Prostitution and Human Rights Issues

Prostitution and Human Rights Issues Articles

Prostitution and Issues of Human Rights Violations

The day in the life of any sex worker most often includes some violation of his or her human rights in some degree or another. Prostitution is an industry which degrades sex workers into mere objects, thus effectively stripping them of their humanity and the legal rights that are entailed to that position around the world. In Prostitution: Violating the Human Rights of Poor Women, Day explores the specific demographic of sex workers in abject poverty and opens up the question of how decriminalization would benefit sex workers, but ultimately decides that decriminalization would only leave the poorest demographics of sex workers open to abuses of their human rights. Willis and Levy similarly show the violent dangers prostitution has in a vulnerable demographic, yet they focus on children; the article "Child Prostitution: Global Health Burden, Research Needs, and Interventions" explores the impact the sex industry has on children and how little research has been weak in helping expose their plight to the world.

The first article to be reviewed in the context of this analysis is Shelagh Day's 2008 article Prostitution: Violating the Human Rights of Poor Women. Here, Day explores the human rights issues in regards to their relationship to the industry of prostitution, especially in regards to the sex worker in the most abject poverty. There are many who may claim that sex workers are in the industry because it is good pay, and that this higher income liberates them. Such example would be call girls in more affluent countries and regions. However, Day discusses the impact prostitution has in the lowest socioeconomic classes. These demographics are often the most vulnerable, as many of the women have no other choice but to work in a dangerous and largely unregulated sex industry, where they are the victims of the greatest human rights violations. For these poorer populations, who are in the midst of abject poverty, "prostitution is a means of obtaining survival income" (Day 9). Unfortunately, many with this situation experience untold levels of violence and exploitation. Many women suffer physical abuse, kidnapping, theft, and a number of other negative experiences. Their human rights are often violated and their security and quality f life is constantly threatened by the dangers of their working environment.

Day herself is a world-renowned human rights activist who has extensive experience in working with the United Nations to help guide and advise policies. This gives her voice a greater sense of authority, as she has real world experience of observing this issue and has had success in shaping policy to alleviate some of the women suffering under the vile conditions of the sex industry. Her article is a call to action, so that others may be exposed to the horrors of prostitution in order to help increase the public outcry in regards to the issue and its clear needs for more effective policies world wide to curb its prominence. Day states that "the ongoing, overwhelming violence of prostitution requires a response…in both political and judicial arenas" (Day 9).

Her article is also unique because it looks at the more specified conditions in Canada, as well as exploring the issue globally. She speaks from a perspective that aims to help shape Canadian laws political policies regarding prostitution, thus showing her clear political agenda which is presented in tandem with the informative elements that are trying to expose the horrors of prostitution to those who may not be fully familiar with it. Day asks the tough question, will decriminalization and regulation of the sex industry as an industry and not as an illegal crime help women in the poorest socioeconomic classes better protect themselves? With protection and aid for the government, sex workers in these abject conditions can rely on a government stance that aims to protect them and grant them legal guidance, rather than treating them as criminals and forcing them onto harsh streets with no legal protection from violence and exploitation. Decriminalization "is used to indicate that the goal is to remove all criminal sanctions on prostitution and prostitution-related activities and to treat it like any other business" (Day 10). This has been proposed by contemporary law makers who are trying to provide greater protection and more legal rights to those women in the sex industry of all socioeconomic classes. Essentially, Day is opening up a dialogue that questions whether Canada can benefit from a more structured legal environment, where there are greater legal protections and rights for such sex workers in low socioeconomic conditions.

Here, Day suggests that ultimately, decriminalization is not the answer. After a thorough review of the potential scenario for decriminalization, Day concludes that decriminalization does not help the situation for those sex workers in the most abject poverty, leaving them open to the same violence and exploitation. The article reviews previous studies of the impact of decriminalization in regards to how the sex workers themselves faired. One report covering the decriminalization of prostitution in New Zealand showed no significant indication that the sex workers saw limited benefits and that there was no impact on unregulated street prostitution. Thus, the decriminalization of prostitution had relatively little impact on the most vulnerable demographic of sex workers who are exposed to the greatest level of violence and abuses. Unfortunately, New Zealand's Prostitution Reform Act of 2003 "had no impact on street-based prostitution, and little effect on the violence that women in prostitution experience" (Day 11). As such, Day posits that decriminalizing prostitution would be negatively affecting the human rights of women in regards to their rights to "equality and security of the person" (Day 12). In this regard, Day dismisses the idea hat decriminalization will help the most vulnerable populations of women in the sex industry, and that the violations against their human rights they witness on a daily basis would continue despite such legislative attempts at regulating the industry and protecting its vulnerable workers.

Willis and Levy also look at a vulnerable population in regards to the contemporary sex industry -- children. This is the second article in this review, "Child Prostitution: Global Health Burden, Research Needs, and Interventions." Even more vulnerable than poor, uneducated women, children are often coerced or sold into prostitution and see enormous violations of their human rights. In this sense, the topic that Willis and Levy focus on is even more dire, because it deals with the impact prostitution has on children around the world, who often have no voice and influence over policies that could potentially save them from exploitation. According to the article, there are an estimated 1 million children who have been forced into prostitution around the world (Willis & Levy 1). Children of all ages are forced to endure working in the sex industry, much to their own demise. The article here defines a child as an individual under the age of eighteen. Both genders are involved in child prostitution around the globe, making this a serious problem that transcends traditional gender boundaries. Willis and Levy highlight that there are many unfortunate paths that lead a child into the sex industry. In countries all over the world, children are kidnapped, coerced, or lead into prostitution while fleeing from abusive homes and families. When the child is forced into sex work, it is almost like slavery. They often receive none or very little of the wages, are abused, and treated as if they were slaves. This complicates the situation and shows that children have to endure the greatest human rights violations in the sex industry world wide, even more so than women on average in abject poverty, as Day discussed earlier.