The Case For Treating The Sex Trade As An Industry

[roamingguy 300292]

On my MSN when I opened up the internet

RG

 

http://money.ca.msn.com/savings-debt/insight/article.aspx?cp-documentid=26127123

[Nicolette Vaughn 294340]

Thank-you for posting that article Roamingguy. You should read some of the comments that were posted below. As the article states, this is not an issue of morality. If you really think about it, it is all relative. If the government decides to keep the industry underground as it has been for many years, there will be people who will continue to exploit women by hooking them on drugs, bringing minors into the business or human trafficking.

 

On the other hand, money will continue to be spent on police agencies, hospitals and the legal system because many of those in the sex industry will require these services at some point because they will have been abused or even murdered by pimps or serial killers like Robert Picton. If prostitution is regulated in some way, it will cut back on what taxpayers will have to pay. It's time for a change and it should therefore be recognized as an industry without looking at it from the sole perspective of morality issues.

[VedaSloan 119179]

Agreed. Religious/moral ideologies shouldn't be allowed to trump human rights.

[Lowdark 5613]

I agree with everything said. Unfortunately, ignorance, fear and misinfromation forms the majority of public opinion and most people who vote do so motivated by emotions instead of fact. These are the same attributes that religion panders to or preys upon. That's why social evolution is always a slow, uphill battle.

[harboursmoke 3087]

Agreed. Religious/moral ideologies shouldn't be allowed to trump human rights.

 

 

Interesting Berlin so, to play devils advocate, what is your view on the hijab/burka issue with regards to its wearing in western culture states?

[VedaSloan 119179]

Interesting Berlin so, to play devils advocate, what is your view on the hijab/burka issue with regards to its wearing in western culture states?

 

It's not exactly a similar comparison. Women wearing a hijab/burka aren't hurting anyone else. But trying to abolish/criminalize prostitution because you think it's sinful/disgusting/depraved/etc does have consequences for those who work in the sex industry. Religious freedom has its limits--many countries constitutions have specific provisions re: religious right that include public order, and health. Religious right is subject to the constitutional rights of equality and freedom from discrimination. So if your "religious beliefs" infringe on other's civil liberties or cause harm to someone (ie female circumcision)--religious justification then doesn't hold.

[Phaedrus 209521]

It's not exactly a similar comparison. Women wearing a hijab/burka aren't hurting anyone else.

(snip)

So if your "religious beliefs" infringe on other's civil liberties or cause harm to someone (ie female circumcision)--religious justification then doesn't hold.

So to continue with the diabolical advocacy ('cos I think it's an interesting debate)... what if a woman feels obliged to wear a hijab/niqab/burqa/whatever in order to conform to the tribal-tradition or religion-based social norms of her community? I'm getting more at generic peer pressure here, rather than a man making his wife/daughter comply with his beliefs as the latter is rather more clear-cut...

[Guest pe*****0]

I agree with everything said. Unfortunately, ignorance, fear and misinfromation forms the majority of public opinion and most people who vote do so motivated by emotions instead of fact. These are the same attributes that religion panders to or preys upon. That's why social evolution is always a slow, uphill battle.

 

i agree with what you are saying but doesnt it feel like the current gouvernment is trying to bring back the bad old days of religiously dictated laws and social ethic(not sure if it is the proper word). iknow most people that vote conservative are religious and thus that gouvernment has to think of those people when they make there decisions but as many of you stated decisions like making/abolishing a law should not be motivated by emotion if we want a society that is capable of change we have 2 choice(pardon me if this sound idiotic) either to not allow people who rely on emotion to vote or to thoroughly educate all voters about every single law that is about to be voted(as we know the media is not exacly the best tool for forming people who can think criticly as most people will take the opinion of whoever is discussing it on tv).

[VedaSloan 119179]

So to continue with the diabolical advocacy ('cos I think it's an interesting debate)... what if a woman feels obliged to wear a hijab/niqab/burqa/whatever in order to conform to the tribal-tradition or religion-based social norms of her community? I'm getting more at generic peer pressure here, rather than a man making his wife/daughter comply with his beliefs as the latter is rather more clear-cut...

 

I think there is a touch of ethnocentrism at play when people are concerned about the pressure on women in such cultures to wear the hijab/etc. Many studies of women in those cultures see wearing the hijab/burka as liberating, rather than as oppressive. It has largely been a Western assumption that the burka/etc. is oppressive to Muslim women.

