Sexual Recovery?

http://www.wmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/fifty-shades-of-grey-on-set-4.jpg

Let’s talk about sex. In our modern society sex is almost as inevitable as winter in Finland. It can be seen very frequently in persuasive advertising in almost any media, can be found directly on the internet in the form of pornography and also can be heard from my upstairs neighbor. Sex is something that humans as mammals have been of course interested throughout the history.

As you might guess, sex is used very efficiently in the field of business. Sexual persuasion is used very frequently in marketing; especially young women and men can be represented in the media almost as sexual objects. Also the annual revenue of the porn industry is estimated to be annually $2.6 billion to $3.9 billion. There always exists a demand for some form of sex, which makes sex a much demanded product.

Pornography and sexually persuasive advertising aren’t illegal but widely condemned. But prostitution is still illegal in different parts of the World. For example in Finland buying sex is legal, but unregulated. In countries like Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands buying and selling sex is legal and regulated. In USA, for instance, buying sex is illegal and prostitution is criminalized. The chart showing the worldwide legislation of prostitution can been seen below.

Although its criminalization, according to TNS’ study in 2004, 15 % of American men have at least once paid for sex during their lifetime. Human trafficking is one of the World’s biggest current issues and it still exists and keeps the illegal prostitution in going. More than 500,000 women are trafficked into Western Europe every year, says the International Organization for Migration. These points doubt the effectiveness of criminalization of prostitution. Prostitution has been said to be the world’s oldest profession, since the signs can be found as far as from the 18th century B.C. Prostitution has always been there, and always will be.

The purpose of this text is not to give support or objections against prostitution. The purpose of this text is to analyze the potential effects of legalizing and regulating prostitution in a way it is done currently in Germany and the Netherlands. Could there be any actual positive effects or will the common welfare become worse?

If prostitution is a regulated industry with many agents, then the organizations must pay corporate tax like any other firm. Cities can earn tax revenue from other sources also: For example the city of Bonn collected on average 250,000€ from a “sex tax,” which collected revenue from saunas, brothels, and street pay meters in 2011. Also we must not neglect the effect of so called “sex tourism”, where foreigners travel to countries where prostitution is legal and thereby stimulate the economy through consumption.

Also the sex workers themselves have to obviously pay income tax from their income. The sex-workers also don’t necessarily have to work in brothel for a pimp; they also can be given the opportunity of entrepreneurship. In Germany they also already have access to health insurance and social security benefits.

http://assets.vice.com/content-images/contentimage/no-slug/f91fd263a0caf8666a75b80258f9dab1.jpg

One of the major concerns of prostitution is human trafficking. Some evidence is shown that the legalization of prostitution attracts women who are legally seeking for job opportunities, but unfortunately also human traffickers who force women into sex. Although sex workers in Germany have the right to demand proper work conditions and work safety guidelines for themselves, the monitoring of the victims of human trafficking needs to be addressed more. With proper regulation, it might also be easier to monitor and help the victims of human trafficking who are forced to sell their body. Also without proper regulation, the spreading of AIDS and other STD’s can cause major costs for the economy in the form of increased health-care expenditure.

Also the existence of labor unions for prostitutes can help the reduction of human trafficking, Not only the brothels and the state would monitor human trafficking, but also the unions. The unions could assess a strict control on who is fulfilling the requirements to work as a prostitute.

So far we have assessed the effects of prostitution into fiscal policy and unemployment, but what about the social effects? One concern is that the representation of young women in the society could become much worse. When legalizing something so objectifying, women could be seen as nothing more than sexual objects. When prostitution becomes more common and can be seen on everywhere every day, there exists a danger of objectifying young women even more. In extreme cases this can lead to increased numbers in sexual offending.

The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Greece have already accepted regulated prostitution and brothels. By regulating prostitution, it could be possible to increase the government’s tax-revenue, reduce the unemployment and most importantly, put the lights upon the problems of human trafficking and sex slavery. However, once must consider the social consequences of such a radical legalization for the society. 

As a conclusion we still could state that sex indeed sells.

Text: SW

Pictures don't belong to me