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This summer Amnesty International passed a resolution supporting the decriminalization of sex work. The organization decided that decriminalization is the best way to defend sex workers’ human rights and lessen the risk of abuse they face. But will making prostitution legal only increase the demand for sex workers, without actually protecting them from the violent abuse and exploitation that is common in the industry?

Should prostitution be legal?

Rachel Moran, the founder of Space International, which advocates the abolition of the sex trade, argues in this Op-Ed that prostitution should not be legal:

I entered the sex trade — as most do — before I was even a woman. At age 14, I was placed in the care of the state after my father committed suicide and because my mother suffered from mental illness. Within a year, I was on the streets with no home, education or job skills. All I had was my body. At 15, I met a young man who thought it would be a good idea for me to prostitute myself. As “fresh meat,” I was a commodity in high demand. For seven years, I was bought and sold. On the streets, that could be 10 times in a night. It’s hard to describe the full effect of the psychological coercion, and how deeply it eroded my confidence. By my late teens, I was using cocaine to dull the pain. I cringe when I hear the words “sex work.” Selling my body wasn’t a livelihood. There was no resemblance to ordinary employment in the ritual degradation of strangers’ using my body to satiate their urges. I was doubly exploited — by those who pimped me and those who bought me. I know there are some advocates who argue that women in prostitution sell sex as consenting adults. But those who do are a relatively privileged minority — primarily white, middle-class, Western women in escort agencies — not remotely representative of the global majority. Their right to sell doesn’t trump my right and others’ not to be sold in a trade that preys on women already marginalized by class and race. The effort to decriminalize the sex trade worldwide is not a progressive movement. Implementing this policy will simply calcify into law men’s entitlement to buy sex, while decriminalizing pimping will protect no one but the pimps.

Gillian Abel, an associate professor and head of the Department of Population Health at the University of Otago in Christchurch, New Zealand, argues in this Room for Debate piece that prostitution should be legal:

Sex work is an occupation that many women voluntarily choose. To deny that prostitution is work not only infringes on women’s right to choose their work, but also on that of men, transgender and gender-diverse individuals. And denying sex workers the right to do their work legally infringes on other rights, such as their access to legal aid and recourse. In 2003, New Zealand was the first country to decriminalize sex work for the workers, their clients and third parties (minders, pimps, landlords, or anyone else who may receive money from sex workers’ earnings). This move allowed sex workers to operate under the same legal and labor rights as any other occupational group, and makes them less vulnerable to exploitation. New Zealand sex workers are now able to govern their own work, collaborating with their peers or electing to use third-party management, such as a brothel operator. Sex workers can now request police assistance if they are exposed to violence, report crimes without fear of being held accountable for involvement in the illegal acts themselves, and seek support services. This has already begun to play out. A police officer went to jail in 2010 for coercing a sex worker into providing free sex by threatening her with traffic fines. In another case last year, a sex worker was awarded $21,000 after successfully bringing a sexual harassment lawsuit against the operator of the brothel where she worked. (The sex worker liked her work but objected to the manner in which the operator of the brothel was treating her.) Prior to decriminalization, it would have been impossible for a sex worker to legally challenge bullying and exploitative behavior.

Students: Read both articles, then tell us …

— Should prostitution be legal?

— Is sex work an occupation that many women voluntarily choose? Does denying sex workers the right to do their work legally infringe on other rights, including their access to legal aid?

— Does making prostitution legal make women less vulnerable to abuse by criminals? Does it give sex workers the same labor rights as other occupational groups? Would it make women safer?

— Or, will making prostitution legal lead to higher rates of human trafficking without solving the issues of abuse and exploitation?

— Ms. Moran recommends the “Nordic Model” (or the “Equality Model”) as a better way of protecting prostitutes than decriminalization. She explains:

The concept is simple: Make selling sex legal but buying it illegal — so that women can get help without being arrested, harassed or worse, and the criminal law is used to deter the buyers, because they fuel the market.

Do you think arresting and inhibiting johns is a better approach?

Students 13 and older are invited to comment below. All comments are moderated by Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.