Supporters of the decision, among them prostitutes and sex workers of various types, claim that the federal laws drive them on to the streets where they become the victims of violence and rape; they certainly discriminate against women. This decision, they claim will make the lives of these people safer and lead to regulation and government protection of sorts.
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| Terri Jean Bedford, one of the defendants. 2009 photo |
This is a highly controversial issue but my inclination is to consider this a victory for women engaged in this activity. But the wider issue is why women are forced to engage in it. I cannot accept in my mind that it is a decision made lightly. The conservatives and the federal government lawyers who argue that prostitution is “inherently dangerous” and that the laws are made to protect women from exploitation have a point, it is not healthy psychologically or physically I would think, nor are most jobs. But women are exploited in all sorts of ways, on the job, in society in general, the system perpetuates this; where do rights and freedoms and security of persons come in here? Even if we take these laws, the purchasers of these services, normally, but not exclusively men, are not treated the same was as the sellers in the courts. We are talking about buying of a human being’s body to use solely for sexual gratification for an agreed upon amount of time.
While I would think this decision is a step forward (although I can be convinced otherwise) the more important issue is eliminating prostitution altogether and I think that this cannot occur without eliminating capitalism, an exploitive and oppressive economic system, and with it the hypocritical and unnatural social attitudes to sex and personal relations. While women have made major gains historically, they are still objectified in the media and a young woman is a grand prize for the wealthy older man; then there is the issue of wages and opportunity in the workplace. When do we see an ad for a vacuum cleaner or washing machine on TV where the user is a man?
What thoughts do the regular readers of this blog have on this issue?
1 comment:
Despite idealized social mores, the fact is there are sex workers. Making it illegal to engage in the trade does not protect either consumer or seller. What it continues to successfully accomplish is subjgation of freedom to the politcal interest of what ever office choses to expound upon the subject. Perpetual moralizing about an unresolveable pratice within humanity, and indeed, even in the animal kingdom, (look up Bonobo Monkey), does nothing but cause shame, division, and dangerous conditions.
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