Tutor HuntResources Sociology Resources
Is Violence Intrinsic To Sex Work/prostitution Or Primarily A By Product Of The Way It Is Regulated?
Essay for MA in Women, Violence and Conflict, Gender, Violence and Justice Module 70/100 Distinction
Date : 26/04/2021
In this essay, I will use the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to examine how the structures of abolition, decriminalisation and legalisation of prostitution can contribute to, or reduce violence against prostitutes. Then I will use Article 5 No one shall be subjected to... inhuman or degrading treatment... to examine whether violence is intrinsic to prostitution, if the way it is regulated maintains the individual s other human rights.
For the purposes of this essay, I am going to define violence according to the United Nations Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, (1995) as follows The term "violence against women" means any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life (p48.) I have chosen this definition because prostitution is a gendered phenomenon, as the majority of prostitutes are women and the majority of customers are men (Jackson, 1996) Therefore, the violence experienced by prostitutes at the hands of customers, pimps and the police (Alexander, 1996, Hoigard, 1996, Mei-Hua, 2008) can be seen as primarily violence against women. The social stigma against female prostitutes can also be said to be based upon the sexist double standard held against women, known as the Madonna/whore dichotomy (Alexander, 1996) making at least part of the cause of violence gender based, rather than simply circumstantially correlated with gender. Prostitutes often suffer from the culture of victim blaming, whereby simply being a prostitute can be seen as justifying violence enacted upon them (Alexander, 1996) The violence that prostitutes report having experienced also fits within this definition, as the harm they describe spans across the physical, sexual and psychological. (Alexander, 1996, Hoigard, 1996) Violence against women can also be framed within the abuses of the human rights that women may suffer as a result of the legislation around prostitution, which will be explored in relation to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1Y3696903 Gender, Violence JusticeProstitution can be said to be a divisive issue for feminists on the grounds of whether it would be better for women if it was abolished, decriminalised or legalised. (Alexander, 1996) The basis of this divide steams from the difference of beliefs as to whether prostitution is just another form of paid work (the sex work position) or whether it is intrinsically harmful to women (O`Connell Davidson, 2002.) Defenders of the sex work position argue that it is the way that prostitutes are stigmatized and socially excluded from society (O`Connell Davidson, 2002, Alexander, 1996, Jackson, 1996) is how they are harmed, and this could be rectified through changing attitudes and labour laws (Alexander, 1996.)The abolitionist perspective is that prostitution reinforces patriarchy through the objectification of women as reduced to their bodies for the purposes of fulfilling the hydraulic model of male sexual need. (Jackson, 1996, Dworkin, 1996)This debate can be analysed using the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN 1948), as a key part of the argument around prostitution is that prostitutes are not afforded the same human rights as other people (O`Connell Davidson, 2002, Ditmore, 2008) which can be seen as violence against them. It is also a useful tool to analyse feminist debates around prostitution because the different rights set out cover a range of feminist issues around prostitution. Articles 23 and 24 are specific to employment rights, 9 and 12 deal with the treatment of people by the police and society, 13, 25, and 26 can be used to analyse opportunities that are available to people and contextualise choice, and 3 and 5 can be used to look at whether violence is intrinsic to prostitution. Because of this, even if some feminists argued that the rights set out here are not sufficient to ensure equal treatment of prostitutes, the fulfilment of the rights would still be necessary to ensuring prostitutes received equal treatment, their human rights are upheld, and the violence they experience in the form of human rights abuses no longer occurs.
Article 23 provides the most comprehensive outline of employment rights as human rights, stating (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.2Y3696903 Gender, Violence Justice(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests. (UN 1948)
Sex work feminists would argue that the criminalisation of prostitution is an abuse of their human rights as they are not able to exercise the right to work, to free choice of employment... (UN, 1948) The criminalisation of prostitution also means prostitutes do not have equal access to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment... equal pay for equal work... just and favourable remuneration... (or to) form and to join trade unions (UN, 1948) because these things are provided by the governments of states and nations for those who are employed. Similarly, prostitutes do not have their rights to reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay (Article 24 UN, 1948) protected because they are outside the legal system of employment.
