Should sex work be decriminalised?

Sex work should be fully decriminalised

Full decriminalisation of sex work and the act of paying for sex

Removing penalties for soliciting and kerb crawling gives workers more time to screen out potentially violent clients

Legalising brothels provides sex workers with safety in numbers

Reduces the number of 'sex tourists' travelling abroad to use brothels/services that disproportionately exploit children and force them into sex work

Sex workers can access healthcare without fear of arrest

Sex workers won't have to work in dark isolated areas where they are more at risk of becoming victims of a crime

The high-risk environments and isolated areas where sex workers work lead to many of them being victims of crimes and violence, such as murders, assaults, rape, and abuse.

Criminalising consensual sex in any form impedes on the human right to bodily autonomy

Allows the continuation of clients with disabilities who rely on sex workers to fulfil their sexual health

Sex work should be partially decriminalised

Partial decriminalisation could include criminalising seeking sex work while keeping sex workers legal.

Legalising the profession allows sex workers to access healthcare and support without fear of arrest

Criminalising the act of using/seeking out a sex worker greatly reduces the pool of potentially violent patrons

Removes the likelihood of increased sex tourism with the UK

Can provide further support for sex workers while tackling the reasons they entered sex work

Can be used to combat reasons why patrons use sex workers

Sex work should not be decriminalised

No change to current laws surrounding sex work and related charges. Brothels, kerb-crawling and solicitation remain illegal.

Keeping brothels illegal reduces the number of sex workers abused and/or exploited by pimps

Sex work is one of the most exploitative professions. The legalisation of brothels would legitimize the pimps, who have the most to gain from passing off legal protections to the state rather than creating a healthy working environment (which decriminalisation does not guarantee).

Legalising sex work opens the door for loopholes relating to sex trafficking and exploitation

Since full decriminalization of sex work also legalizes the work of pimps and brothel owners and expands the market, it will help them find cracks in the system to exploit prostitutes and commit sex trafficking.

Decriminalisation opens the door for sex tourists travelling to the UK and increasing child sexual exploitation

Decriminalisation means sex worker specific support services will have their budgets cut and many will be closed

Due to sex work's current illegal status in many countries, sex work support clinics have been essential in supporting the workers where the law will not. If sex work is decriminalised, those support networks will be invalidated.

Normalising the act of purchasing sex reinforces the cultural narrative that women's bodies are a commodity that can be bought and sold

With the motto "sex sells" running rampant in advertising and human socialization, prostitution only serves to emphasize that women are only worth their bodies.

Decriminalisation opens the door to increased use of sex workers, leading to a culture that enables and encourages sex addiction

As our society becomes even more sexualised, legitimising the purchase of sex reinforces the idea that commodified sex should be the norm, rather than forging intimate relationships outside of formal transactions.

Full decriminalisation risks more violent and abusive clients approaching sex workers

Fully decriminalising sex work will also provide legitimacy to the buyers, therefore attracting all kinds of clients, including the violent and abusive ones who will bring harm to the sex workers.

Should not be decriminalised

full decriminalisation would lead to more of insecurity for women and especially girls of young age. they'll be seen as an object to full-fill the needs and then dumb away.

The majority of sex workers opt for this work in case of a financial crisis

completely legalising sex work would lead to promotion of selling their body for money, when they can earn money through various fruitful ways. leagalising it would lead to greasing the wheel for women in need of money.
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This page was last edited on Monday, 21 Sep 2020 at 07:52 UTC