Why Is Prostitution a Crime?

Before getting into why prostitution is a crime, you need to know what this service means. 

Prostitution is participating in very indiscriminate sexual behaviour, typically with an individual who is not a spouse or acquaintance, in exchange for immediate monetary or other valuable remuneration. Women in some nations can sell their bodies for money. Prostitution is not permitted in several countries. However, it is legal in nations in the West. 

Is Prostitution a Crime?

• Prostitution is a centuries-old profession worldwide.
• Prostitution is banned in many countries, including India.
• Prostitution is lawful, but pimping, owning, or operating a brothel is not.

Prostitution is considered a crime or a serious offence in a few countries. But the fact is, sex work is not prohibited or penalized under the statute in and of itself. By legalizing this act, this piece explores the realm of prostitution and gives justice to the weaker portions.

5 Countries Where Prostitution Is Not Banned

Finland

Many people wonder, 'Is prostitution legal in Finland?' 

Yes, it is. However, selling or purchasing sexual services while in public is criminal. Clients are accessible via the Internet and personal advertisements. 

Costa Rica

In Costa Rica, prostitution is completely legal, and no one can legally penalize the sex workers of this country. However, different kinds of pimping and prostitution rings are solely illegal. 

Unfortunately, Costa Rica serves as a transit point for women and children trafficked for sexual exploitation.

New Zealand

New Zealand is unique and one of the most advanced countries regarding prostitution. Even brothel-keeping and street solicitations are very much legal in New Zealand. 

However, this process is completely against the law for anyone under 18. 

Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, prostitution is both permitted and controlled. Entry-level prostitutes must register and declare in an affidavit that they are doing so of their own free will and have no way to find any other employment.

Germany

In Germany, prostitution is permitted and regulated, but politicians outlawed it in March to stop the coronavirus from spreading. 

Why Should Prostitution Not Be Legal?

"Prostitution, whether it's a legal service or not, involves so much harm and trauma it cannot be seen as a conventional business." 

• Not making commercial sex legalized would probably lessen the negative effects of prostitution.
• Many believe that, if sex industry becomes legal and regulated in every countries, it would be safer and can be handled like any other regular jobs. 
• However, according to the researches and experts, human trafficking has become one of the most prominent activities in such countries where prostitution and commercial sex are legalized.

Some study analyses:

· According to the report of the prostitution law review committee, prostitution is fundamentally violent and abusive, as shown by the fact that most prostitutes in New Zealand who were interviewed did not believe that the country's decriminalization had lessened the violence they experienced.

· Among many interviews and studies, one study of a woman who works in a San Francisco massage parlor shows that 70% of women are beaten and assaulted by their customers.

· According to a study of the commercial sex market in eight American cities, 36% of prostitutes said their clients were violent or abusive.

· In contrast to the most deadly job for men in the 1980s (taxi driver), the "workplace" homicide rate among traded women in Colorado is eight times greater.

Gender-Based Violence In Human Trafficking And Prostitution

· Most persons in prostitution are either female or come from transgender female backgrounds.

· In contradiction, a vast majority of sex buyers are male.

· Prostitutes are mostly young girls and women, and they majorly face the risks of murder, assault and physical torture

Decriminalisation Of Prostitution And The Sex Business

More than considering prostitution as a crime, experts think that this service should be banned immediately because of sinful consequences.

Research says that legalized and decriminalized countries are the root causes of sex trafficking where prostitution industries is not banned.

The exploitation of helpless immigrant women who had been trafficked to the Netherlands for prostitution was one justification for legalizing prostitution there. However, a study discovered that 80% of the women in Dutch brothels were foreign trafficking victims.

Due to these unnatural circumstances and causes, in many countries’ prostitution is considered as a crime. And the people of these countries also don’t take any initiative to make it legalized. View Examples

Violence Towards Sex Workers

• The treatment of prostitutes who operate brothels is appalling. 
• To prevent escape, the women are not permitted to leave the brothel. The brothel owners have the ladies entertain the guests against their will and give them a very small portion of the profits. 
• There have been incidences of HIV positivity and other illnesses affecting these women. Physical, mental, and sexual abuse are all used to exploit prostitutes. Transgender prostitutes, like other outdoor prostitutes, frequently endure physical abuse, such as being slapped, kicked, or punched. 
• Sex workers are more likely to experience psychological or emotional abuse, such as denial of fundamental necessities or coerced drug or alcohol use. Sex workers are frequently thought of as prostitutes or undesirable individuals. These ladies are victimized and raped by male customers.
• Increased degrees of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) cause increased rates of rape and other sexual violence committed against prostitutes.

THE TRUE PICTURE OF PROSTITUTION IN THE WEST

While there are differences in the regulations, prostitution is treated more leniently in Europe than in the US. Prostitution is accepted and controlled in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Greece, Turkey, the Netherlands, Hungary, and Latvia. It is permitted but unregulated in other nations.

The red-light district of Amsterdam probably comes to mind when most Americans think about prostitutes in Europe. One of the first nations to legalize and regulate prostitution was the Netherlands in 2000.

Germany is the 'largest brothel' in Europe. The government legally legalized sex work in 2002, which had been permitted since the 1800s. Since then, the industry has grown tremendously to become $16.3 billion a year, employing as many as 1 million sex workers.

Concluding Note,

Voluntary prostitution is legal if it doesn't violate the rules. It indicates that a lady may carry out this trade in privacy. In India specifically, prostitutes are not entitled to any labor law benefits. Along with the protection statutes, they enjoy the same rights as other citizens. However, because of the unlawful nature of the brothel and pimping businesses, the women who engage in those activities face numerous exploitations.

These enterprises are operating throughout the countries despite being against the law. The federal and state governments are powerless to prohibit them through legal means because thousands and thousands of innocent women would be left without anything. But the harsh fact is prostitution and sex workers are not tolerated in Indian society. 

Therefore, several discussions regarding prostitution remain undiscussed.