Where there is sex trafficking, there is sex exploitation since it is often the vulnerable, the desperate, and the despondent who end up being lured into the prostitution trade. Prostitution is not beneficial to society as it evokes such problems as degradation of women’s rights, poor public health, and social disadvantages. Deshpande claims that, “Sex trafficking victims acquire adverse physical and psychological health conditions that require both medical and legal attention” (22). Basically, the author believes that young women and children face psychological trauma once they are free. They cannot make a fresh start because they have a hard time getting over the sex exploitation, the daily violent abuse, and inhumane treatment. The aforementioned issues affected both their mental and emotional health because they had lived in fear every day. If they failed to do everything their pimps asked, they could be beaten, threatened, and mistreated. Moreover, the author overlooks the important point about prostitution and its connection to sex trafficking. He states that some people see the two issues as being synonymous, but this is an incorrect assumption. Prostitution is mainly the work that is geared towards bringing satisfaction to the client, while sex trafficking explores a couple of spheres such as stripping, exotic dancing, sex trade, live shows, and many other things that are interconnected with sex exploitation. With the goal of sex exploitation for profit, traffickers or pimps buy young children from parents or find them on their own, lure them with promises of travel and money, and then push them into working the sex exploitation trade. Due to the problems mentioned above, society must not permit prostitution to continue.
Prostitution has long been regarded as the world’s oldest profession. This is for good reason, since this practice has been going on for as long as anyone can remember. Unfortunately, the history of prostitution involves the mistreatment of women and children by men. This is one of the reasons why the profession is still a taboo subject. It is clear when looking at the evidence that prostitution must not be permitted to exist in modern society as it brings horrible consequences such as sex trafficking, sex exploitation, and the child sex trade. The authors of these articles Deshpande, Sawa, and Rosenberg all cite very cogent and logical health, wellness, moral and ethical reasons for why prostitution should remain illegal and why it would be dangerous to legalize it.
The pimps who prey on vulnerable women and the men who seek out the sexual services of these women are behind the sex trafficking problem. The supply-and-demand dynamic, being what it is, means that the problem is a long way from being solved. Deshpande et al., in his article, “Sex trafficking of Women and Girls,” illustrated how the illegal business made a fresh start more than 100 years ago, and how the pimps searched for women in order to sell them into sex slavery. These women were described as courtesans or mistresses who, while already having husbands and children, were interested in extra-marital relationships. These women illegally sold sex in exchange for money, products, or services. Women who got into the sex trade were afraid of being exposed. That is why they needed to do their work in secrecy and they lived with the fear of being caught and judged by society. Sawa, in his article, “Prostitution,” discussed the horrible consequences when these women were caught. Despite the fact that they were victims of sex trafficking, society largely considered them to be dirty and worthless. In fact, people avoided having any kind of conversation with them. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, prostitutes were granted certain rights. If they were lonely mothers and had to bring up children, but did not have enough money to live on, they could run this kind of business. But, they were supposed to obey one rule. Specifically, they were to ensure that their children never knew about these immoral business practices. The following rules made the prostitutes find clients on the streets in order to earn some money. Rosenberg and Weiner, in their article, “Prostitutes and AIDS: A Health Department Priority?” debated about how the prostitutes passed on HIV and AIDS without knowing that they were even infected. They could not be sure whether the client was married or healthy, violent or dangerous; they did not care, in fact, because all they wanted was to earn some money. According to Rosenberg, prostitutes who daily have sex contact with a couple of partners can be at high risk of becoming infected with sexually transmitted diseases. Rosenberg adds that, “The prostitutes pass on fatal illnesses and most of them are not aware that they are passing it on the male partners or that they are infected” (Rosenberg et al 418). The point is that the prostitutes do not have extra money to test their health, and healthcare is very expensive for those who do not have a medical insurance. The essence of this argument is that some prostitutes are aware that they are infected but proceed with providing sexual services anyway. This, of course, is just one of the negative consequences of sex trafficking. This aspect of sex trafficking has a negative impact on the women involved, those they have sexual relationships with, and the families of those involved. As a result of the negative consequences, prostitution should not be tolerated, and those who are involved in the industry should be punished for facilitating the sex trafficking trade.
The legalization of prostitution has been called a step in the right direction by some since it is argued that this may reduce the demand for the child sex trade and lower the instances of the transmission of diseases to and from women in the industry. While this might seem like a compelling argument, it can also be argued that legalizing an immoral activity such as prostitution will not necessarily be in society’s best interests and might even lead to the breakdown indecency in society.
All things considered, prostitution is a global issue because it leads to sex trafficking, sex exploitation, and child sex crimes Prostitution is a dangerous because of the many kinds of hazards involved in this kind of work. One of the most significant risks involved with prostitution is related to the negative health effects associated with it primarily through the transmission of dangerous sexually transmitted diseases like HIV. There is also a connection between prostitution and negative psychological effects on the sex workers themselves. These health hazards make prostitution risky and that enough should be an argument against legalizing it. These are serious issues, and it remains to be seen whether legalization of prostitution will ever rid society of these sorts of problems. What is certain is that the world’s oldest profession is alive and well. It remains to be seen how law makers and legislators respond to the issue of prostitution in society.
Works Cited
Deshpande, Neha A., and Nawal M. Nour. "Sex trafficking of women and girls." Reviews in Obstetrics and Gynecology 6.1 (2013): e22.
Rosenberg, Michael J., and Jodie M. Weiner. "Prostitutes and AIDS: a health department priority?." American Journal of Public Health 78.4 (1988): 418-423.
Sawa, R. J. "Prostitution." Canadian Family Physician 33 (1987): 1876.
