Prostitution in Society

 

                      Another contentious sexual practice is prostitution, which involves the selling of sexual services. Many people, particularly those with traditional religious beliefs, believe prostitution is unethical because it includes sex for money, and they see it as a reflection of society's moral deterioration. Many feminists argue that prostitution is demeaning to women and creates an environment in which prostitutes are robbed, beaten, and/or raped. These two categories of people may agree on nothing else, yet they both have strong unfavorable feelings about prostitution. Regardless of their other convictions, many people fear that prostitution spreads STDs. All of these groups believe that prostitution should remain illegal and would prefer tighter enforcement of anti-prostitution laws. 

                     Other people dislike prostitution as well, but they believe that prostitution regulations cause more harm than benefit. They believe that legalizing prostitution will minimize the different problems that prostitution produces, and that beliefs about the immorality of prostitution should not preclude our society from dealing with it more sensibly than it currently does.

                 This section begins with a brief history of prostitution before moving on to the many varieties of prostitution, the motives for prostitution, and policy concerns of how to effectively deal with this specific sexual behavior. Because the majority of prostitution involves female prostitutes and male customers, our discussion will concentrate mostly on this kind. 

History of Prostitution

                         Prostitution, sometimes referred to as the world's oldest occupation, has been practiced since prehistoric times (Ringdal, 2004). Priests had sex with prostitutes in ancient Mesopotamia. Legal brothels (houses of prostitution) served both political leaders and common men in Ancient Greece. Prostitution was also popular in ancient Rome, and it was "accepted as a more or less necessary fact of life, and it was more or less expected that many men would turn to prostitutes" in the Old Testament (Bullough & Bullough, 1977, pp. 137-138). Prostitution was regarded as a necessary evil during the Middle Ages and into the nineteenth century, as legal brothels functioned in much of Europe and were an essential source of tax income. As the dangers of venereal disease were understood, some cities closed their brothels, while others enforced frequent medical checks of their brothels' prostitutes.

 

                              Prostitution was also popular in the United States during the nineteenth century (Bullough & Bullough, 1987). Poor women became prostitutes because it provided a source of revenue at a period when they had few other options for work. Some prostitutes worked for themselves on the streets, in hotels, and in other locations, while others worked in legal brothels in several US towns. 

 

                                      Prostitutes found many customers among Union and Confederate soldiers during the Civil War; the term hooker for prostitute comes from their interactions with soldiers commanded by Union general Joseph Hooker. Prostitute camps would spring up at railroad building sites after the Civil War. When railroad employees visited the camps at night, they hung their red signal lamps outside the prostitutes' tents so that they could be found in the event of a railroad emergency. The term "red-light district" for a prostitution area was derived from the red glow produced by this conduct.

Types of Prostitutes

                                       Several types of prostitutes exist. At the bottom of the prostitution “hierarchy” are streetwalkers (also called street prostitutes), who typically find their customers, or are found by their customers, somewhere on a street. They then have a quick act of sex in the customer’s car, in an alleyway or other secluded spot, or in a cheap hotel. Although streetwalkers are the subjects in most studies of prostitutes, they in fact compose only about one-fifth of all prostitutes (Weitzer, 2012).

                                      The remaining 80 percent of prostitutes generally work indoors. Call girls work as independent operators in their homes or fairly fancy hotels and charge a lot of money for their services, which include sex but also talking and dining. Their clients are typically businessmen or other wealthy individuals. Many call girls earn between $200 and $500 per hour, and some earn between $1,000 and $6,000 per hour or per session (Weitzer, 2009).

                                         Escorts work for escort agencies, which often advertise heavily in phone books and on the Internet. They may operate out of an apartment rented by their agency or come to a client’s hotel room or other location. Although they may actually act as an escort to a dinner or show, typically their services include sexual acts. They, too, are generally well paid for their work, but do not earn nearly as much as call girls because they have to give at least 30 percent of their earnings to their agency.

                                       Call girls and escorts rank at the top of the prostitution hierarchy (Weitzer, 2009). Below them, but above streetwalkers, are three other types of prostitutes. Brothel workers, as the name implies, are prostitutes who work in brothels. The only legal brothels in the United States today are found in several rural counties in Nevada, which legalized prostitution in these counties in 1971. Workers in these brothels pay income tax. Because their employers require regular health exams and condom use, the risk of sexually transmitted disease in Nevada’s brothels is low. Massage parlor workers, as their name also implies, work in massage parlors. Many massage parlors, of course, involve no prostitution at all, and are entirely legal. However, some massage parlors are in fact fronts for prostitution, where the prostitute masturbates a man and brings him to what is often termed a “happy ending.” A final category of prostitution involves prostitutes who work in bars, casinos, or similar establishments (bar or casino workers). They make contact with a customer in these settings and then have sex with them elsewhere.

