SAF Position on Legalization

Definitions Regarding the Legal Status of Prostitution

Excerpt from Wendy McElroy www.zetetics.com/mac/articles/prostsol.html

The starting point of any debate should be to define the key terms of the discussion so that everyone understands what is being said. The key terms of this particular debate are 'abolition,' 'legalization,' and 'decriminalization.'

•  Abolition (or suppression): government attempts to prohibit all acts of prostitution, as well as the activities that promote it, such as keeping a brothel. Abolition -- or absolute criminalization -- is often considered to be the extreme opposite of legalizing prostitution. Actually, it is the ultimate in state control of that profession. Abolitionists call for all forms of prostitution to be considered a criminal offense and suppressed by force of law.
• Legalization (or regulation): government has registered prostitutes with the police and subjected them to rules meant to protect health and public decency. Legalization refers to some form of state controlled prostitution. It often includes mandatory medical exams, special taxes, licensing, or the creation of red light districts. It always includes a government record of who is a prostitute, information which is commonly used for other government purposes. For example, some countries in Europe indicate whether a person is a prostitute on his or her passport. This restricts that person's ability to travel since many countries will automatically refuse entry on that basis. Controlling legalized prostitution usually falls to the police.
• Decriminalization (or tolerance): all laws against prostitution have been abolished. It refers to the removal of all laws against prostitution, including laws against pimping. Almost all prostitutes' rights groups in North America call for the decriminalization of consensual adult sex on the grounds that laws against such sex violate civil liberties, such as the freedom of association.

SAF Position on Legalization and Decriminalization

It is commonly known that some of the ways young girls end up in the sex trade is through the recruitment of pimps. As more countries move toward legalizing the sex trade industry, these pimps become legal business entrepreneurs and might call you to the job..

The following article written by Claire Chapman of Telegraph News gives a view of what legalization can mean to the common job searcher.

"If You Don't Take a Job As a Prostitute, We Can Stop Your Benefits"

Today, girls and boys of all ages are sold, tricked and trafficked into the sex trade industry. It is not far-fetched to imagine that one day the same situation as seen in this article will affect everyone in a society that brings in the legalization of the sex trade: After all, brothel owners (pimps) will have to be equal-opportunity employers. Can you imagine a society that in the near future could force your loved ones to decide between utilizing well-earned employment benefits and prostituting themselves as a viable vocation?

The SA Foundation stands for recovery for those who wish to escape the sex trade industry and as part of our message to the young women that what has happened to them is wrong, we advocate for the decriminalization of the women involved, not the decriminalization/legalization of the sex trade as a whole. The following excerpts from an article written by Janice G. Raymond from the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (www.catwinternational.org) does an excellent job in summing up the realities of legalization/decriminalization

Ten Reasons for Not Legalizing ProstitutionAnd a Legal Response to the Demand for Prostitution

1. Legalization/decriminalization of prostitution is a gift to pimps, traffickers and the sex industry.

• Legalization amounts to sanctioning all aspects of the sex industry.
• Legalization doesn't dignify the women, it simply dignifies the sex industry.
• Many people haven't thought through the consequences of legalizing pimps as legitimate sex entrepreneurs.
• It is crucial to advocate for the decriminalization of the women in prostitution. No woman should be punished for her own exploitation.

2. Legalization/decriminalization of prostitution and the sex industry promotes sex trafficking.

• Legalized or decriminalized prostitution industries are one of the root causes of sex trafficking.
• One report found that 80% of women in the brothels of the Netherlands were trafficked from other countries.

3. Legalization/decriminalization of prostitution does not control the sex industry. It expands it.

• Prostitution now accounts for 5% of the Netherlands economy and has increased by 25% since legalization.
• In addition to governmental endorsement of prostitution in the Netherlands, prostitution is also promoted by associations of sex businesses.
• There is a dwindling number of Dutch women who engage in prostitution activities and an expanding demand for more female bodies.
• The Dutch National Rapporteur on Trafficking has stated that in the future, a solution may be to "offer [to market] prostitutes from non EU/EEA countries who voluntarily choose to work in prostitution…" Prostitution is thus normalized as an "option for the poor."

4. Legalization/decriminalization of prostitution increases clandestine, illegal and street prostitution.

• One goal of legalized prostitution was to move prostituted women indoors into brothels and clubs where they would be allegedly less vulnerable than in street prostitution.
• However, in the Netherlands the majority of women in prostitution still operate illegally and underground.
• The argument that legalization was supposed to take the criminal elements out of sex businesses by strict regulation of the industry has failed.
• The real growth in prostitution in Australia since legalization took effect has been in the illegal sector. Over a period of 12 months from 1998-1999, unlicensed brothels in Victoria tripled in number and still operate with impunity.

