1 8 Disadvantages Of Commercial Sex Prostitution example essay topic

Introduction 3 1.1 Definitions of Commercial Sex 3 1.2 History of Commercial Sex 3 1.3 Types of Commercial Sex 3 1.3. 1 Unorganized Prostitution 3 1.3. 2 Organized Prostitution 4 1.3 Features of Commercial Sex 4 1.4 Hazards of Commercial Sex 4 1.5 Reasons for engaging in commercial sex 4 1.5. 1 Biological Phase 4 1.5. 2 Psychological 4 1.5. 3 Psychiatric Explanation 4 1.5.

4 Economic Factor 4 1.5. 5 Demand and Supply 4 1.6 Characteristics of a Successful Commercial Sex Worker 5 1.9 Myths of Commercial Sex 5 1.8 Advantages of Commercial Sex 6 1.8 Disadvantages of Commercial Sex 6 1.7 Effects / Consequences of Commercial Sex 6 1.10 Tourism and Sex Industry 6 1.11 Teen / Underage Prostitution 7 1.12 Morality and Commercial Sex 8 1.13 Cultural Diversities 12 1.13. 1 Asia 12 1.13. 2 Africa 13 1.13. 3 USA 14 1.13. 4 Europe 14 1.13.

5 Middle East 15 Conclusion 15 References 15 Appendix 1: Case Study of Commercial Sex in Kenya 15 Introduction 1.1 Definitions of Commercial Sex Prostitution is sexual intercourse on a promiscuous and mercenary basis with emotional indifference. It involves sexual relations for some gain; it can be more or less promiscuous. A prostitute is person who makes it a profession to gratify the lust of various persons of the opposite or same sex. Commercial sex main features include the element of hire, promiscuity, emotional indifference, and no affectionate or institutional bond. 1.2 History of Commercial Sex In pagan Rome prostitution was taxed acting as a source of money for imperial treasury. Prostitutes were despised then as they are today, although for slightly different reasons.

They might have been looked upon as victims (of pimps), but they were also greedy and deceitful. Even if they were honest financially, they used makeup and other artifices to make themselves more attractive. In Greece, prostitution was legal in Athens, as long as it was not practiced by an Athenian citizen. This meant that prostitutes tended either to be slaves, whether female or male, or metics, who, not being born of Athenian parents, themselves, could not be citizens but who did have certain rights as resident aliens. Among prostitutes, a distinction was made between the common porn^e (buy able woman) and the hetaira or companion, who usually was an accomplished courtesan and often more educated than respectable wives and daughters sequestered at home. In a society in which men tended to marry late, in which marriages usually were not for love, and in which the women of citizen families often were secluded, "to be least talked about by men", in the words of Pericles, "whether they are praising you or criticizing you", the role of the hetaira perhaps is inevitable.

1.3 Types of Commercial Sex 1.3. 1 Unorganized Prostitution Individual common prostitutes who procure clients in hotels and bars or by street walking. 1.3. 2 Organized Prostitution Prostitutes working in organized brothels. The prostitutes abide by rules and regulation established by brothel manager appropriating their earnings for rent, linens, police protection and medical examination.

Prostitutes meet large number of clients through panderers and taxicab drivers. It is also practiced by call-girl type of prostitutes. 1.3 Features of Commercial Sex 1.4 Hazards of Commercial Sex 1.5 Reasons for engaging in commercial sex 1.5. 1 Biological Phase Man's instinctual sexual drive must be satisfied. Young males look for women to satisfy sexual urges. Extra-satisfaction is usually sought outside marriage necessitating emergence of prostitution to satisfy demand. 1.5.

2 Psychological In psychoanalytic theory of prostitution, a prostitute is a person deprived of adequate parental love and affection and security during childhood. In the case of a girl during childhood she suffers electra complex where she might later become a prostitute due to conflict between her and her mother over the father, which is ultimately unresolved. The girl is unable to have successful relationships with other persons turning to prostitution due to guilt feelings over incestuous desires for the father and after failing to establish satisfactory heterosexual relationships, with others. In some cases it may be as a result of "a kind of revenge motive" compelling her to indulge in prostitution "in order to injure the person who refused her love". 1.5.