                                     The lives and welfare of streetwalkers are much worse than those of the five types of indoor workers just listed. As sociologist Ronald Weitzer (2012, p. 212) observes, “Many of the problems associated with ‘prostitution’ are actually concentrated in street prostitution and much less evident in the indoor sector.” In particular, many streetwalkers are exploited or abused by pimps, use heroin or other drugs, and are raped, robbed, and/or beaten by their clients. A good number of streetwalkers also began their prostitution careers as runaway teenagers and were abused as children.

                                        In contrast, indoor workers begin their trade when they were older and are less likely to have been abused as children. Their working conditions are much better than those for streetwalkers, they are less likely to be addicted to drugs and to have STDs, they are better paid, and they are much less likely to be victimized by their clients. Studies that compare indoor prostitutes with nonprostitutes find that they have similar levels of self-esteem, physical health, and mental health. Many indoor prostitutes even report a rise in self-esteem after they begin their indoor work (Weitzer, 2012).

 

Prostitution in Sri Lanka...

                                        Prostitution is not illegal in Sri Lanka, however, related activities such as soliciting, procuring, and brothels  are outlawed. It is also illegal to traffic persons for prostitution, especially minors Prostitution is not as widespread in Sri Lanka as in some neighbouring countries. It is estimated that there are 40,000 prostitutes (known as "ගණිකාව" (Ganikawa)) in the country, and nearly half of them operate in Colombo. Child Sex tourism and human trafficking are problems in Sri Lanka.There is a reluctance for sex-workers to use condoms as these can be used as evidence of prostitution if they are arrested. UNAIDS are running a programme to promote safe sex to the prostitutes.

 

                          Much of Sri Lanka's law surrounding prostitution dates back to the days of British rule. The Vagrants Ordinance was introduced in 1842. Two sections are relevant to prostitution:

S2 – Punishment of persons behaving riotously or disorderly in the public streets.

Every person behaving in a riotous or disorderly manner in any public street or highway shall be liable to a fine not exceeding five rupees.

S7 – Soliciting and acts of indecency in public places.

(a) any person in or about any public place soliciting any person for the purpose of the commission of any act of illicit sexual intercourse or indecency, whether with the person soliciting or with any other person, whether specified or not;

(b) any person found committing any act of gross indecency, or found behaving with gross indecency, in or about any public place.

                             In 1889 the Brothels Ordinance was introduced. It provides punishment for any person who

(a) keeps or manages or acts or assists in the management of a brothel; or

(b) being the tenant, lessee, occupier or owner of any premises, knowingly permits such premises or any part thereof to be used as a brothel, or for the purpose of habitual prostitution; or

(c) being the lessor or landlord of any premises or the agent of such lessor or landlords, lets the same, or any part thereof, with the knowledge that such premises or some part thereof are or is to be used as a brothel, or is willfully a party to the continued use of such premises or any part thereof as a brothel,

Section 360A of the Penal Code defines and prohibits procuring, Section 360B Deals with the sexual exploitation of children and Section 360C deals with human trafficking. In addition Section 365A (grave sexual offences), strengthens the legislation on sex with children and trafficking. (all added 1995). 

References

·         Barry, K. (1996). The prostitution of sexuality. New York, NY: New York University Press.

·         Brewer, D. D., Potterat, J. J., Garrett, S. B., Muth, S. Q., John M. Roberts, J., Kasprzyk, D., et al. (2000). Prostitution and the sex discrepancy in reported number of sexual partners. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 97, 12385–12388.

·         Bullough, V. L., & Bullough, B. (1977). Sin, sickness, and sanity: A history of sexual attitudes. New York, NY: New American Library.

·         Bullough, V. L., & Bullough, B. (1987). Women and prostitution: A social history. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus.

·         Clinard, M. B., & Meier, R. F. (2011). Sociology of deviant behavior (14th ed.). Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace.

·         Davis, K. (1937). The sociology of prostitution. American Sociological Review, 2, 744–755.
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2011). Crime in the United States, 2010. Washington, DC: Author.

·         McCaslin, J. (1999, October 13). Vaginal politics. Washington Times, p. A8.

·         Meier, R. F., & Geis, G. (2007). Criminal justice and moral issues. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

·         Ordway, R. (1995, May 26). Relaxation spas perplex officials. The Bangor Daily News, p. 1.

·         Ringdal, N. J. (2004). Love for sale: A world history of prostitution (R. Daly, Trans.). New York, NY: Grove Press.

·         Rosen, R. (1983). The lost sisterhood: Prostitution in America, 1900–1918. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Univesity Press.

·         Stanford, S. (1966). The lady of the house. New York, NY: G. P. Putnam.

·         Weitzer, R. (2009). Sociology of sex work. Annual Review of Sociology, 35(0360-0572, 0360-0572), 213–234.