The Need For Decriminalization
Since there is both a demand and supply for sex workers, the market for such will continue to exist. The problem with illegal markets is that they are inefficient and costly to criminalize. Also what is even the point of trying to stop a market that will inevitably still function with or without decriminalization. The only real solution is to decriminalize the profession, so it can be better managed through regulatory laws.
Sex work should be decriminalized rather than legalized because of the effects each policy has on sex work. As explained by business insider:
“Legalization would mean the regulation of prostitution with laws regarding where, when, and how prostitution could take place. Decriminalization eliminates all laws and prohibits the state and law-enforcement officials from intervening in any prostitution-related activities or transactions, unless other laws apply.” [6]
The key takeaways from these definitions of each is that with legalization, sex workers can still be heavily controlled by the government and still labeled as criminals for not following the regulations. Whereas, with decriminalization all laws prohibiting sex work would be eliminated but other laws could be created to regulate the business, just like other professions. Some of those would be still making pimping illegal or implementing programs to teach safer sex practices. The regulations that will follow on the better business practices page focuses on regulations that improve the market for sex work, these regulations can’t really be written into laws but if passed down to workers or sex worker establishments could go a long way to improve the operating of the business.
The map above shows how sex work policy’s and regulations vary across the world. In many countries prostitution is still illegal. Other countries have made different aspects of the practice legal but have laws that regulate the practice in different ways, such as making non-intercourse sex legal or still making brothels and pimping illegal. One country that has decriminalized prostitution is Spain. Even though the practice is decriminalized they still have laws that make operating brothels or soliciting for sex in public illegal.
Seeing as sex work is regulated differently across the world, dependent on the circumstances and cultural norms of each country, it is hard to create an ideal way to govern sex work that would universally work for all countries. However, there are components of decriminalization that can benefit sex workers uniformly and most countries. For starters sex work needs to be decriminalized in general because it is inefficient to both the sex workers and the government to police prostitution as a crime. Next, it is essential that the workers activity in the market for sex work not be seen as a crime. Also, the clients that nonviolently frequent these workers can’t be labeled as criminals because this makes the market for sex work inefficient, by not only reducing demand but increasing the risk of even using the market. This would make the workers worst off by cutting into their potential profits. This will even make the government worst off by spending a lot of tax revenue in order to police the practices. Now, there are some aspects of sex workers that should remain illegal, such as pimps (a third party that has control over the workers body, with exclusion to managers of brothels and escort services). These are just some legal routes that can be universally taken to benefit the workers and the governments of these countries globally. Besides these regulations, others can be proposed in relation to differing cultural norms of countries. However, that being said it is essential that sex workers have a part in the laws that are created because who would know how the business is run better than the workers themselves.
After sex work is decriminalized then regulations can be made to correct any problems that may arise. These regulations will benefit the sex workers and the clients. These regulations will allow the sex work market to become more efficient in its operation and the workers to receive improved working conditions.
[6] Tani, Maxwell. "Sex Worker Explains the Difference between Legalizing and Decriminalizing Prostitution." Business Insider. 2015. Accessed May 13, 2016. http://www.businessinsider.com/sex-worker-explains-the-difference-between-legalizing-and-decriminalizing-prostitution-2015-6.