3 Psychiatric Explanation A child who suffers from an unresolved Oedipus or Electra complex may develop a neurosis which might manifest itself in some deviant behaviour e.g. Prostitution. 1.5. 4 Economic Factor Prostitution might be attributed to low wages paid to female workers and extreme poverty among them. 1.5. 5 Demand and Supply The demand for prostitutes's ervices arises out of the regulation of sex itself and limited liability of commercial relationship. If a customer has money, he can obtain satisfaction with no further obligation e.g. does not become entangled in courtship, friendship or marriage. Release through more reputable channels is impossible by some males most of the times. Division of labor by sex makes women dependent to some extent on their sexual attractiveness and gives men more control of economic means.

Since economic means are unequally distributed between classes but female attractiveness is not thus women of lower economic means can exploit their attractiveness for economic gain. For this reasons demand and supply is broadly based and inextinguishable. 1.6 Characteristics of a Successful Commercial Sex Worker They have outstanding good looks and figure. They have an attractive personality and individuality to make a man "look at them twice". They have an ability to talk or scare their clients. 1.9 Myths of Commercial Sex Most people have a stereotyped idea of what a sex worker looks like, why she has become a sex worker and what she is like as a person.

This stereotype has probably developed because a certain sector of the sex industry is more visible than the rest of the industry and because the media tends to portray sex work in a particular way. In fact, the sex industry is so diverse that it is virtually impossible to generalise about who a sex worker is, why he / she is selling sex, how much money he / she earns, where he / she works, what conditions he / she works in or what his / her daily experiences are. This fact sheet aims to provide a clearer picture of the diversity of the sex industry. 1. Although the majority of sex workers are women there are also male and transgendered sex workers. These groups tend to have different experiences of the sex industry and work in different contexts.

2. Sex workers work in a variety of locations. The most visible are the sex workers who ply their trade on the streets. Some of these sex workers also live on the streets and engage in what is commonly termed "survival sex". Sex workers may choose to work close to home for convenience sake or may choose to work as far from home as possible to ensure that they do not encounter their friends and family while working. 3.

Many sex workers work in bars, clubs, escort agencies, massage parlours and brothels of various descriptions. The working conditions in these brothels vary enormously. The conditions in some are appalling and the sex workers are treated badly, whereas others are extremely classy and the sex workers are made very comfortable. 4.

Some sex workers work with pimps whereas others work completely independently. Those with pimps may also have vastly different experiences. Some "pimps" are in fact boyfriends, husbands or mothers who are there to protect the sex worker. They take the clients money before the sex worker leaves with the client to ensure that the sex worker does not get robbed and take down the licence plate number of the car in case something happens. On the other hand, some pimps are exploitative and abusive. 5.

A common assumption that is made is that all sex workers are drug addicts. This is not true. Although, some sex workers do use drugs, others yet have never used drugs or no longer take drugs. Some sex workers use drugs because it helps them to cope with the stresses of the job. Others do sex work to pay for their drugs.

6. It should also be clear that sex workers have individual reasons for entering the industry. Some people sell sex to survive, to provide food for themselves and their families. Others sell sex for drug money. Others yet choose to enter the industry because there are no other jobs available for unskilled workers that pay as well as sex work does. Some sex workers are in the industry because they enjoy the work they do.

Generally, the decision to sell sex is an economic one. 7. It is assumed that prostitutes are promiscuous yet they tend to select their customers. Ultimately, sex workers are individuals and the sex industry is as diverse as the general population. It is important to view each sex worker as an individual human being with unique needs and qualities. At the end of the day, like with any form of work, sex work does not define a person, it is merely a job.

1.8 Advantages of Commercial Sex It is a safety valve for certain individuals who cannot for various reasons develop normal sexual relations. It is a source of money for those who cannot earn it in another way. It is money and time saving, as attracting and seducing a woman can be costly. 1.8 Disadvantages of Commercial Sex Prostitution is a social evil that cannot be eradicated wholly in modern society. It is responsible for family instability and even divorce. It is responsible for spread of venereal diseases e.g. AIDS.

1.7 Effects / Consequences of Commercial Sex 1.10 Tourism and Sex Industry Many tourists, both domestic and international, make use of the sex industry. Tourists often approach tourism offices requesting information about the sex industry, particularly about escort agencies, massage parlours and brothels and it is important for the safety of the tourists that they are provided with accurate information and are informed about responsible safer sex behaviour. All aspects of sex work except buying sex are currently illegal in South Africa, under the Sexual Offences Act (1957). Tourists who buy sex in South Africa are thus not committing a crime.

