INTRODUCTION

Prostitution is commercialized sex and, as such, it involves two parties seller and buyer. It can be described as indiscriminate sexual activity without he normal motives that is procreation or pleasure, but is economically motivated so far as the seller is concerned. The seller generally is a woman and a man the buyer, also there is male prostitution in which gratification is provided by one male to another. The institution of prostitution is as old as human civilization and the hyperbolic statement which refers to it as the oldest profession conveys substantial truth. In order to understand and appreciate better about the problems faced by the enforcement machinery in respect of prostitution, let me at the outset discuss in detail about the term prostitution. An individual male or female who for some kind of new or for some other personal satisfaction and as a part of full time profession, engages in normal or abnormal sexual intercourse with various persons who may be of the same sex. Or the opposite sex is the prostitution and the trade which is being carried on in this way is called prostitution. Prostitution means the sexual exploitation or abuse of person for commercial purposes and the expression prostitution shall be constructed.. the act has very clearly given its definition towards prostitution and as such it is very comprehensive and adequate as far as a prostitute is concerned contrary to ordinary beliefs may not only be a female, may nor indulge in heterosexual intercourse, may not be a full time professional, may not accept monetary veulards, positively a prostitute has normal and abnormal sexual relation with more than one person; experiences some novelty in his or her activities and receives some personal satisfaction of course, the most distinguishing feature of prostitution is sexual intercourse with various individuals.

When any female allows use of her body for sexual relations, against payment of some money to pay a person this immoral activity which poses a threat to the society the man availing the services of such woman is called prostitute monger. The prostitution is

considered immoral and unsocial because it commercializes and degenerates love and assets and supremacy of bodily value over social and moral. Some people consider prostitution as a safety value through which excess of social compliance releases and thus the sanctity of family is preserved. In India also prostitution is legalized in some particular states and it has been made a legal offence and a person is liable to be punished for being a prostitute or visiting one. Ever since the study on prostitution was put in black and white in Paris in 1836 when parent Decathlete Published his De la prostitution dans la vill de Paris there have been legion studies on prostitution in its psychosocial and politico economic aspects. But the first vivid classical and masterly description of the nature of the present day prostitution was done as early as 16th century1 who in theirs works entitled region aments and Zafetta respectively described the condition of prostitution at the time of Italian renaissance. Prostitution is, perhaps coeval with human society. It as found in all societies all over the world, and in all ages through literature, art paintings and sculptures, the presence of prostitutes had been documented in most of ancient civilization. Acceptance or encourage of prostitution seems a common social posture and is after resorted to by disadvantages females such as divorces slaves and captives in brief, it is in part, the solution of the economic problem faced by females without husbands, sometimes, in societies that ordinarily

denigrate prostitution and even make some effort to preserve female virginity, it is encouraged when the economic reward is sufficiently great thus, marguesan partents encouraged their daughter to barter coitus for valuable goods brought by sailors,
1.Pietro Aretino (1534) and Lorenzo Veniero (1535)

Scared

prostitution

was

very

widespread

in

antiquity,

religion

incorporated prostitution as a transitory rite to be done once on more commonly as a continuing religious obligations of a particulate class of women priests, who themselves were scared harlots in some places ordinary respectable women went to a temple and had inter course either with the priest or with a causal stranger2 existed else where in the middle east perhaps all such customs arose out of the attempt to secure the fertility of women through the favour of gods or the fertility of the crops by sympathetic magic in the older days the worship of Isis, molach, Baal, Asratr, etc in the temples of Egypt consisted of the most extravagant sex agencies. The temples were reduced to centres of vices. Girlds were purchased for temples; obligatory prostitution by a certain workmen, priests was also a custom in western Africa. Child prostitution is a term in popular usage but in inaccurate because it implies consent, and a child does not consent. He or she is rather victimized into sexual slavery all over the world, the childs vulnerability to commercial sexual exploitation lies in his or her gamily circumstance the majority of sexually exploited children are either from marginalized families in the cities, and destitute families in the country, or children of women already in the sex industry, in India,

system of child prostitution as varied as the Devadasi or the Jogini and the trafficking system that moves young girls across south Asia and into urban centres, reveal the active exploitation possible. In the last few years some instances of sexual abuse of children have also came to light in populate tourist destinations. In India there are some myths that make men seek young girls believing that sex with virgins can care sexually transmitted diseases, employing that younger sex workers are less likely to carry HIV on the contrary, a Childs immature body and inadequately