However, the right to free choice of employment may not mean that feminists should support the sex work perspective. Research shows that many prostitutes are living within very constrained circumstances which limit their ability to make a free choice greatly. Often prostitution is chosen for economic gain (O`Connell Davidson, 2002, Ying, 2008) sometimes within fewer hours than other kinds of work (Ditmore, 2008) but women s involvement in sex work is directly related to their lack of economic opportunities elsewhere (Jackson Scott, 1996, pg 20) Therefore it could be argued that the fulfilment of the right to free choice of employment would be better served by increasing the economic opportunities available to women, instead of legalising prostitution. (Hyun, 2008) Another way to ensure prostitutes were using their free choice would be to fulfil the right to equal pay for equal work. If women were able to procure work that paid them the same amount per hour as they received as a prostitute, then they would be better able to freely choose the work they undertake. It could also be argued that there is 3Y3696903 Gender, Violence Justicea similar issue within women s labour as a whole, in that women do not receive equal pay when compared to men for doing the same job. (Miss Representation, 2014) Also, the types of work women and men undertake are gendered, with more women in the care and service sector, where the pay is significantly less than the science, technology and business sector, which is mostly made up of men. Sex work feminists may argue that it is more important to legalise sex work and fight for equal pay for equal work according to the level of skill required for the job. However, feminists who argue for the decriminalisation of prostitution as opposed to its legalisation may say that the stigma associated with prostitution would mean that the way it would be legalised would further abuse prostitutes human rights. (Alexander, 1996) For example, some places where prostitution is legal impose restrictions on prostitutes in terms of their movement, (Alexander, 1996) which contradicts Article 13 Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. Prostitutes are also in danger of raids by the police because of the stigma of prostitution being linked with criminal activity in terms of drug use and money laundering by criminal gangs. (Alexander, 1996) This means that prostitutes are in danger of human rights abuses against Article 9 No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. And Article 12 No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. Ironically, it can be argued that it was the criminalization of prostitution that initially lead to the links with criminal gangs, and moved the balance of power from female-controlled brothels to male-controlled pimping. (Walkowitz, 1996) This means that legalisation of prostitution would not be enough to guarantee the fulfilment of prostitutes human rights, the way that prostitution is stigmatized would have to be broken down to ensure that abuses against Articles 13 and 12 would not occur. The decriminalisation of prostitution would be problematic in a similar manner however, as without legalisation, prostitutes would not be entitled to the employment rights set out in Articles 23 and 24.
Leaving an abusive relationship may leave a woman with few options to sustain herself, particularly if she is married, if divorce is difficult to obtain, and married 4Y3696903 Gender, Violence Justicewomen are not seen as employable in her culture. (Ding Yu Ho Sik-Ying 2008) Trans women are one of the most discriminated against groups of people across the world in terms of employment, which may lead to prostitution as one of the only ways of earning money available to them. (Thurkal and Ditmore 2003 Thurkal et al 2005 Jenkins et al 2005 in Ditmore 2008) Various forms of racism within different cultures may lead to barriers to legal forms of employment, or unjustified loss of employment. An unwillingness on the part of the employer to alter the intellectual or physical requirements of work, or physical spaces may lead to loss of employment opportunities or the dismissal of women with disabilities. Hostility towards members of the LGBTQ community or criminalisation of the LGBTQ community may also lead to reduced employment opportunities or loss of work. Similarly, a hostile atmosphere or harassment in the workplace may leave women feeling they have no choice but to leave their employment, and they may become prostitutes as a result of this.