They are however engaging with a criminalized industry and will be vulnerable to the lack of standard practices that characterizes the industry. Conditions in agencies vary. Some agencies treat their workers well, supply condoms and support condom use and have reasonable working conditions. Other agencies have abusive labour practices that do not protect workers and will not serve the health and safety interests of tourists. Because of the criminalised nature of the sex industry, it is impossible to enforce standards in the industry. Tourists using the industry need to know: o That they are equally responsible for using condoms, o That they are responsible for not patronising agencies that exploit underage sex workers, o That it is illegal to have heterosexual sex with a child under the age of 16 o That it is illegal to have homosexual sex with a person under the age of 19 o That recreational drug use is illegal in South Africa.

The tourism industry can help to disseminate this information to tourists and can help to enforce good business practices in the indoor industry by refusing to refer tourists to exploitative agencies. Tourists will continue to make use of the sex industry. Tourism boards and the tourism industry as a whole, have a responsibility to ensure the safety of tourists and thus have a responsibility to ensure that tourists have enough information to safely engage with the sex industry. 1.11 Teen / Underage Prostitution o There are many reasons why children sell sex. o Sometimes children are forced into prostitution by parents or gangs. o Some children choose to leave abusive home situations or extreme poverty and fend for themselves through selling sex. o Some teenagers sell sex in order to pay for luxury items such as fashionable clothing brands Increasingly, children are heading up households and sell sex in order to provide for their families 1.12 Morality and Commercial Sex The Sexual Offences Act is a piece of legislation with a long and dubious history. Originally called the Immorality Act, this legislation prohibited inter alia inter-racial relationships and homosexual relationships.

It is clearly a statute which primarily aims to impose a particular sexual morality on South African society. Part of this morality includes regarding extra-marital sex as "unlawful carnal intercourse" and prohibiting sex for reward. Much of the Act has been repealed or altered over the years and the remaining provisions relate primarily to sex work and sexual offences against minors. In so far as it relates to protecting children, there is broad recognition that the existing Sexual Offences Act is insufficient and ineffective. There is also increasing recognition that the manner in which the Act deals with sex work needs to be reconsidered. Various NGO's and even sectors of government have recognised this.

For example, the Gauteng Department of Safety and Security set up a task team to investigate this issue in 1996. The task team's final report recommends that sex work be decriminalized. In 1999, Government published its first report on terms of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). The report states "Some Constitutional rights may be violated by current laws on prostitution".

The argument that laws prohibiting sex work violate sex workers' rights is a complex one as there is no particular right which is obviously violated. However, if one examines the prohibition and its effects more closely, it becomes clear that there are a number of rights which are infringed. These include the right to freedom and security of the person, the right to dignity, the right to privacy, the right to equality and the right to freedom of trade, occupation and profession. Any debate around possible reform of laws relating to the sex industry, whether through the Constitutional Court or the Legislature, needs to take into account the socio-economic context in which sex work takes place in South Africa. This requires decision-makers to consider the diversity of the sex industry, the fact that most sex workers are women and the fact that many sex workers become involved in the industry as a result of poverty and unemployment.

Decision makers also need to consider the practicability of laws controlling the sex industry and the impact of these laws, both on sex workers and other stakeholders. Of great relevance is the fact that the prohibition on sex work victimizes a group of people who are already vulnerable and marginalised and often do not have a voice to speak out about their experiences. The evidence in the Jordan case shows clearly that sex workers are vulnerable to violence and stigmatization and that this is exacerbated by the fact that sex workers are labelled as criminals. Criminalisation increases sex workers' vulnerability to violence because sex workers are regarded as less worthy than other people.

Also sex workers do not have access to police protection and often work in dangerous places to avoid police detection. Criminalisation prevents sex workers from demanding fair and safe working conditions as the labour legislation does not apply to the sex industry. This means that if brothel owners are so inclined, they can exploit their employees without worrying about any repercussions. Sex workers have limited access to health and welfare services because they are afraid that if they seek these services and disclose their occupation they will be arrested or discriminated against. Forcing the industry underground also makes it providers to access sex workers. This has important implications in the light of HIV / Aids.

This is why organisations such as RH RU (Reproductive Health Research Unit) support the decriminalisation of sex work. In the Jordan case, the State attempted to justify the violation of sex workers' rights by calling on a variety of social ills which it claimed the laws against sex work help to prevent. This claim is not based in fact and disregards the total inability of the criminal prohibition on sex work to eradicate or even limit sex work. The state argued in that laws against sex work and brothel keeping protect against: o child prostitution o trafficking in women and children o public nuisance o public health o other associated crimes Child prostitution: The Child Care Act criminalised involvement in child prostitution.