2. Myletta rite of Ancient Babylon, where every female was required to sit in the temple of goddess and accept coitus from the first male who threw a silver coin in her lap. Similar customs involving other goddess are know to have existed else where in the middle east.

developed immune system make her some susceptible to sexually transmitted and other diseases. For a long time Indians did not acknowledge the existence pf child prostitution, but things are changing there are people in India now who are determined to take action against the evil. The sale of women and girls has its roots in Nepalese culture and religion. The sex industry in India has been active since the Vedic period, made reference to in the Ramayana and Mahabharata spiritual texts of the Hindu religion. Sex workers were called "Vaishyas' and have accompanied kings to the battlefield, formed the main bodyguard of Emperor Chandra Gupta Maurya, and engaged in intelligence services for the kingdom. During the Vijayanagara Empire (1336-1565) the highest honor bestowed on a young girl was to be sold as a Devadasis, a temple prostitute, literally meaning, "Slave of god."3 The

devadasi is a Hindu temple servant who, before reaching puberty, is dedicated for life to the goddess Yallamma. In other cases, a young girl is "married" to the temple. Traditionally, the divine marriage would transport a low-caste girl into a devotional career of temple singing and dancing. In modern times, this outlawed ritual is believed to absorb nearly 10,000 girls a year, often condemning them to a life of sexual enslavement to temple priests or city brothels4. "Untouchable" caste women are also traditionally prostitutes, while other castes allow unmarried women and children to be offered to the temple as offerings. In many cases, there is an established network between the temples and the city brothels. Temple leaders take advantage of the ignorance of the law and the cultural and traditional beliefs of the local communities. In the majority of the cases, this invariable results in the children being sold to the temples then in turn sold to brothel madams. "Some of these forms of child prostitution in India emerge from deeply rooted, traditional practices and beliefs
3.Taken from a report prepared by Dr. Ashok Sahni, Indian Society of health Administrators, 1996, found in "Trafficking in girls and women," ECPAT International 1996, http:www.rb.se/ecpat/traffick.htm 26 Sept. 1998. 4.. John Stackhouse, "In Rural India, Traditions of Child Sexual Exploitation Endure," Scripps Howard News Service, http://worldsexguide.org/india_child.txt.html

which

still

prevail,"

said

Richard

Young,

chief

of

community

development for the United Nations Children's Fund in India. " They may be legally outlawed, but they do continue."5 Without helping the population overcome some of the historically rooted prejudices, such as women as second class citizens, the birth of a Nepalese child will be rejoiced, but for all the wrong reasons - such as the money she will bring to the family when she is sold.

These traditions of exploitation are some of the many barriers that need to be overcome in order to eradicate the trafficking of women and girls across the border between India and Nepal. These cultural heritages along the caste system are ingrained in their world view. The upper class, especially those in government, does not see trafficking (or the caste system) as a problem since they are not negatively affected. However, outside forces cannot impose their own moral and cultural standards on a sovereign nation; the need for change needs to be recognized within if the traditions are not to be perpetuated. History, traditions, and cultural norms will be extremely difficult to overcome in order to stop the exploitation of the poor Nepalese villagers who are compelled to sell their children in order to survive. The trafficking of girls has reached high levels of organization and government cooperation. The sex tourism trade is big business for many cities with high tourism, such as Bombay and Katmandu. In Nepal, tourism is the country's chief industry and sex workers have begun to play a major role in Nepal's tourism earnings 6. one of the many reasons for the growth of the sex trade in South Asia is the crackdown of other sex trade destinations in the East, such as Bangkok. As these other areas begin to clamp down on their own sex trade, tourists began looking for other "exotic" locations, finding an alternative in South Asia.

