Criminalizing adult, voluntary, and

consensual sex - including the

commercial exchange of sexual
services - is incompatible with the
human right to personal autonomy
and privacy. In short - a government
should not be telling consenting
adults who they can have sexual
relations with and on what
terms.Criminalization exposes sex
workers to abuse and exploitation by
law enforcement officials, such as
police officers.

According to the Human Rights Watch

has documented that, in criminalized
environments, police officers harass sex
workers, extort bribes, and physically
and verbally abuse sex workers, or even
rape or coerce sex from them.
Human Rights Watch has consistently
found in research across various
countries that criminalization makes
sex workers more vulnerable to
violence, including rape, assault, and
murder, by attackers who see sex
workers as easy targets because they
are stigmatized and unlikely to receive
help from the police. Criminalization
may also force sex workers to work in
unsafe locations to avoid the police.

Criminalization consistently
undermines sex workers' ability to
seek justice for crimes against them.
Sex workers in South Africa, for
example, said they did not report
armed robbery or rape to the police.
They said that they are afraid of being
arrested because their work is illegal
and that their experience with police is
of being harassed or profiled and
arrested, or laughed at or not taken
seriously. Even when they report
crimes, sex workers may not be willing
to testify in court against their
assailants and rapists for fear of facing
sanctions or further abuse because of
their work and status.

UNAIDS, public health experts, sex

worker organizations, and other
human rights organizations have
found that criminalization of sex work
also has a negative effect on sex
workers' right to health. In one
example, Human Rights Watch found
in a 2012 report, "Sex Workers at
Risk: Condoms as Evidence of
Prostitution in Four US Cities," that
police and prosecutors used a sex
worker's possession of condoms as
evidence to support prostitution
charges. The practice left sex workers
reluctant to carry condoms for fear of
arrest, forcing them to engage in sex
without protection and putting them
at heightened risk of contracting HIV
and other sexually transmitted
diseases.

Criminalization also has a negative

effect on other human rights. In
countries that ban sex work, sex
workers are less likely to be able to
organize as workers, advocate for
their rights, or to work together to
support and protect themselves.
According to Britannica PROCON.
ORG. "Prostitution is often described
as a 'victimless crime', or a
'consensual crime', because in
theory, no one
present at the crime is unwilling. In
reality, this is a myth. In reality,
prostitution of women is a particularly
lethal form of violence against women,
and a violation of a woman's most
basic human rights. It is rarely the
mediaapproved version of prostitution,
a sexy and highly-paid adventure
where business is conducted at
upscale bars and in hotel rooms;
though some sex workers do have that
experience, most do not. For the vast
majority of prostituted women,
prostitution is the experience of being
hunted, dominated, harassed,
assaulted and battered. Sadly, the
majority of girls enter prostitution
before they have reached the age of
consent. In other words, their first
commercial sexual interactions are
rape...
Another myth is that most women and
girls choose to enter the sex industry.
Again, while this is true for a small
number of sex workers, the research
indicates that for the vast majority of
women and girls, it is a highly
constrained choice. Ultimately, viewing
prostitution as a genuine 'choice' for
women, such as secretarial work or
waitressing, diminishes the possibility of
getting women out and improving their
lives."
Governments should fully decriminalize
sex work and ensure that sex workers
do not face discrimination in law or
practice. They should also strengthen
services for sex workers and ensure
that they have safe working conditions
and
access to public benefits and social
safety nets.

Moreover, any regulations and

controls on sex workers and their
activities need to be nondiscriminatory
and otherwise comply with
international human rights law. For
example, restrictions that would
prevent those engaged in sex work
from organizing collectively, or
working in a safe environment, are not
legitimate restrictions.
There are a lot of people out there who
do not want to accept the reality that,
for the most part, sex workers are just
ordinary women who are doing a job
they may like or dislike to various
degrees for ordinary reasons (to pay
their rent, or support their kids, or to
save up money for future goals.)

This is not an issue with sex work.

That's an issue related to the level to
which we disavow those who
undertake sex work, particularly
women. In the case of porn, we
frequently disavow them while
simultaneously enjoining them. You
emailed
They are satisfied with the job they
produce.
When we decriminalize sex work, the
lives of sex workers improve. It allows
them to approach police when
dealing with rowdy clients, rather
than being hesitant to do so because
it is prohibited. It gives them labor
rights, which means that if they are
working, they may expect their
employers to provide clean, healthful
workplaces. We must recognize that
sex workers, like any other woman,
are already someone's daughter.
They are also unique in their own
right. And we must begin to pay
attention to what they have to say.