Prostitution is known as the “world’s oldest profession”, it has been around for many decades. Prostitution is the act of selling sex, in most cases, for monetary exchange. Prostitution is an important problem in our societies because while consensual sex is allowed the violence perpetuated on sex workers, is not. The prostitution laws have cultivated violence, creating unsafe transactions between clients and workers. Although there are plausible reasons for the criminalization of prostitution, the benefits of legalizing prostitution far outweigh the risks and here are the reasons why we should legalize it. Legalizing prostitution will improve our overall public health, increase our economy by tax revenues and lastly, reduce the violence cultivated …show more content…
The limitations sex workers are faced with, forces them to make a decision between survival and, protecting themselves against violence, ultimately resulting in abandoning safety measures (i.e. proper client screening, condoms). Sex workers cannot rely on the security or support of others for their safety as the laws stated in the Canadian Criminal Code that the “…pimping laws, which criminalize managers, bosses, or anyone else who influences or supports another person’s sex work as well as those who live wholly or partially on the prostitution income of a partner or friend (living on the avails)”. By criminalizing individuals associated with sex workers, the laws have cultivated violence towards sex workers by stripping their rights to safety and security. Clients often take advantage of sex workers because of the adversarial relationship between sex workers and police. Sex workers cannot provide their own security because they are forced to operate under strict laws of prostitution such as, “communicating or attempting to communicate with any person in a public place or in any place open to public view for the purpose of engaging in prostitution (CCC s. 213)”. Sex workers who rely heavily on the profession to survive and meet financial needs are forced to engage in unsafe encounters (i.e. failing to properly screen clients). The Canadian Criminal Code (CCC s. 210) stated “[e]very one who keeps a common bawdy-house is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years”. Sex workers are forbidden to perform their profession in safe places (i.e. home) where safety measures (i.e. cameras, known exits, neighbours) would be in place. If this law did not exist, sex workers would be able to work in safe spaces with proper security to ensure their safety. Van Der Merulin and Durisin (2008) also stated in their article, “[i]ndeed, current federal laws increase all sex