Lack of free choice of employment may also be linked to abuses of Article 26, stated as ...the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. (UN 1948) Women and girls may be discriminated against in a range of ways, many from a lack of provision ranging from none whatsoever to limited provisons, for example beyond primary or secondary education. (UNICEF, 2014)They may receive threats or acts of physical, sexual or psychological violence if they try to use the provisions available. (Yousafzai, 2014, UNICEF, 2014)They may be unable to make use of provision for economic or health reasons. They may also be actively or subtly discouraged from particular types of education based on gendered notions of what is appropriate, achievable or desirable for women to learn. It may be argued that the higher the level of education a person achieves, the more economic opportunities would be available to them, as it increases the levels of jobs they would be eligible to apply for. (UNICEF, 2014) Therefore, if the fundamental human right to education was fulfilled, women who were prostitutes would be more likely to be women who used their free choice to become 5Y3696903 Gender, Violence Justiceprostitutes over and above any other profession available to them.
Further constraints on free choice of employment may be the lack of employment opportunities in a specific geographical area that women are living in. Many prostitutes migrate internally or to other countries for the purposes of increased employment opportunities, a perception of better working conditions or increased earning potential. (Jacobs, et al., 2000) Their right to do this is covered by Article 13 Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state... Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. Prostitutes can suffer from the abuse of this right as it is illegal to work as a prostitute in many areas of the world. This may lead to prostitutes attempting to migrate to an area, state or country where it is legal. Due to variations of immigration laws, prostitutes may then face arrest, detention or deportation. (Alexander, 1996) They may also be victims of violence from people who try to traffic them into a different country illegally, and may end up working for criminal gangs or pimps as a result of being trafficked. This may also lead to an abuse of Article 25 the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself... Often the circumstances prostitutes find themselves in are no better, or are worse than the ones they left behind. They may suffer as a result of legislation on where they are able to work some places have red light districts or toleration zones where prostitutes are able to work, but they are often isolated, making prostitutes vulnerable to experiencing psychological, sexual or physical violence. (Alexander, 1996) Prostitution also has strong links with conflict because of the historical and current use of prostitutes by members of the armed forces. This may be at bases either within countries where conflict is occurring or within peaceful countries nearby where soldiers travel to for rest and re-cooperation. If prostitutes travel to these areas for employment, they may be at risk of being harmed by the conflict occurring around them. They are also at risk of being left destitute once the soldiers move on, to police raids in these areas, or to abuse at the hands of the servicemen who use their services. (Jacobs, et al., 2000) One of the human rights abuses which occur within systems of criminalisation, decriminalisation and legalisation is an abuse of Article 7 All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal 6Y3696903 Gender, Violence Justice
For the purposes of this essay, I am going to define violence according to the United Nations Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, (1995) as follows The term "violence against women" means any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life (p48.) I have chosen this definition because prostitution is a gendered phenomenon, as the majority of prostitutes are women and the majority of customers are men (Jackson, 1996) Therefore, the violence experienced by prostitutes at the hands of customers, pimps and the police (Alexander, 1996, Hoigard, 1996, Mei-Hua, 2008) can be seen as primarily violence against women. The social stigma against female prostitutes can also be said to be based upon the sexist double standard held against women, known as the Madonna/whore dichotomy (Alexander, 1996) making at least part of the cause of violence gender based, rather than simply circumstantially correlated with gender. Prostitutes often suffer from the culture of victim blaming, whereby simply being a prostitute can be seen as justifying violence enacted upon them (Alexander, 1996) The violence that prostitutes report having experienced also fits within this definition, as the harm they describe spans across the physical, sexual and psychological. (Alexander, 1996, Hoigard, 1996) Violence against women can also be framed within the abuses of the human rights that women may suffer as a result of the legislation around prostitution, which will be explored in relation to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1Y3696903 Gender, Violence JusticeProstitution can be said to be a divisive issue for feminists on the grounds of whether it would be better for women if it was abolished, decriminalised or legalised. (Alexander, 1996) The basis of this divide steams from the difference of beliefs as to whether prostitution is just another form of paid work (the sex work position) or whether it is intrinsically harmful to women (O`Connell Davidson, 2002.) Defenders of the sex work position argue that it is the way that prostitutes are stigmatized and socially excluded from society (O`Connell Davidson, 2002, Alexander, 1996, Jackson, 1996) is how they are harmed, and this could be rectified through changing attitudes and labour laws (Alexander, 1996.)The abolitionist perspective is that prostitution reinforces patriarchy through the objectification of women as reduced to their bodies for the purposes of fulfilling the hydraulic model of male sexual need. (Jackson, 1996, Dworkin, 1996)This debate can be analysed using the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UN 1948), as a key part of the argument around prostitution is that prostitutes are not afforded the same human rights as other people (O`Connell Davidson, 2002, Ditmore, 2008) which can be seen as violence against them. It is also a useful tool to analyse feminist debates around prostitution because the different rights set out cover a range of feminist issues around prostitution. Articles 23 and 24 are specific to employment rights, 9 and 12 deal with the treatment of people by the police and society, 13, 25, and 26 can be used to analyse opportunities that are available to people and contextualise choice, and 3 and 5 can be used to look at whether violence is intrinsic to prostitution. Because of this, even if some feminists argued that the rights set out here are not sufficient to ensure equal treatment of prostitutes, the fulfilment of the rights would still be necessary to ensuring prostitutes received equal treatment, their human rights are upheld, and the violence they experience in the form of human rights abuses no longer occurs.