5. John Stackhouse, "In Rural India, Traditions of Child Sexual Exploitation Endure," Scripps Howard News Service, http://worldsexguide.org/india_child.txt.html 6. Inter Press Service, "Kathmandu Brothel Raid a sign of Growing Sex Industry," 26 November 1997. http://worldsexguide.org/nepal_bits.txt.html

Measures to suppress trafficking of women and children have proven inadequate, primarily since law enforcement agencies and government officials are unwilling to enforce the law. Police take bribes to look the other way, and officers leave the brothels alone because corrupt politicians protect them. In the case of rape against prostitutes, sentences range from a fine of 500 rupees (US $9.00) to one year's imprisonment. Brothel owners can be sentenced between 7 to 14 years imprisonment for forcing children into prostitution under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act of 1986. However, there is a general unwillingness among citizens, particularly government figures, to recognize violence against women as a problem. 7One lawyer at the Institute of Legal Research and Resources (ILRR) has stated that one of the most significant factors in being unable to halt the sex trade is the lack of adequate laws. "We don't have laws to prosecute anyone involved in illegal prostitution. Our laws can only prosecute those who have forced others in to prostitution against their wishes8." Moreover, since many young girls leave their home villages willingly in pursuit of jobs and a better life, it is difficult to prosecute any of the middlemen or brothel owners, who have nothing to lose and everything to gain9. AS PER the US Department of state, "While the act of prostitution is not illegal (in India), most activities such as the selling, procuring and exploiting of any person for commercial sex as well as profiting from the prostitution of another individual are illegal. This is what its 2008 Human Rights Reports: India says.

7. John Stackhouse, "In Rural India, Traditions of Child Sexual Exploitation Endure," Scripps Howard News Service, http://worldsexguide.org/india_child.txt.html 8. Inter Press Service, "Kathmandu Brothel Raid a sign of Growing Sex Industry," 26 November 1997. http://worldsexguide.org/nepal_bits.txt.html 9.Copyright Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited Feb 10, 2010

Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved

However curious that may sound and although its the truth, the fact must be borne in mind before setting out to celebrate or pan the recent proposal by two Supreme Court judges to the Government of India to legalize prostitution. Legalizing prostitution is a blanket proposition. It is partly about harassment of victims of the trade by authorities but, also about dealing with criminals. If prostitution as a whole were to become legal, wouldnt it logically follow that driving someone to prostitution would be legal too? After all, the perpetrator is placing the subject in a legal profession, isnt he? Wouldnt child prostitution of an estimated 3 million prostitutes in India, 1.2 million are children then turn legal as well? What must change in law are:

A defence lawyer, fighting for an accused in a rape case, should be debarred from questioning if the victim is a prostitute. Even if she is, sex with her without her consent is rape.

If a woman willingly wants to use her body as a commodity, the state has no locus standi in the case to protect her morality or prevent her immorality. Arresting her and trying her in court thus makes no sense at all.

In the light of the right interpretation of law, that soliciting and procuring sex commercially are both criminal activities in India, it

becomes a clear case of violation when the preventive Act turns into an instrument to blackmail the sex worker.

If prostitution is legalized, the illegal flow of money between the sex workers and other operatives in red light areas will end. This could well prove good economics, provided the unemployed touts can thereafter be stopped from venturing into other walks of public life to launch some hitherto unexploited means of extortion.

It will be possible for health agencies to identify and treat this potentially high-risk group for HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, without wrangling over the medical and humane acts legitimacy.

