Ethical Ethics Of Prostitution

Over the years there have been many controversial ethical issues which are still debated in the 21st century. In today’s modern society one such controversial issue is prostitution. Prostitution can be defined as “The act or practice of engaging in sexual intercourse for money” (Deigh, 2010, p.29). Prostitution is the oldest profession of all. However the ethics of prostitution is still unclear between many societies. Thus, this essay will discuss on the reasons as to why prostitution should be considered moral, that is, it is a freedom of choice, source of income and it is a trade similar to any other job, while on the contrary it will argue that prostitution is immoral, that is, it goes against religious teachings, involves coercion and degrades

Furthermore prostitution cannot be deemed immoral as prostitution itself is a trade similar to many other jobs in the society. A person’s right to sell their sexual services is neither more nor less of a right than that of person selling their labour-power in any other of its multifaceted forms. For example a person doing manual labour is selling his/her body, a writer sells her mind and a bodyguard or wrestler sells the services of their body. The feminist argument is that, Prostitution is merely a job of work and the prostitute is a worker, like any other wage labourer (Patemen, 2010, p.9). Many people believe that the act of prostitution involves buying another person for money, this is not the case. Paying for sex is simply like paying for a service whereby the prostitute has not sold “her body” but only granted limited use, which is not immoral in and of itself. Therefore prostitution cannot be deemed as immoral by the society because if it is then jobs like those of bodyguards, wrestlers, labourers and writers are no less than

Thirdly prostitution is immoral as a woman is exploited and degraded once she enters the trade. In the business of prostitution prostitutes are frequently exploited, sexually harassed and raped even if they dislike it. According to Silbert (2009),"68% to 70% of women in prostitution are being raped on the average, eight to ten times per year". This violates the intimate relation between personality and physical embodiment. For example a woman who is or has been a prostitute will not be accepted by a society. It disables women to find love, get married and have children. Therefore it can be implied that the trade of prostitution degrades a women’s life and disables them to live a happy