Question:
Discuss about the Sex Work and Public Opinion.
The purpose of the essay is to shed light on the question of whether sex work can be seen as just any other work, which also forms the thesis statement of this essay. Sex work, despite being one of the oldest profession of the world, is still now seen in a very derogatory light and this is the reason for its not being considered as a profession on par with the other reputed professions of the world. This essay makes use of two arguments to show that sex work is a work not like any other work. The essay also employs some counterarguments to this view and at the end of the essay, there is also a refutation of these counterarguments. Finally, in the conclusion the overall arguments as well as counterarguments discussed in the essay, are restated to make the thesis statement more prominent.
A sex worker, can be defined as a person who by the choice of his or her profession indulges in sexual intercourse kind of work. However, it is not often that, it is treated by people as a job on par with other professionals like doctors, engineers and other. Society, stills views prostitution or sex work as a kind of derogatory profession, even though it is the second oldest profession of the world. The health problems related to the work as the social stigma that the workers face are immense and therefore it becomes more important that the sex workers are seen on a par with the other respectable professional of the world. The root cause of this can be ascertained to the fact that sex is seen as a form of taboo since the ancient ages and therefore anything related to sex is generally ostracized from the purview of the society. The main point that this essay tries to address is that sex work is not a common job like any other and thus it cannot be judged through the normal professional parameters of society. This argument can be supported by the fact that there are various negative impacts of the job on the health of the sex worker as the as the social stigma that the sex workers face. However, there many sex workers who actually enjoy their job. This view, can be refuted by the fact that there are many workers who are forced to do it because of violence and poverty and they do not enjoy it.
The first argument commonly given is that women who work in the sex service become vulnerable to a host of different health related problems. The chief health related problem that a sex worker has greater probability of getting is sexually transmitted infections (STIs) as well as HIV. According to a report sex workers are 10% times more at the risk of getting infected by HIV than the common population (“Protecting the rights of sex workers”, 2017)The second health problem faced by the female sex workers is the problem of pregnancy It is not always the circumstances under which they have to work is safe and effective and thus there is always the risk of getting unwanted pregnant. Workers belonging to the lower economic strata of the society are driven by economic needs to work even after getting which might prove to be harmful both for the unborn baby as well as the mother. Substance abuse is another common problem that the workers face. The stressful conditions under which the sex workers do their job often drives many of them to resort to commonly available drugs like weeds, cracks, crystal meth, cocaine and various other ones. In 2010 the total number of women dependent on the drug amphetamines of which only 0.31% were non sex workers (Alexandra & Torrico, 2017). The sex workers are also susceptible to various mental problems which can be the result of the violence inflicted by their various male clients (Oram et al.,2012). The poor mental health and substance abuse are actually interconnected as it is seen many times that poor mental health often leads the workers to resort to substance abuse.
The second argument is that the sex workers are seen in a very unequal light in society no matter from what cultural, social or educational background they are. Despite being a part of the second oldest profession of the world they are without any social security. They do not have a steady income source, as a matter of fact it is often seen that they able to earn as long as age, physical appearance and health is on their side. They also do not receive any economic or social benefits from the government’s end and also the number of organizations working for their benefit and uplift is very less. The condition or the working environment in which they usually work is also not very congenial to their health. They are often forced to work in places like slums or shanties, where there is no scope of any social security. They are generally deprived of all their human rights and it was not until 2003 that New Zealand became the first country in the world to implement the concept of decriminalization and placed sex work on par with the other well renowned professions of the world(McHugh, 2013). Then there are those who loose even the basic rights like the right of life as the right of freedom after they are smuggled through illegal means and forced into prostitution.
The policy of decriminalization implemented by several countries of the world like New Zealand, Australia, Spain and others brought about a radical change in the way in which the sex workers look upon their own profession. According to the findings of a recent survey many sex workers at the present moment do not actually consider their careers as bad as the society normally views it. They, as a matter of fact, even enjoy their work because of its flexible working hours and the amount of easy money that they can make (Maher, Pickering, & Gerard, 2012). The flexible work hours allows them to indulge in recreational activities as well as personality development activities which helped them in their job roles as well as can open new avenues to them in the near future. However, many people refute this argument by saying that most of them are forced to continue in this job because of their poor life or limited economic opportunities. Some of them are acquired by means of illegal trafficking and are thus forced to continue in the profession as long as the pimp or the person who owns them wishes them to work and thus the conclusion that the sex workers do not enjoy the kind of work that they do and possible means should be implemented to stop this profession. According to the findings of a recent report, in the year 2012 alone around 5.5 million people worldwide were victims of the machinery of human trafficking (Lee, 2013). It, thus becomes apparent that a very substantial percentage of the sex workers all over the world are not in the profession of prostitution by choice rather they are in the profession are means of force.
Conclusion
Therefore ,from the above paragraphs it becomes apparent that sex work though apparently a job like any other job is very unlike the other jobs or professions that are normally followed all over the world. This particular though unique in its own context consists of its own advantages as well as disadvantages .The chief two arguments that support the thesis statement of this essay are the negative impacts that the profession causes to the health of the sex workers and the social stigma that the sex workers are normally made to face. The counterarguments to this view are the fact that there are actually some sex workers, who actually enjoy their work. It can be for various reasons like the flexible working hours or the large amount of easy money that they can make. The primary fact that can be upheld as a refutation to this counterargument is the fact that a large number of the sex workers are forced into work either by means of poor economic conditions, illegal trafficking, lack of job opportunities and various other factors. Therefore ,it becomes apparent from the discussion that sex work is a job unlike any other job.
References
Alexandra, R. M., & Torrico, M. G. C. (2017). Sex Work and Social Inequalities in the Health of Foreign Migrant Women in Almeria, Spain. Revista de Cercetare si Interventie Sociala, 58, 54.
Lee, M. (Ed.). (2013). Human trafficking. Routledge.
Maher, J., Pickering, S., & Gerard, A. (2012). Privileging work not sex: Flexibility and employment in the sexual services industry. The Sociological Review, 60(4), 654-675.
McHugh, P. (2013). Prostitution and Victorian social reform. Routledge.
Oram, S., Stöckl, H., Busza, J., Howard, L. M., & Zimmerman, C. (2012). Prevalence and risk of violence and the physical, mental, and sexual health problems associated with human trafficking: systematic review. PLoS medicine, 9(5), e1001224.
Protecting the rights of sex workers. (2017). Unaids.org. Retrieved 1 December 2017, from https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2017/june/20170602_sexwork
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