 

That's not to deny that some women do feel it is oppressive and that, in largely Western contexts, refusal to wear the burka/hijab/etc., is seen as becoming more Western (ie promiscuous) and can be dangerous to the woman (ie. honour killings). But these are relatively few in number.

[Phaedrus 209521]

I think there is a touch of ethnocentrism at play when people are concerned about the pressure on women in such cultures to wear the hijab/etc. Many studies of women in those cultures see wearing the hijab/burka as liberating, rather than as oppressive. It has largely been a Western assumption that the burka/etc. is oppressive to Muslim women.

 

That's not to deny that some women do feel it is oppressive and that, in largely Western contexts, refusal to wear the burka/hijab/etc., is seen as becoming more Western (ie promiscuous) and can be dangerous to the woman (ie. honour killings). But these are relatively few in number.

Ya, and so we come back to a question that comes up in other debates, too: how do we distinguish between those who are doing exactly what they please, and those who are doing something because someone, somewhere, has coerced them?

 

Obviously not an easy one to answer... I don't claim to know, alas.

[Megan'sTouch 23875]

I went to high school with two women who wore the niqab, the veil that covers a woman's full face.

 

One was a Muslim convert whose Christian parents grossly disapproved of her faith. It was a constant battle for her to wear niqab when her family, school, and community disapproved.

 

The other woman was raised Muslim and her mother wore the hijab. Her parents forbid her to wear the niqab which resulted in many fights. Her parents felt it would put her at risk for violence and they did not believe it was part of the Muslim religion. She married at 18 to escape her families liberal views and she has worn the niqab ever since.

 

I'm not saying that the nib is never an oppression. Some will say western women are more free because they can wear what they want. Muslim women would say they are oppressed being put on display for the enjoyment of men. I don't agree with either. To me freedom is being able to make your own choice and oppression is having choice taken away from you.

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[Capital Hunter 18263]

I think there is a touch of ethnocentrism at play when people are concerned about the pressure on women in such cultures to wear the hijab/etc. Many studies of women in those cultures see wearing the hijab/burka as liberating, rather than as oppressive. It has largely been a Western assumption that the burka/etc. is oppressive to Muslim women.

 

That's not to deny that some women do feel it is oppressive and that, in largely Western contexts, refusal to wear the burka/hijab/etc., is seen as becoming more Western (ie promiscuous) and can be dangerous to the woman (ie. honour killings). But these are relatively few in number.

 

I respectfully disagree that it has been a western assumption that hejab/burka is oppressive to muslim women and regarded liberating by most of those women who wear it. Millions of muslim women in those muslim countries (in particular one specific country) are fighting hard for their undeniable human rights as what to wear (and what not to wear) even facing daily harassment by government agents and possible jail in order to show their opposition to the forced hejab. These are NOT few or isolated cases but we are talking about millions (a majority of female population in that specific country). That is not to deny that there are some (descreasing in number) muslim women who are wearing hejab as a choice and think of it as liberating.

 

I strongly agree though that religious/moral ideologies must not be allowed to trump human rights. I also fully agree that wearing hejab and criminalization of sex industry is not the same. Yes women who voluntarily wear a hijab aren't hurting anyone else. But trying to criminalize *voluntary prostitution between consenting adults, because some people wanting to impose their moral standards or religious beliefs upon the rest of the nation, does have consequences for those who work or hobby in the sex industry, and I believe for the nation as a whole as our society may gradually look like a religious/police state where rights and freedom of choice may be at jeopardy.

 

*ps - I strongly believe non-voluntary prostitution, pimping, living off the avails of prostitution by pimps must remain illegal and subject to prosecution.

 

Some will say western women are more free because they can wear what they want. Muslim women would say they are oppressed being put on display for the enjoyment of men.

 

Western women are more free not only because they are able to exercise their rights as what to wear but also whom to marry and at what age to marry and how many children to have and the right to divorce and divison of assests and child custody after divorce and equal inheritance and equal rights and freedom, etc.. These are the rights that muslim women in advanced muslim societies are demanding and fighting for, and it is only a matter of time for them to achieve these undeniable human rights and we must support them in their struggle in any way we can.