11 September, 2007

A Choice To Sell Sex

"Criminalising men who use prostitutes won’t help women find another means of earning a wage,” writes Diane Taylor in a piece in the Guardian titled “Selling Sex is a Choice.” More:

Ideologically unpalatable though it may be to some, the majority of women involved in prostitution have made a choice to sell sex, because they see no alternative way of earning what can sometimes be substantial sums of money. Undocumented migrants in particular have few options available to earn money. The twilight world of prostitution in a rich western country is one. Their goal is to lift themselves and their families out of poverty, and they see this as one of the few ways they can do it.

A key issue for the government to consider if it does go down the road of criminalising men who pay for sex is that it does not appear to work. Such a law was introduced in Sweden eight years ago, but research has shown that instead of wiping out street prostitution, it has simply become more hidden, placing the women involved in it at greater risk of violence from punters. The most socially marginalised women who work on the streets have suffered most.

Precisely. Effectively criminalising prostitution drives it underground, and makes it harder to protect the rights of the women involved. And even if, by some miracle of ubiquitous policing, we could end prostitution together, it would be wrong to do so. We don’t do people any favours by reducing the choices open to them.

For more, read an old column of mine, “Don’t Punish Victimless Crimes.”