Prostitution is the oldest profession on the planet and keeping it illegal accomplishes nothing but instead criminalizes the professionals in the field and subjects them to violence, victimization, and disease. Through criminalizing prostitution, we marginalize these workers and silence their voices, preventing any discussion on the subject. Our democracy was founded on the principle of the voice of the minority being heard; therefore, by marginalizing these workers, we impinge upon their human rights. In spite of these facts, there are still people who insist that prostitution “destroys lives” but in reality, it is the criminalization of this profession that does just that. Ultimately, legalizing prostitution would improve sex workers’ health physically, mentally, and sexually.
As a result of the decriminalization of prostitution, sex workers would be subject to less physical abuse. According to The Daily Beast both Germany and New Zealand legalized sex work and reported that “violence against sex workers decreased while workers’ quality of life improved”. This means that legalization wouldn’t just protect the pimps, as many people argue, and it proves there is a direct link between legalization and improvement of workers’ health. Ultimately, the legalization of prostitution in these countries resulted in an increase in sex workers’ health, showing that legalization would, in fact, improve the health of prostitutes. Furthermore, legalizing prostitution would allow sex workers to speak out against violence, as Amnesty International said that “reporting crimes experienced during the course of their work means putting themselves at risk of criminalization and/or penalization on the basis of their involvement in sex work” . This means that many sex workers face abuse on a regular basis, but nothing gets done out of fear, clearly demonstrating that without fear of prosecution, sex workers would feel able to seek help, in all ways, regarding their situation. Legalizing prostitution would be granting workers the ability to speak out about the violence they face, ultimately decreasing and possibly eliminating this violence altogether.
Not only would decriminalizing prostitution lessen the violence workers face on a regular basis, but it would also decrease the prevalence of STDs, mainly HIV, among them. In a study of European countries that have legalized prostitution, the AIDS Virus Education Research Trust (AVERT) found that “there is a significantly lower HIV prevalence among sex workers compared to those countries where all aspects of sex work are criminalized". AVERT showed that by removing legal restrictions, HIV prevention programs would have more of an impact. This study proves that legalizing prostitution would not only positively impact workers’ physical health, but it would also play a major role in the improvement of sexual health. Additionally, according to The Lancet, a study carried out in 1998 in Australia found that “the prevalence of sexually transmitted bacterial infections was 80 times greater in 63 illegal street prostitutes than in 753 of their legal brothel counterparts”. These numbers show that a small group of illegal sex workers hold over 50% more STDs than a group of legal prostitutes about 12 times the size. This emphasizes just how drastic a change legalizing prostitution can make in one’s sexual health, therefore supporting the idea that decriminalization improves workers’ health.
Despite the helpful possibilities that legalization poses, many people continue to argue that sex work in any form is still sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, and is usually torture for the workers. They argue that any form of legalization would constitute this form of exploitation and perversion. Former sex workers say they come off the streets with a high level of trauma and in cases, severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). However, this is not the case for every former sex worker. In a comparative study done by the Australian & New Zealand Journal about PTSD among women, it was found that "There were no differences in mental health... or in self-esteem... between the two groups [female prostitutes and females who weren't prostitutes]”. In fact, author Teela Sanders says “protective factors such as education, social support and access to health care increase resilience which was in turn linked to better mental health”. This means that if sex work had more protective benefits as other professions do, sex workers would have improved mental health. One way to ensure sex workers receive these things is to decrease the surrounding stigma and legalize their profession, further aiding the argument that legalization would result in improved health.
As can be seen, the legalization of prostitution would improve sex workers’ overall health. Sex workers would be subject to less abuse, which would positively impact both their mental and physical health, and it has already been proven that legalization significantly decreases STD prevalence. In the end, everybody is entitled to basic human rights. While safety and health are just a small part of basic human rights, that doesn’t make those factors any less important. In order for people to fully understand this issue as a society, we need to move away from the generalized stigma around sex work and start educating ourselves on the facts that really matter.
Ruby Lenertz