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The Dark Side of Prostitution

by Daniel Timmons

If there needed to be another reason to defeat the current Canadian Liberal government, it would be to halt the process towards legalizing prostitution.  The parliamentary committee advocating such a measure has continued its work, despite no firm evidence that Canadians in general want this legislation.  Legalizing prostitution is one of those proposals that on the surface would seem to enhance equality, opportunity, and liberty.  In fact, such a measure may create state-sponsored discrimination, harassment, and coercion, which is happening in Germany where legal prostitution is in effect.

The National Post editorial of March 8, 2005 advocated legalizing prostitution.  The editorial had three main points.  First, if it were legal to sell sexual favours on the street or in brothels, prostitutes could avoid a personal attack from someone whom they’ve had insufficient time to assess the risk; second, prostitutes would be more inclined to report such attacks to police; finally, legalized prostitution would create “checks to prevent the spread of HIV and other communicable diseases.”

The “world’s oldest profession” is merely a euphemism to disguise the dark truth.  Prostitution has always been, and always will be, a sordid and pathetic practice.  It diminishes the dignity and sanctity of the human body, where fleeting moments of carnal excitement are bought and sold. 

Prostitution exploits the truly vulnerable, young women from broken homes and on substance abuse, for the selfish pleasure of men who betray their wives, dishonour their children, and disrespect themselves.  To fully legalize prostitution wouldn’t control or curtail such disgraces, but rather sanction and expand them.

Rather than make prostitution potentially safer, we could try to encourage misguided souls to abandon the hazardous and unhealthy activity through counseling and community programs.

Reducing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases is as easy as ABC: Abstinence, Be faithful, and Condoms.  The first two, far and away the most effective, avoid the perils of prostitution.  And unless the government employed some official to watch the legalized “sex for hire” encounter, no “checks” could guarantee that condoms would be used.

Instead of imagining the theoretical merits of legalized prostitution, we can see the actual abuses in such a system, which exists in Germany.  As Mark Steyn has observed, the state has become a “pimp” that pressures unwilling young women to sell their bodies.

The unforeseen consequences of Germany’s legalized prostitution laws were also reported in The Daily Telegraph, January 30, 2005.  Claire Chapman recounted the disturbing, and even despicable, story of a young unemployed woman whose benefits could be revoked because she refused a job in the sex industry. 

The woman had listed her occupation as a “waitress,” although her actual profession is in information technology, in order to find a job.  Yet when a legal brothel inquired about her “profile” on the government computerized job services, the job centre directed the woman to go for the interview.  Only at the last moment did the woman discover the job was for a prostitute.

When she considered suing, to her horror she discovered that the job centre may be required to revoke her benefits if she refused the “position” because they could face legal action from the employer, in this case, a brothel.  A German lawyer, who specializes in such cases, Merchthild Garweg stated:  “There is now nothing in the law to stop women from being sent into the sex industry.”

Because brothels are considered respectable businesses in Germany, the state has seized the right to demand that people be prostitutes.  Young unemployed women have become victims of discrimination, harassment, and coercion.  They are supposed to abandon their moral dignity in order to receive financial benefits. Sound familiar?

Legalized prostitution in Germany hasn’t protected “the vulnerable” as its advocates claim it would in Canada.  All it has done is made forcing women into the sex trade “respectable” and a part of government policy. 

As it stands now in Canada, troubled women can choose to seek help and avoid the drugs, violence, and disease of the sex trade.  If prostitution were to become fully legal, attaining a status akin to a therapeutic massage, then any Canadian woman may be forced to sell her body——and soul. 

is a university instructor, writer, and script developer living in Toronto, Canada.  For details on his documentary “The Legacy of the Lord of the Rings,” please visit his web site: http://scriptsandscribes.com/projTV.htm

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