Why Prostitution Should Not be Legalized

Prostitution is not the oldest profession, it is the oldest way to degrade and dehumanize women and children. There are many forms of prostitution occurring in our society, some hidden and illegal and some glamorized and legal; either way, everyone involved becomes a victim. Although our society has become more accepting of prostitution over the years, women remain the primary victims of prostitution and violence. A deep underlying cycle pulls men and women into the sex industry making it almost impossible to escape. Support, education and new and tougher laws against prostitution are needed to help combat the horrifying epidemic that is destroying women, children and families in the United States and around the world.

Prostitution has changed over the years and has branched out in several ways. Today, pimps, also known as traffickers, may be men, beautiful women or young girls who have been manipulated into helping with recruiting other girls and young women. Nevertheless, men are still the foremost purchasers of sex whether the prostitute is male, female or a child. There are several types of prostitution, often considered sex work, in society: pornography, strip clubs, massage parlors, 900 numbers, street prostitution, peep shows, escort services, human trafficking and child touring. Prostitution is in grocery stores, gas stations, bookstores and convenience stores. The sex industry seeps into hotel rooms through the television, down the street in adult book and video shops and often it is in people’s homes. Sex work is advertised through television, phone books, billboards, magazines, movies and the internet. The sex industry flooding society is a multi-billion dollar a year industry that is increasingly making children and women unsafe.

The slow and gradual disconnection concerning the sex industry has now overwhelmed and desensitized society. For example, when the abuse scandal photos from the Abu Gharib Prison were first released, the world was horrified by how the prisoners were treated. However, the same treatment is given to young women everyday in the sex industry. There is no outrage for how these young women are treated. Many would like to believe that this type of abuse is a choice for women, but young women do not want to be peed on, gagged and bound and made to feel dirty and used. Shelley Lubben, formerly in pornographic movies, said, “I was living the unglamorous life in the porn industry. I caught Herpes. I was addicted to drugs and alcohol. I overdosed on prescription pills. Drug addicted men took their turn and abused me on the set and they called it adult entertainment.” (Lubben, 2007)

Glamorous is not a word most would use to describe what is happening to young women, but the sex industry is glamorized in such a way that young girls fall easy prey to the allure. Practiced, manipulative pimps and traffickers prey on vulnerable girls and young women, locally and internationally, approaching girls at shopping malls, fast food restaurants, movie theaters, in their own homes, on sidewalks and in parks. Along with the glamorization of the sex industry through television, magazines, movies, music and videos, the pimp’s job has been made easier. Young girls are often vulnerable to the pimp’s tactics, and pimps know which girls to target. Molly Ginty states that children targeted by traffickers often come from emotionally unstable or economically disadvantaged backgrounds that make them easy targets. (Ginty, 2007)

Pimps start by giving positive attention making the girl feel loved. Pretending to be the young woman’s boyfriend, he starts paying for her clothes, food and a place to stay. Then he starts introducing her to drugs in hopes of creating an addiction. Eventually, he will ask her to sell herself as a one-time thing or to help with bills. If his approach does not work, he will resort to violence, holding her captive and he may trade or sell her to other pimps. After initiation, the violence often continues and is used as a form of punishment, a form or sexual gratification for pimps and buyers, and to isolate and humiliate women. (Hodge, 2008)

The reason some girls and young women are vulnerable, is that their home life might be abusive or they may have already encountered sexual abuse. Bill Nelson states, “Prostitution really is about abuse… it really is the outcome of a whole series of problems… in virtually every case that we’ve run into there has been sexual abuse of children as little girls before they really get out into the world. And this in effect has been traumatic for them, but it has also been a teaching mechanism and some say it’s a boot camp for later prostitution activities.” (Nelson, 2007)

Young women and girls may feel unimportant and unacknowledged and dream of becoming a famous actor or model to get the recognition they so desperately need. Girls can be tricked into prostitution by applying for modeling, acting or dancing jobs only later to learn they have entered the world of sex work through pornography or striping and prostitution. Young women may find themselves entering wet t-shirt contests or baring themselves for cameras, which can be a stepping-stone into sex work. Society plays an important role in allowing young women to be victimized by the sex industry.