Article 23 provides the most comprehensive outline of employment rights as human rights, stating (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.2Y3696903 Gender, Violence Justice(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests. (UN 1948)
Sex work feminists would argue that the criminalisation of prostitution is an abuse of their human rights as they are not able to exercise the right to work, to free choice of employment... (UN, 1948) The criminalisation of prostitution also means prostitutes do not have equal access to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment... equal pay for equal work... just and favourable remuneration... (or to) form and to join trade unions (UN, 1948) because these things are provided by the governments of states and nations for those who are employed. Similarly, prostitutes do not have their rights to reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay (Article 24 UN, 1948) protected because they are outside the legal system of employment.
However, the right to free choice of employment may not mean that feminists should support the sex work perspective. Research shows that many prostitutes are living within very constrained circumstances which limit their ability to make a free choice greatly. Often prostitution is chosen for economic gain (O`Connell Davidson, 2002, Ying, 2008) sometimes within fewer hours than other kinds of work (Ditmore, 2008) but women s involvement in sex work is directly related to their lack of economic opportunities elsewhere (Jackson Scott, 1996, pg 20) Therefore it could be argued that the fulfilment of the right to free choice of employment would be better served by increasing the economic opportunities available to women, instead of legalising prostitution. (Hyun, 2008) Another way to ensure prostitutes were using their free choice would be to fulfil the right to equal pay for equal work. If women were able to procure work that paid them the same amount per hour as they received as a prostitute, then they would be better able to freely choose the work they undertake. It could also be argued that there is 3Y3696903 Gender, Violence Justicea similar issue within women s labour as a whole, in that women do not receive equal pay when compared to men for doing the same job. (Miss Representation, 2014) Also, the types of work women and men undertake are gendered, with more women in the care and service sector, where the pay is significantly less than the science, technology and business sector, which is mostly made up of men. Sex work feminists may argue that it is more important to legalise sex work and fight for equal pay for equal work according to the level of skill required for the job. However, feminists who argue for the decriminalisation of prostitution as opposed to its legalisation may say that the stigma associated with prostitution would mean that the way it would be legalised would further abuse prostitutes human rights. (Alexander, 1996) For example, some places where prostitution is legal impose restrictions on prostitutes in terms of their movement, (Alexander, 1996) which contradicts Article 13 Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. Prostitutes are also in danger of raids by the police because of the stigma of prostitution being linked with criminal activity in terms of drug use and money laundering by criminal gangs. (Alexander, 1996) This means that prostitutes are in danger of human rights abuses against Article 9 No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. And Article 12 No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. Ironically, it can be argued that it was the criminalization of prostitution that initially lead to the links with criminal gangs, and moved the balance of power from female-controlled brothels to male-controlled pimping. (Walkowitz, 1996) This means that legalisation of prostitution would not be enough to guarantee the fulfilment of prostitutes human rights, the way that prostitution is stigmatized would have to be broken down to ensure that abuses against Articles 13 and 12 would not occur. The decriminalisation of prostitution would be problematic in a similar manner however, as without legalisation, prostitutes would not be entitled to the employment rights set out in Articles 23 and 24.
