A critical study: Sex workers

Type :

Presentation

Pages :

9 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

12/09/2008

Category :

Political science

Sub category :

Social sciences

Oboulo.com selection criteria

$ 18.95 Add to cart

Summary :

Introduction.
A general misconception regarding why sex workers enter the industry.
1. Sex workers and violence.
2. The clientele.
3. The amount of alcohol consumed by the clientele.
The second group of people who pose a threat to sex workers.
1. Pimps and gatekeepers.
2. Vulnerable financial situations.
The police department.
1. The stigmatization and discrimination.
2. Violence from clients and getting arrested.
3. Extortion and unofficial fines.
4. Police violence: a moral punishment or a rational transgression.
HIV infection.
1. Vulnerability.
2. Factors that put sex workers at risk for infection.
the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS),
1. Violence as a key determiner of HIV infection.
2. A more psychological component of violence.
The need for a dramatic shift in government policy.
1. Criminalization as a deterrent for sex workers from gaining the legal rights to fight back.
Programs that promote safer sex and are willing to take that next step.
One idea for policy reform: the idea of decriminalization of prostitution.
Conclusion.

Abstract

Tania Nicol. Gemma Adams. Anneli Alderton. Annette Nicholis. Paula Clennell. While these names are probably not familiar to you, they are representative of the problems surrounding the commercial sex industry. They were all victims of a spree of brutal murders that took place in December of 2006 in Ipswich, England. All five young women were sex workers who, like thousands of others, had few options besides prostitution to support themselves and their families. The experiences of these five women represent a global phenomenon of violence and despair in the commercial sex industry and illustrate the grave need for a change in policies surrounding prostitution. I became interested in this topic after I stumbled upon a website which listed the names and ages of prostitutes who had been murdered that year. Scrolling through the hundreds of names, I realized the seriousness of the situation. I, like many others, had bought into the societal discrimination toward sex workers, believing them to be mindless drug addicts or hypersexual homeless women. As I say that, I shudder with disgust at my own blindness. I set out to learn about the subtleties of the sex work industry, how victimized the women involved are, how endangered and frightened sex workers are on a daily basis, and how significantly the stigmatization and discrimination displayed by the rest of society affects the livelihood and health of sex workers. The complexities surrounding sex work are vast. I will attempt to explain the desperation that drives young women to enter the sex work industry and the subsequent consequences, most notably the prevalence of violence and HIV infection.