Legalizing Prostitution In Canada

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Recently, a controversial American website, Backpage.com, which is the second largest classified advertising listing service on the Internet in the United States, comes to public attention because of a lawsuit that is filed on several brave girls. The girls allege that they were pimped on Backpage.com and the website sells underage boys and girls for sex. Being known as the “oldest profession in the world”, prostitution is defined as a criminal act in most of the U.S. with many legal problems, for instance, human trafficking, violence, sexual slavery and the use of children, also moral issues. Different from the U.S., prostitution practices a legitimate business in some countries, such as Brazil and Canada.
Although the sex trade is illegal …show more content…

The International Labor Organization’s recognition of prostitution as a legal form of work could protect rights of sex workers, if the prostitution is legal. In addition, sex workers may be less hesitant to use laws to protect themselves, when clients or pimps victimize them. Legalized the sex trade not only effectively protects sex workers’ rights of labor from being infringed, but also is a way to show respect to them and to the human rights. In a study of Canada’s criminal prostitution laws, the author states that, people think prostitutes’ behavior is criminalized, and they are socially stigmatized, which is often prevented them from obtaining other work and therefore perpetuates prostitution (Art Hanger 72). The reality shows it is true that sex workers are often punished much more harshly and are prosecuted more frequently than customers. The legalization of the sex trade could probably change this situation by facing sex workers with less prejudge and more understanding and it might help sex workers into mainstream …show more content…

In Nevada, where is the only U.S. state to allow any form of legal prostitution, women who test positive for AIDS are literally not allowed to work at all. If they do, there will be harsh legal implications. Legalization provides cleaner and better working condition for sex workers; it also means having better sexually transmitted disease (STD) tests for them, even for consumers. They could get tested regularly and practice safer sex. It reduces prostitutes’ possible physically harm and risk of having diseases, for instance, AIDS and gonorrhea, so that consumers could get the care they need from health workers in a safer and guarantee condition. Research shows that there is a 39 to 45 percent decline in case of female gonorrhea in Rhode Island when the prostitution is legal there (Cunningham, Shah 3). While the implication of legalization of the sex trade decreases workers’ and consumers’ risks of having sexually transmitted diseases, for the consumers’ families, it also indirectly lowers the possibility of having

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