The cycle of how prostitution happens is easy to follow. If a child is sexually abused, the child may go down a path of shattered self-esteem that can turn to depression. Self-medicating by abusing drugs or alcohol can feel like a solution. Such unhappiness can later turn to wanting to fit in and not feeling loved or important. Young women and children are always welcomed into the sex industry and by abusers. If a drug and alcohol addiction grows, a child may become more easily victimized in the form of sexual assault and prostitution by means of supporting the drug addiction. Children and young women may also find themselves participating in sex at a younger age and more frequently than most, which will create more confusion and the need to belong. The more a young woman participates in sex in a vulnerable non-empowered way, the more victimized she will become, which may cause her to believe that if men are going to take it, she might as well sell it. Therefore, she may turn to pornography and stripping or escort services. Furthermore, when younger children become very sexual after abuse, society starts believing that it is normal in today’s world, instead of realizing the possibility of child sexual abuse. Creating a more sexualized society that is accepted and glamorized can blur the lines of right and wrong for children and adults, generating another win for the sex industry

Another way women and children are tricked by these predators is by means of human trafficking. Women and girls are trafficked across state lines and more often into and out of other countries. These women desire better work and more opportunities, which make them vulnerable. Only after the move, do these young women realize that they have become sexual slaves working to pay off the debt for the move and room and board. The captors withhold their passports and manipulate them into believing there is no way to escape. The women often end up as strippers, street prostitutes and working in massage parlors as prostitutes. There are no “happy endings,” the code for a massage turning to sex, for trafficked women.

Many want to view prostitution as two consenting adults engaging in sexual activity, and there are organizations who want to legalize prostitution, such as Coyote and SWOP in hopes of safer, more protection and more rights for prostitutes. They are taking the stance that prostitution is a choice. If prostitution is legalized, many believe the power from the pimps and traffickers will be removed, but in reality, their power increases and the women’s power decreases. Furthermore, other countries have found that by legalizing prostitution there has been an increase in problems: more prostitution, child exploitation and abuse, younger and younger victims of prostitution, more human trafficking and an increase in other illegal activities. Susan Brison states that even if having the option of legalized prostitution enhances the freedom of some women, we need to ask whether it diminishes the freedom of other women. (Brison, 2007) Women and girls who appear to have chosen to be a prostitute did not make this choice from a position of knowledge or power, and most did not make that choice at all.

While little girls do not grow up dreaming of being a prostitute, little boys do not grow up wanting to be so entangled in the sex industry that they lose their families and cross lines they never dreamed of crossing. There is no doubt that women are victimized by the sex industry, but when men’s roles in the sex industry are examined, it becomes clear that men are also victimized. The sex industry not only bates men with women, but it encourages men to be a part of the sex industry always maintaining that it is normal healthy behavior for men. Staying single, sleeping around and dabbling in the smorgasbord the sex industry offers, is encouraged. Not only can pornography and other forms of prostitution create an addiction, it can lead to Erectile Dysfunction or ED, because men who continually use pornography may feel unable to perform without it. Men who become addicted, may spend hours in front of the computer looking at pornography, or spend time and money making phone calls to 900 numbers with the belief that they are not cheating. However, because addiction is such a strong pull, these men might start doing things they would never have considered, like searching for prostitutes or looking at child pornography. These men end up with a distorted view of women and children and how they want to be treated. The sex industry does not want to remind men that married men are happier and live longer. These men are losing their families, their children, their jobs and their sense of normalcy all because they have fallen victim to the sex industry.

There is not enough protection for children, women or families. By turning the other way and pretending that it is not happening, society is saying that it is acceptable to mistreat women and children. Prostitution is illegal, and it is not a victimless crime. If the victims of prostitution are lucky enough to escape, they require years a therapy and often suffer from disease and disorders such as post traumatic stress disorder which includes flashbacks, nightmares, impaired memory, irrational or impulsive behavior, sudden angry or violent outbursts, intrusive recollections, reactive depression and guilt, to name a few. While women are prostituting, they often lack the resources or ability to use protection, and they become infected with sexually transmitted diseases such as Herpes and HIV. Women have also reported feeling dirty for many years after getting out of prostitution. Prostitutes use drugs and alcohol almost every time they turn a trick, because they are in so much pain it is the only way to numb themselves enough to go though with it. According to Kate Brown, one of the key messages in a report called, More Than One Chance! Young People in Prostitution Speak Out, was that young people feel disempowered due to their involvement in prostitution, and the way they are treated as a result of this. (Brown, 2006) There is a stigma and discrimination against prostitutes and ex-prostitutes, though they should be considered the victim of a crime, and that is the solution to this problem facing every community across the United States and beyond.

