The History Of Prostitution

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Introduction Prostitution has existed throughout all record human history and it is one of the world’s oldest professions (Sexton & Cushman, 2016). There are many different factors that can contribute to someone becoming a prostitute. There are psychological and environmental factors such as family neglect, abuse and drug addictions. Prostitution is a controversial issue that strikes against societies morals and norms. Canadian law towards prostitution is legal but it took a long road to get through this rigorous process. The case of Terri Jean Bedford, Amy Lebovitch and Valerie Scott changed the perception of prostitution. There are various reasons that explain why an individual participates in this act. Many choose this profession however; …show more content…

Prostitution come with many risks attached.
Origin of Prostitution Throughout history, prostitution has been around far back as 2400 BCE (Sexton & Cushman, 2016). In the past some women have chosen and others were forced to participate in prostitution. The stigma around prostitution was negative and frowned upon by religious sects and culture. However, in some places around the world like ancient Greek and Chinese societies considered sacred and a form of worship (Sexton & Cushman, 2016). Majority of the world viewed prostitution as illegal and sinful. Women who participated in prostitution were deterred by punishment that included shaving of head, imprisonment, getting ear and nose cut off (Sexton & Cushman, 2016). Women were aware of these punishments but still had to fulfill their needs through illegitimate means of prostitution.

Reasons There are various reasons why individuals prostitute. In many cases it begins early in their childhood. Women who become prostitutes have often been victims of sexual abuse as a child. In order to cope with the trauma of sexual abuse and the distress of prostitution, several women look for an escape and use drugs and alcohol, which further complicates their problems …show more content…

Terri Jean Bedford, Amy Lebovitch and Valerie Scott requested the court to strike down three provisions of the Criminal Code because it violated their constitutional right to security of a person (Supreme court judgements, 2013). The three provisions that they initiated to strike down was of the Criminal Code of Canada s. 210 makes it an offence to keep or be in a bawdy‑house, s. 212(1)(j) prohibits living on the avails of prostitution, and s. 213(1)(c) prohibits communicating in public for the purposes of prostitution (Supreme court judgements, 2013). They felt that these laws were interfering with the Charter of rights and Freedoms. Specifically, s.7, Having the right to security (Supreme court judgements, 2013). This case went to the Canada supreme court and the judges ruled on each of the laws. For s.210 keeping or being found in a common bawdy house, the supreme court struck this provision because it puts the sex worker’s life at risk by preventing them from working in a location that is supervised and is safer from meeting in unknown areas (Bennett, 2013). Prostitutes felt unsafe meet clients in private places because there were no people to witness if the situation escalated (Barreto, Shannon, Taylor, Dobrer, Jean, Goldenberg, &Deering, 2017). Also bawdy houses provided a safer and more sanitary place where prostitutes could work without getting taken advantage of. The provision was of s. 212(1)(j)

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