XXX Life

An argumentative essay for my English 111 class. Not all the pictures transferred... Sorry!

XXX Life
Prostitution. For many, simply mentioning the word leaves them with a poor taste in their mouths. Why? Some words that come to mind may be “dirty,” “whore,” and “sin.” Those who participate in the buying and selling of sex obviously must be uneducated, addicted to drugs or alcohol, and desperate. Why do these stigmas exist? For many, prostitution is considered morally wrong and a slap in the face to marriage, fidelity, and love.
With such severe moral concerns, any implication that sex work should be legalized is a taboo. Although the moral questions are legitimate, legalizing prostitution would ensure that prostitutes and clients are kept safe from abuse and the risk of sexually transmitted diseases and human rights would be protected. The priority should be on the protection of all parties involved in regards to violence and abuse, individuals’ health, and individuals’ right to engage in consensual sexual acts.
Prostitution has been described as the world’s oldest profession. As far back as ancient civilizations there are traces of sex work throughout many societies. Even within the sacred Christian history, there has been speculation that Mary Magdalene, Jesus’ beloved disciple, was a sex worker (Mary Magdalene). Two thousand years later, prostitution remains a globally debated issue. The United States is no exception to the presence of sex work. During World War II, military men were known to have sex with prostitutes local to the county they were inhabiting (See fig. 1). A United States 2004 TNS poll stated that “15% of all men have paid for sex at leastonce in their life” (Prostitution). Because of the negative stigmas associated with johns (men who pay for sex obviously are desperate, unattractive, and cannot “get any” from anywhere else) many are hesitant to admit to engaging in sex with a prostitute. In reality, it is probable that significantly more than 15% of men have paid for sex from some type of prostitute.
Specific types of prostitutes include brothel workers, street walkers, and escorts or call girls (Prostitution). A brothel is a prostitution house. Brothels are prevalent in Southeast Asia, Western Europe, and thestate of Nevada (Brothels). Many brothel workers “face a lifetime of disease and destitution” as they receive minimal to no health care and are paid little to no money for their services (Taboo). In areas like Thailand and Bangladesh, truckers often pass through brothels and engage in unprotected sex with sex workers (see fig. 2) (Wiwanitkit). These women are considered damaged goods in their community and are often unable to escape the lifestyle that many of them were sold into as children (Taboo).
Street walkers solicit customers from a public place, typically streets but also including parks and beaches, among others (Street Walkers). Prostitutes who engage in street prostitution are often more vulnerable to attacks than prostitutes who engage in other forms of prostitution. Melissa Farley's study of 854 prostitutes in nine countries, including the United States, found that 95% of women had been physically assaulted, and 75% had been raped (Street Walkers).
Brothel workers and street walkers are at the low end of the prostitution food chain, but higher up are escorts and call girls. In countries like Australia and New Zealand, where escort services are legal, escort agencies provide clients luxury experiences with beautiful women (Taboo). STD and STI checks are initiated immediately upon the client’s arrival (Taboo). The formalities and stability of an escort agency ensures employees’ and clients’ safety and confidentially. Employees are guaranteed payment for services provided. This legalized form of prostitution has facilitated its regulation throughout the participating countries.
Should prostitution be legalized in the United States, there are concerns that there would be an increase in human trafficking. Human trafficking is the practice of people being lured from their homes and then forced to work on highly exploitive terms (Human Trafficking). In the United States, there are both federal and state laws against human trafficking. Legalizing and regulating prostitution would permit the government to have more authority and control over sex workers. With designated agencies, similar to escort agencies in Australia, and borrowing England’s policy that it is illegal to purchase sex from a prostitute controlled by another individual (Mohammad) severe penalties for human traffickers would be maintained and human trafficking combated. Legal prostitution agencies would also provide financial benefit through heavy taxation on sex services (Storey).
