The ethics of prostitution

Difficult question, really. On one hand, I see no reason why, if two consenting adults chose to exchange money and sex with each other, why it's anyone's business other than those two people. Here in Toronto there has been a movement started by sex workers to challenge the laws against soliciting for prostitution. They state that the current laws force prostitution to take place underground, and thus puts the woman practicing prostitution in danger because they have to work in dark alleys and can't expect the police to protect them from dangerous and violent offenders.

On the other hand, the business of prostitution is rife with people being exploited against their will, as can be evidenced by the human trafficing statistics. And even if they aren't being physically held against their will, one can infer from the fact that many of the women working in the strip clubs and massage parlours in Toronto are of Eastern European and south-east Asian nationalities that it is a case of those with limited opportunities to generate wealth coming to a place with lots of wealth and being exploited by that gap.

Sex tourism seems to be exploiting this gap as well. Rich Westerners travel to poor countries to have sex at a lower rate than tey would have to pay at home.

Of course, one could say that we are all doing that - travelling to poorer regions to take advantage of the gap between what we can earn in the west and what they make elsewhere. I enjoy paying $0.40 for a beer in Central America, when I'd have to pay $2.00+ at home.

Quoting GregW

On the other hand, the business of prostitution is rife with people being exploited against their will, as can be evidenced by the human trafficing statistics.

Are those statistics, on the web Greg.
If so, would u mind providing a link?

Mel

Perhaps I shouldn't have used the word statistics. I suppose I meant more the news reports and such I have seen.

Here's an estimate from the Anti-slavery website.

Q: How many people are trafficked?

A: It is impossible to know precisely and statistics are difficult to obtain because trafficking is an underground activity. The International Labour Organization in 2005 estimated at least 2.4 million people have been trafficked.

Hundreds of men, women and children are trafficked each year to the UK. Research carried out for the Home Office in 1998 estimated that in one year, between 142 and 1,420 women are trafficked into the country; the research was based solely on reported cases and so the actual figure may be higher.

Hi Mel!
I was absolutely sure I read it somewhere on that site, but now Ive lost it somehow. Bending in my own dust I am truly sorry about the (apparently) wrong link!!!! Rising again, I can give you some other links to different articles on the subject;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4204675.stm
http://www.ijm.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?&pid=622

For me it is in a foreign language, but I hope and think you wil some interesting info on these. It is something else than an idiot coming with stong statements on a forum without knowing her source. Back to the original subject of the tread, I dont think anybody in their right state of mind would choose prostitution as a profession. I came to think about something earlier; do you think porn actors could go under the name prostitutes? They do in fact get paid to have sex, not by their actual sex partner, but by a third part.

Stine

Hey...something went wrong! One link is missing!
[quote]Q:How many people are trafficked
According to US Department approx 600.000-800.000 men, women and children are trafficked over international borders each year! 80% women and 50% minors!!!

Quoting stinet

Hi Mel!
I was absolutely sure I read it somewhere on that site, but now Ive lost it somehow. Bending in my own dust I am truly sorry about the (apparently) wrong link!!!! Rising again, I can give you some other links to different articles on the subject;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4204675.stm
http://www.ijm.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?&pid=622

For me it is in a foreign language, but I hope and think you wil some interesting info on these. It is something else than an idiot coming with stong statements on a forum without knowing her source. Back to the original subject of the tread, I dont think anybody in their right state of mind would choose prostitution as a profession. I came to think about something earlier; do you think porn actors could go under the name prostitutes? They do in fact get paid to have sex, not by their actual sex partner, but by a third part.

Stine

Thanks Stine

It does not matter, if u give wrong information, by mistake. This is a discussion, and people give their opinions, not just facts.

I suppose porn actors could be called prostitutes. If I apply my definition of what prostitution is(post 3) some of them would not be.

But, I tend to agree, with u, that most female sex workers are not in their right minds. I have a feeling, that many of them come from disturbed pasts. I think sometimes, they find themselves in an undesirable situation, and are unable to get out of it. I think, in the interest of peace and harmony, society should provide help, for them, when this happens.

Mel

Thanks Gregw

I will add that, to my list of things to read.

It is true, that the reports show far smaller numbers, then the reality.
I was reading various reports about how many people the Chinese government executes, each year. Each human rights organisation has different numbers, because they can only base it on what is reported to them. The organisation, with the highest number, had 3500 per year. Apparenty, somebody who works for the Chinese government leaked, that it is 10,000 per year.

Mel

Quoting stinet

According to US Department approx 600.000-800.000 men, women and children are trafficked over international borders each year! 80% women and 50% minors!!!

Wow!!!

It is unbelievable isnt it, what happends under our noses. I live in a small city in central Norway, and a couple of years ago there was a case where an underaged girl from a foreign country was helped out of prostitution. She had been sold by her uncle and forced into prostitution here in Norway. One 'client' had discovered what was going on and somehow helped her out.

I am often amazed too, that these things go on under our noses.
Sometimes, I visit a country and it seems so nice and peaceful. Then I read about things that happen there. It turns the peacefulness, into something creepy.
One time, I visited an Indian village, in the mountains, in Mexico. Just a few months before that, the Mexican army had slaughtered several people, in the village. It felt so peacful there, and life was going on as normal.

Mel

[ Edit: Edited on Mar 26, 2007, at 8:13 AM by Mel. ]