There is no need for all sex work to be criminalised to achieve this aim. In fact, allowing the sex industry to exist above ground will make it easier to identify and target child prostitution syndicates. It will also be easier for adult sex workers to co-operate with police to get child prostitutes off the streets. Trafficking in women and children As with child prostitution, there is no evidence that laws against sex work are effective in combating trafficking in women and children.

It is important to note that people are trafficked into a variety of industries, including sex work, domestic work and farm work. South Africa needs to develop specific anti-trafficking legislation to combat this phenomenon. Public nuisance There are a myriad of laws against public nuisance, including laws against noise, littering, loitering and indecent exposure. These laws (usually municipal by-laws) can be used to reduce the public nuisance manifestations of sex work. However, it is important to realise that not all sex workers cause a public nuisance and that there are often circumstances which aggravate the situation, for example the fact that most public bathrooms are not open at night. Public Health There is a concern that decriminalisation of the sex industry will increase the levels of HIV in South Africa.

This is not true. This statement is based on an assumption that that legalisation or decriminalisation of the sex industry would result in a "boom" in the industry. There is no evidence of such a boom in countries which have changed their laws around the sex industry. Furthermore, while the industry is underground, health service providers struggle to access sex workers and vice versa. Also sex workers are dis empowered and are less able to insist on condom use with clients. Associated crimes There are clearly links between sex work and other crimes under the current system.

However, SWEAT argues that these links exist not because of the nature of sex work but because of the fact that it is criminalised and forced underground. Decriminalizing the industry will help break the links between sex work and criminal activities such as gangsterism and drugs. It is also interesting to note that when developing strategies to combat the various social ills discussed above, the government has not included the suppression or eradication of sex work. For example, the suppression of prostitution is not identified in the National Crime Prevention Strategy (1996) as a priority for the prevention of other crimes, nor is it identified in the National Drug Master Plan (1998) or in the HIV / AIDS/STD Strategic Plan for South Africa (2000). The only basis for maintaining a prohibition on sex work is a moral one. In the context of a heterogenous society which promotes religious tolerance this is not in itself an acceptable reason for criminal ising sex work.

This is particularly so if one considers the adverse impacts which criminalisation has on sex workers, most of whom are women and many of whom enter the sex industry because of poverty and unemployment. South Africa has undertaken to protect the fundamental human rights of its citizens. This protection cannot be denied simply because the people in question do not adhere to the predominant societal morality. Helen Alexander Legal Advocacy Co-ordinator SWEAT 1.13 Cultural Diversities 1.13. 1 Asia Thailand and the Philippines have recently stepped in to play the role of whorehouse to the world. This is facilitated by developing agents having disregarded the development of women's opportunities for economic independence, leaving prostitution as the highest paying job available to many of the women of Southeast Asia.

While these countries have benefited from the tourist presence and the resulting foreign exchange, the women who actually put themselves out for their countries development process are to a large extent victims of threefold oppression on the basis of gender, class and the particular role of their homeland in the games of international political economy. The idea of creating designated areas for sex tourism in Asia dates back at least as far as pre-Communist China, where " [b] brothel trains, given the euphemism of 'comfort waggons' were a long accepted part of social life... Once lusty Europeans could book a ticket to erotic pleasure on some of the specially chartered trains out of Shanghai". 2 But it was to be the Japanese who set up the most comprehensive network of "comfort waggons" staffed by forced prostitutes, or "comfort women".

Many women "lived as captives of the military beginning in 1932, when Japan invaded China, to the end of the war in 1945". 3 Forced to have sex with Japanese soldiers, the women were drawn from the Asian countries conquered by Japan, and included "Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, as well as Dutch women captured in Indonesia, then a Dutch colony". 4 While the Japanese had fostered prostitution on a limited scale to serve their own needs, "the boom in Southeast Asia started with the U.S. presence in Vietnam. There were 20,000 prostitutes in Thailand in 1957; by 1964, after the United States established seven bases in the country, that number had skyrocketed to 400,000".

5 It was this boom, and the resulting slack after the war that was taken up by tourism, that introduced prostitution as a large-scale business to the region. 1.13. 2 Africa Since living conditions in Zimbabwe have begun to be very tough, poverty has pushed some women and also men to work as sex workers. This increases the spread of the epidemic. A recent survey within a South African gold mining community revealed that 69 percent of local commercial sex workers (CSWs) are HIV-positive. Health education programmes and free condom distribution have not stopped these women from having unprotected sex.