As for the sociological aspect, it must be impressed upon legislators and the people alike that the view that all prostitutes are oppressed and a result of exploitation by men is ultra-feminist, unrealistic, melodramatic and romantic. For one, matriarchal societies have no less numbers of prostitutes than the patriarchal ones; some comparative international and domestic studies would suggest the former have more! Notably, the Sex Workers Alliance of Vancouver declares, Some recovery programmes and women's groups like to regard prostitutes as victims, despite the fact that many current and former prostitutes believe themselves to be nothing of the kind. This victim mentality is a convenient way of absolving oneself of blame for making ill-conceived or unwise choices. Typically applied to female rather than male prostitutes, it reinforces the archaic notion that women don't know what's good for them and are incapable not only of making their own

decisions, but also of taking responsibility for those decisions. This is an almost all-women group owning up! That notwithstanding, during the hearing of a PIL filed by NGOs Bachpan Bachao Andolan and Childline complaining about large-scale child trafficking in the country, Justices Dalveer Bhandari and AK Patnaik of the Supreme Court told Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam, When you say it is the worlds oldest profession and when you are not able to curb it by laws, why dont you legalize it? You can then monitor the trade, rehabilitate and provide medical aid to those involved. In terms of status of a country in the international community, many countries that have experimented with the sex industry now realize the folly. A legalised sex industry has not decreased sexual violence against women in any country; rather, the act has turned the spot into an international sex tourism destination. Over the past decade, the most popular proposed solutions to sex trafficking and out of control prostitution is legalisation of prostitution. Prostitution has been legalised with the expectation that it would bring positive outcomes in Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, and recently, in New Zealand. Although legalisation has resulted in big legal profits for a few, the other benefits have not materialised. Organised crime groups continue to traffic women and children and run illegal prostitution operations along side the legal businesses. In Victoria, Australia, legalisation of brothels was supposed to eliminate street prostitution. It did not; in fact, there are many more women on the street than before legalisation. Last year, there were calls for legalising street prostitution in order to control it.

It will be au fait to remind the apex court and government that the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 has miserably failed to curb corruption. Its telling effects on the nation were amply illustrated by the very court in its judgment in the case KC Sareen vs CBI, Chandigarh. Corruption has only multiplied in all spheres of life rather than witness a decline in the past 20 years for which the stringent law has been in place. Should the government therefore legalize graft and fix the amount of commission or bribe that each public servant be entitled to take? Some alterations in law to curb the excesses in prostitution can be cogitated about. But the maxim if you cant handle it, legalize it is akin to asking the exorcist to embrace the ghost in hope it will no more haunt. Today, Prostitution is flourishing in India as compared to the pre independence days, in various forms- whether it is in the gringos of the industrial belt; in the dim alleys of cities; in the red-light areas of out metropolises; in the growing multistoried apartments; in the government offices; in the growing industrial houses in the give star hotels and bars; in the film world and in the grab of sales girl, call girls, or dancing girls. Newspapers frequently report about women being raped and of raids in brothels, operating openly or clandestinely. International traffic in women and girls and sexual abuse of children under the age of ten can now be found in large numbers in brothels. Pornography is now playing a large role in creating a demand for exploitation and abuse of adults and children alike, moreover, drug stimulated sexuality and the appearance of the dreaded disease AIDS have emphasized the danger in prostitution. Business executives are entertained with drinks and girls. In fact, the latter are regularly on the roll call of business-hoses, eminent and not-so-eminent. A guest in

many high class hotels can choose his female companion for the evenings, the night or the day, from the list offered to him on demand by someone in the management. And every one knows the code wordpacket. The receptionist just rings up the clients room and says, sir, your packet from Kashmir, or Punjab, or Tamil nadu or Bengal, has arrived. Shall I send it up? And in walks the lovely packet. Brothels are no longer run by shabby, slinking pimps though they continue to operate as well. The operators now could be even a serving police officer or a politician or a businessman. Together with all this, eve-testing is common. Telephone girls complain of being molested in the office. Gang rapes are not scarce occurrences. Even universitycampuses are not free from them, nor are police stations. Nor parks, nor any place. It is a formidable problem and a challenge to our society. And it is merely shirking the issue to put the entire blame for it on the dresses women wear, ot the general laxity in moral values today. Not one of these reasons can be the cause of this ruthless molestation of women. After all, the Indian society went through a much greater revolution when, for the first time after a thousand years of Muslim rule, our girls came out ofPurdah and stood shoulder to shoulder with men in the 1930 civil disobedience movement. They did it at the call of Gandhiji. And though the men were not used to working with women there were no incidents of rape and molestation. There are people alive today who have witnessed that tremendous, unprecedented upsurge of equality. They would agree that it had a far greater impact than anything the post-independence phase brought. In fact, the latter is not a revolution at all, and it brought no equality for women only personal danger. In India, the most talked about centre of metropolitan prostitution in Bombay, the city of coexisting contrasts between acute poverty and

