Prostitution: a societal oppression

1. Prostitution: a societal oppression Selma Sosic

2. Abstract & thesis Prostitution should become ILLEGAL across the world because: • Infringes upon the human rights of women and children • It progresses the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, infections, and HIV due to many sexual partners and the link to drug use • It encourages human trafficking This research concludes the unethical, practical, and medical reasons of which describe the unlawful act of prostitution.

3. History of prostitution • The attempt to suppress the spreading of prostitution across America dates back to the 1800’s. The first United States federal law against prostitution was the Page Act of 1875, which outlawed woman being imported into the country for the purposes of prostitution • 1910 - The Mann Act, also known as the White Slave Traffic Act, is a federal statute that deals with both prostitution and child pornography • 1910- President William H. Taft signed a bill that made it a felony to coerce a woman or girl into such immoral acts.

4. Counterargument 1:HUMAN RIGHTS • Prostitution does not violate any law that exists in our nation and does not infringe upon the human rights that are present. • Individuals own their own bodies and their own labor services and have the absolute right to decide how those labor services should be used.

5. Argument 1:Human rights • Prostitution is commonly known for the ethnic, gendered, racial, and class power relations, where the male sex dominates as the buyer, and the prostitute is the seller. This is not the consenting between two adults, but instead, a socially constructed domination of one person over another. • A study done in 2011 states that prostitutes do not have the authority to refuse a customer unless it is an “acceptable reason” approved by the management. According to a former legal Nevada prostitute, she was not allowed to refuse the customer, and once the customer enters the establishment, the available employees line up and introduce themselves, and the customer then proceeds to choose one of the women in front of him.

6. COUNTERARGUMENT 2:Sexual diseases • Nevada law requires that registered brothel prostitutes be tested weekly (by a cervical specimen) for gonorrhea and Chlamydia trachomatis, and monthly for the human immunodeficiency virus and syphilis; furthermore, condoms are mandatory for all oral sex and sexual intercourse

7. Argument 2:sexual diseases • Female prostitutes have about 200-300 sexual partners per year, and many sex workers admit that their clients do not always use condoms • Quote from Targeted Outreach Programme: “Sex workers have told us that when they ask a client to use a condom, he offers double the price to have sex without the condom. These women are trying to provide for their children and families, so they take the offer” • “To avoid arrest that can involve in violence, rape, and other trauma, many sex workers try to avoid things that may identify them as sex workers- like carrying condoms or visiting health clinics for check-ups”

8. Counterargument 3:human trafficking • Legal prostitution occurs in regulated facilities where each prostitute is registered and checked on a daily basis • Each brothel must pay an amount of money per prostitute in order to keep the brothel legal and regulated by law. By doing this, the prostitutes are protected so that the owners do not have to pay unnecessary fines.

9. Argument 3:human trafficking • According to U.N. estimates, approximately 2.5 million people are being trafficked around the world at any given time, 80% of them women and children from ages thirteen to fourteen. In the United States alone, human trafficking generates about $9.5 billion yearly. • In 2012, Does Legalized Prostitution Increase Human Trafficking? was a study investigating the effect of legalized prostitution on human trafficking inflowing into countries. The study concluded that countries with legalized prostitution are associated with higher human trafficking inflows than countries where prostitution is prohibited.

11. Conclusions • If prostitution were legalized, the spread of human trafficking would rapidly increase due to the allowance of the obstruction of human rights. • Prostitution should be illegal across the world due to its’ continuing growth of abuse to women and the rights of the constituted law of America. • It is one of the leading causes of sexually transmitted diseases, sexually transmitted infections, as we all HIV and AIDS. • The trafficking of these women and children is harmful as well, as these people are being taken from their homes in order to make money against their will for others. But trafficking also causes the spread of the disease, as many girls are kidnapped and taken to different countries to diminish hope of search for them.

12. References • AVERT. (2014, March 27). Sex workers and HIV/AIDS. Retrieved May 24, 2014, from http://www.avert.org/sex-workers-and-hivaids.htm • Barry Ph.D., K. (2013, December). Abolish Prostitution Now! Retrieved March 19, 2014, from http://abolishprostitutionnow.wordpress.com/why-is-prostitution-a-violation-of-human-rights/ • Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook. (2009, July). 100 Countries and their prostitution policies - prostitution. Retrieved from http://prostitution.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000772 • Cho, S., Dreher, A., & Neumayer, E. (2013). Does Legalized Prostitution Increase Human Trafficking? World Development,41, 67-82. doi: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.05.023 • CIA, World Factbook, & US State Department. (2009, June). Number and percentages of countries with legal, illegal, and limitedly legal prostitution [Prostitution pie chart on the percentages of legal prostitution taken from the average of 100 countries in the world]. Retrieved May 24, 2014, from http://prostitution.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000772 • Craw, H. (n.d.). A brief history of prostitution laws and the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/article/a-brief-history-of-prostitution-laws-and-the-trafficking-victims-protection-act • Giang, V. (2011, December 14). Everything you ever wanted to know about prostitution in Nevada. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/prostitution-legal-nevada-prostitutes-brothels-sex-2011-12?op=1 • Human trafficking and prostitution. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.psysr.org/issues/trafficking/farley.php • Mann+Act. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Mann%2BAct • Marcin, S. (2013, January 22). Prostitution and human trafficking. Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/2013/March/prostitution-and-human-trafficking • Passion, M., Armstrong, A., & Amentano, P. (2005, April 27). Should people have a right to become prostitutes? Retrieved from http://prostitution.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000100 • Prostitution Nevada. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.prostitutionnevada.com/laws.php • Raymond, J. G. (2000, February). Health effects of prostitution, making the harm visible, global sexual exploitation of women and girls, speaking out and providing services. Retrieved March 30, 2014, from http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/mhvhealt.htm