line of work with just one thing, themselves. Do the men, women and children really have a choice whether or not they want to use their bodies to earn a living? Or are they forced by outside influences that make them have no other choice. Preliminary research covered numerous topics about prostitution; When the victims started and why they started was not uncovered by these findings. There have not been a sufficient interviews with these subjects to
However, in the past couple of decades, the public opinion of prostitution has shifted from a viable career choice to an immoral and shameful profession. As time goes on, the view on prostitution will likely continue to plummet, and there may finally be an end to “the oldest
The opponents of the legalization of prostitution claim that decriminalization of prostitution destroys the moral foundations of our society. The equalization of prostitution to the usual professions such as a teacher or a doctor brings up the notion of immorality and permissiveness in the growing generation. Also, children and adolescents do not correctly perceive the concept of sex and intimacy between a man and a woman. Sex is perceived as a business, and not as something spiritual between two loving people. Many young girls will think that there is nothing terrible in prostitution and this is allowed to
Prostitution Prostitution can be defined as the provision of sexual services for money. The word “prostitute” became common in the of 18th century. During the ancient times this kind of services had been supplied for economic rewards mainly by courtesans, concubines or slaves. Courtesans and concubines often held high positions in traditional societies. The main feature of modern prostitution is that women and men tend not to know each other.
Over the years there have been many controversial ethical issues which are still debated in the 21st century. In today’s modern society one such controversial issue is prostitution. Prostitution can be defined as “The act or practice of engaging in sexual intercourse for money” (Deigh, 2010, p.29). Prostitution is the oldest profession of all. However the ethics of prostitution is still unclear between many societies.
• Women and children abuse in prostitution experience severe and long lasting physical and mental health problem. • Prostitution is harmful in and of itself, i.e. the constantly repeated experience of submitting to unwanted sex is very damaging to women mental health, self-esteem and sexuality. • Having to endure unwanted sex leads to the need to be set apart, often using drugs and for alcohol. • Many women involved in street prostitution do not care of their children. This has a strong impact on the woman themselves and is a common issue they need support through services.
But in reality, prostitution is adversely and morally wrong. There are many actions being done that are wrong and they should not be legalized just because people do it anyway. “Many people exceed the speed limit on roads, that doesn’t mean the law should suspend speed limits. Many people might choose to beat up another to a pulp but we criminalize this action whether it 's justified or not” (Anderson). This leads to the question, why then should there be an exception for prostitution?
The United Nations’ Convention held in 1949, stated prostitution to be “incompatible with human dignity”. According to the Oxford Dictionary, prostitution is defined as "The practice or occupation of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment." Often referred to as the “oldest profession” in the world, prostitution has become a burning issue in today’s world. The ongoing debate on whether to legalize, criminalize or decriminalize prostitution seems to be quite unresolvable. This paper investigates the negative impacts of legalizing prostitution such as 1) encouragement of prostitution, 2) increase in the incidence of human trafficking and 3) exposure of prostitutes to severe harm such as drug abuse, infection from sexually transmitted diseases and violence, which clearly supports the fact that prostitution should not be legalized.