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There is a debate as to whether or not legalizing prostitution exacerbates sex slavery by creating a market for prostitution that willing market participants ar
by istjohn 7y ago
There is a debate as to whether or not legalizing prostitution exacerbates sex slavery by creating a market for prostitution that willing market participants are unable to fill. This author[1] points out that studies on this question use the term "sex trafficking" which can mean either illegal immigration of willing sex workers or sex slavery. That distinction seems important, but is often not clarified by investigators.
I think this issue is vexing because there are so many groups with different compelling reasons to favor or oppose prohibition. The below list is obviously a gross over-simplification, but I think it captures the largest forces in the debate.
FOR: Men.
Men would benefit from legalization in the obvious way.
AGAINST: Women.
Women stand to lose if their partners are tempted by legal prostitution.
FOR: Sex workers.
Sex workers would benefit in the obvious way.
AGAINST: Religious groups.
They lost the battle against pornography, but they're winning this one.
AGAINST: Feminists.
Not all feminists, but many feminists believe sex work is exploitation by definition. [2]
Each group has powerful motivations completely independent from the effect of legalization on sex slavery.
1. https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/06/15/legal-prostitution-and-sex-trafficking-from-the-annals-of-bad-economic-research/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/06/15/legal-pr...
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist_views_on_prostitution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist_views_on_prostitution
- jkaplowitz 7y agoThis is a big simplification: There are male sex workers and female sex worker customers even if most of each population is the other way around. Additionally, voluntary sex workers themselves generally oppose the forced labour market (i.e. sex slavery) as much as the prohibitionists, even if they're understandably focusing more on decriminalizing themselves. And I don't think the sex-worker-exclusionary feminists are representative of most feminists, even if the overlap between their views on this topic and those of conservative and religious groups gives them a big megaphone. Regarding legal presence, many sex workers are in a country legally aside from their choice to do sex work, sometimes even with work permission for most jobs. (Canada has some relevant exclusions in their standard open work permit, for example.)
- istjohn 7y agoEmpirically, the vast majority of those who hire sex workers are men. But yes, as I said, it's a gross over-simplification. I would hope everyone opposes sex slavery. In the progressive circles I'm familiar with in my midwestern city (Columbus, Ohio), I've never seen anyone make a feminist case for decriminalization or legalization. The consensus among progressives here is that sex work is bad for women. The voices I hear in the national media do tend to be ambivalent if not outright pro-sex-work, though, so I agree it's not simple.
- saagarjha 7y agoI've heard the argument that criminalization fundamentally deprives a woman of the right to choose what to do with her body, which I'd consider a feminist argument.
- perilunar 7y ago> In the progressive circles I'm familiar with ... I've never seen anyone make a feminist case for decriminalization or legalization. Well there's plenty of sex workers online you could ask. They almost universally argue for decriminalisation (not legalisation) on feminist grounds.
- jkaplowitz 7y agoIndeed. I'm curious: Do the sex workers you speak with claim that decriminalization and legalization are two different concepts as applied to themselves, or do they reject the label of legalization as dehumanizing because it implies that a human can be illegal? (Yes, technically no anti-sex-worker laws claim any category of human is inherently illegal, instead defining some of them as criminals through outlawing certain activities, but you wouldn't know it from how much stigma is attached to public discourse about sex workers.)
- istjohn 7y agoLegalization implies decriminalization plus regulation.
- manicdee 7y agoWomen use sex workers too. Men “lose” too if their partners are “tempted” by legal prostitution (what are we “losing” here by the way?)
- heydabop 7y ago> AGAINST: Women. Women stand to lose if their partners are tempted by legal prostitution. If someone's partner is gonna be tempted away simply by legal prostitution, maybe they aren't the most faithful to begin with.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- istjohn 7y agoI suppose it depends on whether you're more concerned with your partner's character in an abstract way or you're more concerned about actual infidelity.
- heydabop 7y agoActual infidelity seems inevitable if the only thing preventing it is inability to find someone to have sex with.
- roenxi 7y agoYou've missed a fairly large FOR - people who support freedom & liberty. The arguments against prostitution centre around its second order effects on greater society and is a crime with hypothetical rather than actual victims. The argument that there should be a victim of some sort before criminalising something is compelling. It is difficult to argue that the prostitutes feel they are victims of prostitution without discovering that other crimes are already being committed without criminalising prostitution. I have a much easier times justifying criminalising alcohol from principles than it is to argue against criminalising prostitutes, so I don't see why the one with obviously terrible second order effects is considered to be OK and not the other. We have to accept that we already tolerate a level of background things-slipping-through-the-cracks for the sake of liberty and general comfort.
- istjohn 7y agoFreedom and liberty is one argument for legalization, but I don't think there are enough hard core Libertarians to be a major force in this debate.
- roenxi 7y agoIt isn't a particularly hard-core position. They aren't a major force in the debate but there will be a very substantial demographic who don't care one way or the other but are in principle happy to leave well enough alone. They'd probably have a mild preference for not arresting people for no reason. Prostitution has been legal in Australia since around the 90s. Nobody particularly cares^. The only people who it has implications for are people who choose to be involved. ^ Ie, it doesn't crop up in politics as an issue. Lots of people care. Nobody is making a big deal about it.
- istjohn 7y agoI agree it's not a hard core libertarian position. I guess I just meant I don't think there are that many people who consult their libertarian principles to decide their views on an issue.