Leaving an abusive relationship may leave a woman with few options to sustain herself, particularly if she is married, if divorce is difficult to obtain, and married 4Y3696903 Gender, Violence Justicewomen are not seen as employable in her culture. (Ding Yu Ho Sik-Ying 2008) Trans women are one of the most discriminated against groups of people across the world in terms of employment, which may lead to prostitution as one of the only ways of earning money available to them. (Thurkal and Ditmore 2003 Thurkal et al 2005 Jenkins et al 2005 in Ditmore 2008) Various forms of racism within different cultures may lead to barriers to legal forms of employment, or unjustified loss of employment. An unwillingness on the part of the employer to alter the intellectual or physical requirements of work, or physical spaces may lead to loss of employment opportunities or the dismissal of women with disabilities. Hostility towards members of the LGBTQ community or criminalisation of the LGBTQ community may also lead to reduced employment opportunities or loss of work. Similarly, a hostile atmosphere or harassment in the workplace may leave women feeling they have no choice but to leave their employment, and they may become prostitutes as a result of this.
Lack of free choice of employment may also be linked to abuses of Article 26, stated as ...the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. (UN 1948) Women and girls may be discriminated against in a range of ways, many from a lack of provision ranging from none whatsoever to limited provisons, for example beyond primary or secondary education. (UNICEF, 2014)They may receive threats or acts of physical, sexual or psychological violence if they try to use the provisions available. (Yousafzai, 2014, UNICEF, 2014)They may be unable to make use of provision for economic or health reasons. They may also be actively or subtly discouraged from particular types of education based on gendered notions of what is appropriate, achievable or desirable for women to learn. It may be argued that the higher the level of education a person achieves, the more economic opportunities would be available to them, as it increases the levels of jobs they would be eligible to apply for. (UNICEF, 2014) Therefore, if the fundamental human right to education was fulfilled, women who were prostitutes would be more likely to be women who used their free choice to become 5Y3696903 Gender, Violence Justiceprostitutes over and above any other profession available to them.
Further constraints on free choice of employment may be the lack of employment opportunities in a specific geographical area that women are living in. Many prostitutes migrate internally or to other countries for the purposes of increased employment opportunities, a perception of better working conditions or increased earning potential. (Jacobs, et al., 2000) Their right to do this is covered by Article 13 Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state... Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. Prostitutes can suffer from the abuse of this right as it is illegal to work as a prostitute in many areas of the world. This may lead to prostitutes attempting to migrate to an area, state or country where it is legal. Due to variations of immigration laws, prostitutes may then face arrest, detention or deportation. (Alexander, 1996) They may also be victims of violence from people who try to traffic them into a different country illegally, and may end up working for criminal gangs or pimps as a result of being trafficked. This may also lead to an abuse of Article 25 the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself... Often the circumstances prostitutes find themselves in are no better, or are worse than the ones they left behind. They may suffer as a result of legislation on where they are able to work some places have red light districts or toleration zones where prostitutes are able to work, but they are often isolated, making prostitutes vulnerable to experiencing psychological, sexual or physical violence. (Alexander, 1996) Prostitution also has strong links with conflict because of the historical and current use of prostitutes by members of the armed forces. This may be at bases either within countries where conflict is occurring or within peaceful countries nearby where soldiers travel to for rest and re-cooperation. If prostitutes travel to these areas for employment, they may be at risk of being harmed by the conflict occurring around them. They are also at risk of being left destitute once the soldiers move on, to police raids in these areas, or to abuse at the hands of the servicemen who use their services. (Jacobs, et al., 2000) One of the human rights abuses which occur within systems of criminalisation, decriminalisation and legalisation is an abuse of Article 7 All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal 6Y3696903 Gender, Violence Justice
This resource was uploaded by: Amy