Marie De Santis found that in Sweden prostitution is regarded as an aspect of male violence against women and children. It is officially acknowledged as a form of exploitation of women and children and constitutes a significant social problem... gender equality will remain unattainable so long as men buy, sell and exploit women and children by prostituting them (De Santis, 2000) Sweden is having great success and it is a good start, but there is more that must be done. If prostitution is viewed as violence against women and children, which in the majority of the cases it is, just like domestic abuse, rape and child abuse, then society may be forced to examine and dissect this problem and get to the real issues. Furthermore, when prostitutes, victims are arrested it is like victimizing them all over again, because in most cases the prostitute is only trying to survive or support her addiction. Jail time will not help, these women need treatment and support. They need safe housing, counseling and medication. Women must gain back the power and control over their own lives through education, support and empowerment.

In the past, women served the jail time and men were given a little lecture and sent on their way with no repercussion It is time for a change. If men or the people who believe that it is all right to buy and sell women and children are held accountable and prosecuted, the human rights of women will finally be recognized. Anybody who decides to pimp or traffic women or children should serve a substantial amount of time in prison. The message must be loud and clear that women and children cannot be bought, sold or traded for sex anymore.

Prostitution has a devastating impact on its victims, which can lead to other issues and problems keeping the cycle of prostitution strong. All forms of prostitution influence society and affect how women are viewed. Once we change our thinking by clearly stating that prostitution is violence against women and children, and not just an old profession, we will give all women, children and families hope for a safer future. We must keep prostitution illegal, because it is one important message that encourages women and children to aim higher in their lives. By empowering women and children through education, better funding, new and tougher laws against buying and selling women and children, there will be support and programs to help victims of prostitution giving each community a chance to win this battle.

References Brison, S. (2006) Contentious Freedom: Sex Work and Social Construction. Hypatia, 21(4), 192-200. Retrieved July 1, 2008, from GenderWatch http://proquest.umi.com.ezprozy.apollolibrary.compqdweb?did=1147357651&Fmt=3&clientld=13118&RQT=309VName=PQD Brown, K. (2006) Participation and Young People Involved in Prostitution. Child Abuse Review, Vol.15 Issue 5, p294-312,19p. Retrieved June 18, 2008, from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=22893733&site=ehost-live De Santis, M. (2000) Sweden’s Prostitution Solution: Why Hasn’t Anyone Tried This Before? Retrieved June 27, 2008 from http://www.justicewomen.com/cj_sweden.html Farley, M. (2004) Prostitution Is Sexual Violence Retrieved June 28, 2008, from http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/article/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=2LNPPVHLBWQ14QSNDLOSKHSCJUNN2JVN?articleId=175802490 Ginty, M. (2007) Protecting the Powerless: CHILD TRAFFICKING IN THE UNITED STATES. NCJW Journal, 30(2), 17-19,4. Retrieved July 1, 2008, from GenderWatch (GW) database. (Document ID: 1427656121). http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/pqdweb?did=1427656121&sid=2&Fmt=3&clientId=13118&RQT=309&VName=PQD Hodge, D. (2008) Sexual Trafficking in the United States: A Domestic Problem with Transnational Dimensions. Social Work, 53(2), 143-152. Retrieved July 1, 2008, from http://proquest.umi.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/pqdweb?did=1498096961&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=13118&RQT=309&VName=PQD Lubben, S. (2008) Shelly Lubben Transformed. Retrieved June 28, 2008, from www.shelleylubben.com Nelson, B. (Producer) (2007) Prostitution: Beyond the Myths. Documentary. Retrieved June 20, 2008 from Volunteers of America – Minnesota.

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