Human trafficking in only one of the main concerns of those opposing legalized prostitution. There is also belief that legalized prostitution would encourage an unhealthy lifestyle and desecrate the union of marriage. In Sherry Colb’s article on convicted johns she discusses marriage as a barter for sex and financial security “as women continue to prefer less frequent sexual interaction than their husbands do, and that men continue to earn more money than their wives” (Colb). Her statement infers that marriage’s sanctity has long been broken. Prostitution and marriage are similar in that both are an exchange for financial gain; prostitution is simply more blunt and outright than the veneer of marriage
Prostitutes are often seen as sex slaves instead of individual people with rights. Both male and female prostitutes are often taken advantage of financially and physically by both their pimps and their clients. Many prostitutes are badly abused, raped, and even murdered by the pimps that they serve and the clients that they service. The aforementioned statistics provided by Farley’s research is nauseating and pleads with law enforcement to make a change. Despite moral qualms, protecting all parties involved in sex work is the priority. Other industry workers are protected under laws including health and safety; prostitution as sex work permits employees to receive the same protections and rights as other productive members of society.
With the risk of STDs and no regulation of the use of protection, both prostitutes and their clients have a high risk of contracting and transmitting infections and disease. Since many prostitutes do not practice testing, there is no way to ensure that those who are infected receive treatment and do not risk passing an illness on to another individual. As in the brothels of Bangladesh and Thailand, there are little resources available to educate prostitutes aboutprotection. Many are unaware that they have contracted an illness at all. Since truckers frequent brothels along their routes, it is easy to see how quickly STDs can spread (Wiwanitkit).
Table 1 details HIV/AIDS transmission in the United States in 2007. Transmission categories include male-to-male sexual contact, injection drug use, high-risk heterosexual contact (prostitution, engaging in sex acts with someone who is known to be infected, unprotected sex), and other (blood transfusions, transmission during births, etc). After male-to-male sexual contact, high-risk heterosexual contact leads in male cases. In female cases, high-risk sexual contact contributes to most cases significantly more than other ways of transmission. Although statistics were not provided, it is extremely probably that prostitutes engaging in unprotected sex contributed to the outrageous figure. In the pornography industry, STD testing is mandatory and performed frequently, ensuring that those involved are clean and pose no risk of spreading illness. Similarly, the prostitution industry would be treated as a legal business as sex work (Gerdes). In the case that an illness was contracted, insurance would be provided to employees ensuring that there would not be treatment refusal for the infected. The Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation (AIM) in a nonprofit organization dedicated to the physical and emotional needs of sex workers (see fig. 3). The foundation provides care to members of the pornography business and strives to promote safe and responsible sexual behavior for not only sex workers, but for everyone. Provided prostitution be legalized and considered sex work, prostitutes could also be cared for under AIM.
The United States is often praised for being “the land of the free.” Americans have been supplied with many rights that other countries long for such as freedom of speech, the right to bear arms, and the freedom of the press. Despite the freedoms awarded to Americans, two consenting adults who participate in a sexual act involving the transfer of money from one individual to another, could be charged with criminal offenses. Prostitution remains a major concern especially in high traffic areas including but not limited to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York and Washington D.C. and consequently prostitute related crime is higher. “Prostitutes are arrested once for every 450 encounters, and every tenth arrest results in jail time” (Prostitution). Sherry Colb states in her essay that prostitution is a crime because it is seen as a “morals offense and a sin” (Colb). Have we forgotten separation of church and state?
As a woman who has been a victim of abuse, I feel empowered to protect other women from abuse and hostility. Both male and female prostitutes are at high risk for both physical and emotional abuse from many sources including their pimps, clients, and peers. I hope to educate my peers on the importance of legalizing prostitution for the sake of the individuals involved and at risk. Although there are negative stigmas associated with prostitution, it is more important to see past them and to ensure physical, emotional, and health protection and to preserve the right to engage in consensual sex acts. Isn’t it important to protect others regardless of origin, race, sex, creed, sexual preference, and occupation? Well, isn’t it?

Works Cited
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Works Referenced
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