5. Legalization of prostitution and decriminalization of the sex industry increases child prostitution.

• Child prostitution in the Netherlands has increased dramatically during the 1990s.
• The Amsterdam-based ChildRight organization estimates that the number of children in prostitution has increased by more than 300% between 1996 -2001, going from 4,000 children in 1996 to 15,000 in 2001.

6. Legalization/decriminalization of prostitution does not protect the women in prostitution.

In two studies in which 186 victims of commercial sexual exploitation were interviewed, women consistently indicated that prostitution establishments did little to protect them, regardless of whether the establishments were legal or illegal. One woman said, "The only time they protect anyone is to protect the customers."

7. Legalization/decriminalization of prostitution increases the demand for prostitution.

• Many men who previously would not have risked buying women for sex now see prostitution as acceptable.
• When legal barriers disappear, so too do the social and ethical barriers to treating women as merchandise.

8. Legalization/decriminalization of prostitution does not promote women's health.

• Monitoring prostituted women does not protect them from HIV/AIDS or STDs.
• As well, "safety policies" in brothels did not protect women from harm.

9. Legalization/decriminalization of prostitution does not enhance women's choice.

• Most women in prostitution did not make a rational choice to enter prostitution from among a range of other options.
• The distinction between forced and voluntary prostitution is precisely what the sex industry is promoting to meet its own agenda.
• Women will bear the burden of proving that they were "forced".
• Some prostitution survivors have stated that it took them years after leaving prostitution to acknowledge that prostitution wasn't a free choice because to deny their own capacity to choose was to deny themselves.

10. Women in systems of prostitution do not want the sex industry legalized or decriminalized.

In a 5-country study on sex trafficking, most of the trafficked and prostituted women interviewed in the Philippines, Venezuela and the United States strongly stated their opinion that prostitution should not be legalized and considered a legitimate work, warning that legalization would create more risks and harm for women from already violent customers and pimps.

An Alternative Route: Penalizing the Demand

Instead of abandoning women in the sex industry to state-sponsored prostitution, laws should address the predation of men who buy women for the sex of prostitution.

Sweden was a country that legalized prostitution 30 years ago and then re-criminalized it in 1998, after complaints that legalization had solved few of the problems it set out to address.

Sweden's Violence Against Women Government Bill (1997/98:55 (4), prohibits and penalizes the purchase of "sexual services" (Swedish Government Offices, 1998). This approach targets the male demand for prostitution: "By prohibiting the purchase of sexual services, prostitution and its damaging effects can be counteracted more effectively than hitherto" (Swedish Government Offices, 1998, p.2). Some key points of the bill are that:

• Without male demand, there would be no female supply.
• Prostitution is a form of male violence against women and children, and the purchase of sexual services is criminalized.
• Prostitution is not a desirable social phenomenon and is an obstacle to the ongoing development towards equality between women and men

Results of the Swedish legislation thus far have been promising. The prohibition against men buying prostituted women has received strong social support. Several polls, conducted in 2000 and 2001, show that approximately 80% of the Swedish population support the law.

Swedish NGOs that work with women in prostitution also support the law and maintain that since passage of the law, increased numbers of women contact them for assistance. The very existence of the law, and the fact that people know it will be enforced, they say, serve as an aid to young women who are vulnerable to pimps and procurers (Ekberg, 2001).

As well, street prostitution has declined in the three years since the law was passed. The number of prostituted women has decreased by 50%, and 70-80% of the buyers have left public places. Furthermore, a police representative maintained that there is no indication that prostitution has gone underground, or that prostitution in sex clubs, escort agencies and brothels has increased (Björling, 2001).

The SA Foundation also advocates for the decriminalization of women in the sex trade as they believe that they should not be penalized for their own exploitation.

When entering recovery and attempting to move forward with their lives these women find it difficult to secure meaningful employment or to travel due to having a criminal record. It is an area of great shame for them as charges such as soliciting or communication is on their adult records and they have to formally apply for a pardon, which can take up to five years to receive.

If you are ready to act and take a stand for the criminalization of the sex trade and the decriminalization of sexually exploited people, contact your member of parliament. The following website can help you locate who to call, email or write:

www.sfu.ca/~aheard/elections/ridings.html