Why are conventional HIV prevention programmes failing among CSWs? Do sex workers' working and living conditions undermine their ability to insist on condom use? A study by the London School of Economics assessed the social organisation of commercial sex work in the area. Are community-based sexual health promotion programmes better able to reach these women? People are more likely to alter their behaviour if their peers are also changing theirs. This principle was applied in establishing community-based peer education as part of a project aimed at increasing condom use among CSWs in a gold mining district near Johannesburg.

Through interviews with sex workers, the study identified a number of factors which makes them particularly vulnerable to HIV / AIDS: o They are aware of the dangers of HIV and would prefer to use condoms in every encounter but clients almost always refuse. o Most women feel it would be difficult to present a united front against men who demand unprotected sex as there is fierce competition for clients. o For many women, early life experiences have reduced their confidence in their ability to take control of their lives. This makes them less willing to insist on condom use. o The usual structure of sexual encounters offers minimal opportunities to discuss condom use except in the case of all-night sessions, which are rare. Despite the many obstacles to condom use among CSWs, the study found that, even in conditions of great poverty and violence, women had certain resources that a programme could mobilise in order to enhance their self-confidence in condom negotiation. The women have constructed a range of psycho-social strategies and networks: o They tend to work in groups of three or four and are completely dependent on each other for physical survival. This creates strong relationships. o Relationships between shack dwellers appear to be supportive. Other community members such as unemployed men could be called upon for protection against potentially violent clients. o Older women often provide support for the younger CSWs.

Their input ranges from presiding over savings and drinks clubs to providing advice and consolation. o The sex workers gain solidarity through jokes about their clients. They also have a certain amount of independence as their work releases them from the male control experienced by wives, mothers and home-makers. 1.13. 3 USA 1.13.

4 Europe In Europe, male prostitution is perhaps most visible in the major metropolitan areas such as Berlin, Paris, Budapest and London, but there are male prostitution scenes in smaller cities as well. The extent and the social setting of the scenes may differ widely. In some regions, male prostitution is related to the particular situation of young people (e.g. unemployment), in others it is connected to drug use, or it may be a way of survival for young men from foreign countries with an illegal status in the country of residence. Finally, there are some young men who make a well-considered decision to engage in prostitution and see it as a way of earning money like any other. The places where male prostitution takes place may vary as well.

Depending on the social and legal situation in a given country or city, it may take place in public places (the street, railway stations), in bars or in brothels. Most prostitutes in Europe have adopted the use of condoms. However, those taking drugs are more vulnerable and more highly exposed to the risks of sexual contamination. In Europe, the results of many studies have shown that the rumours spread by the alarmists were unfounded. The new ways in which prostitutes are being thought of and reached nowadays differ completely from previous medico-social practices. In the early 80's, as soon as the information began to circulate that a new lethal sexually transmissible disease had arrived, male and female prostitutes were immediately accused of being responsible for its transmission.

The fact that prostitutes were being used as scapegoats for the epidemic because they contributed to the spread of venereal disease back in the 19th. Century gave rise to some heated debate in France as to whether it might not be appropriate to bring back a system of strictly regulated brothels subject to obligatory public health inspection. The social workers' organisations which had been dealing with prostitutes for a long time (mainly with a view to reintegrating them into society) objected that legal measures of this kind were liable to have stigmatizing effects and were likely to be ineffective. In Europe (1), the results of many surveys have shown that the rumours spread by the alarmists were unfounded: people who go in for prostitution have a relatively low rate of HIV infection, since they make regular use of condoms. The main risks of contamination arise in situations involving "private" partners with whom no condoms are used, and most of all, in situations involving drug addicts. Prostitutes who are drug addicts and often carry out casual prostitution under extremely poor conditions of hygiene and social integration are the most highly exposed to contamination by the HIV virus 1.13.

5 Middle East Sex industry profiteers have established themselves in mainstream business. Such as, a well-known Arab pimp has founded a bank, and the current top Russian pimp in the Middle East is building a hotel. ("Giving the customer what he wants", Economist, 14 February 1998) Increase in Prostitution because of ban on music "For some singers and dancers, the banning of music in the Frontier Province in Northwestern Pakistan signifies a painstaking turn to prostitution. In power since the October 2002 elections, the Muttahidah Hajjis-e Amal (MMA) have imposed Islamic law.

Although no official law has been published, banning music falls under Islamic law and local police are already starting to stop singers and dancers at weddings, in cinemas, or theaters. Seeing no other way of financial support, women feel forced to prostitute themselves". - Les Penelope's 31/03/2003-Middle East Conclusion.