extreme opulence. Bombay city has a population of 99, 08,547 in 1991 census having an area of 603 sq.kms. Over and above, a few lakh of floating population visit the city by train, buses, cars and by air every day. Red-light areas are spread over in different parts of the city and the highest concentration etc. is in Falkland of mills Road, and Foras Road, docks Kamathipura, Colaba, Bnadra, Ghatkopar, Bhandup Sonapurt, Mulund Sonapur, Nagpada, location factories, mulitstireyed apartments, growtn of markets, slums, etc. account for the rapid spread of brothels. Bombay is one of the largest, if not the largest sea port in the country where there is constant flow of sailors, men proverbial for having in every port a wife. The nearest to sea-port accounts for much immorality and prostitution. As stated earlier, according to D cunha there are ore than 50,000 brothels in the city with over onw lakh prostitutes between 1981 and 1987 but they are growing rapidly. Punelar and Rao,s work entteled A study of prostitutes in Bombay with special reference to family Back ground is based on the case histories of 250 common prostitutes an d 75 mistresses in Bombay. The case histories of no tow sex workers were found t he identical, and they varies in family n backgrounds, age-group and demonstrated various factors, parents, situations and socio-psycho dynamics of their becoming prostitutes. SAVDHAN, a voluntary organization takes keen interest in the rescuing of women for brothels in their rehabilitation. It had reused over 900 girls belonging to State of Tamil Nadu who were lured into prostitution in Bombay brothels. According to the information received from SAVDHAN the number of prostitutes had crossed two lakh by the end of 1994 but the correct figure can not be assessed because hundreds of then are addeded to the existing number almost daily about 30 to

40 percent of the total number are childrens between the age group of 12 to 17. Thousands of women and girls from Nepal and Bangladesh operate as prostitutes in Bombay brothels besides migrants from different parts of India. Maharashtra accounts for over 50 percent of sexually transmitted diseases [STD] reported by government clinics with Bombays notorious red-light areas being logical reason for the citys distinction as the VD, venereal disease centre of the country. On any given day the affected population of Bombay is estimated 36,000. in Bombay, the Indian health organization IHO which has been advocating free medical treatment for prostitutes had compel up with some astounding figures. It estimated that if each of the 10,000 prostitutes in the Kamathipura and Falkland Road area, where 90 percent of the suffer from VD had an average of four customers a day, a staggering 36,000 people could be contracting the disease from them every day. Dermatologist, found that in the majority of cases the victims were in the age group of 12 to 25 years. what we find particularly alarming to day is the apparent increase of VD in younger age groups and even teenagers says jagakar There would be no prostitute if there were no clients [ customers]. Prostitutition is a very acceptable practice among men. It cuts across all social barriers and includes many respectable men in the community who have always flocked around\d the prostitutes. Plainly speaking, prostitution in different forms exists today because men wanted it and allowed it to flourish unmolested. While no stigma is attached to a man who visits a prostitute, the stigma of prostitution is carried on by the society that deny whores all human rights and the shame of prostitution and degradation last a life time.

The client is the one who enables the milieu to prosper providing international crime syndicates with billions of funds. And yet, the client is the one who is never accused of anything; he is never condemned and even in the most scandalklus and most reprehensible cases such as forcible rape of teenage girls. The sex abusers are seldom sent to jail. The client is the mob who has paid for his pleasure and, therefore, has a right to it. The semi-barbarous habit of some of the clients entail a large share of sorrows on the prostitutes; more, in fact, thank are generally experienced by any but the very lowest grade of women in some places, if a woman ventured to remonstrate a client for demanding oral sex the reply is, well, now, be skeet. I have paid you, and you are mine a long as I have you. The men visit brothels but protest prostitution a and often merely want it out of their own neighborhoods. Their attitudes seem to be we dont want our children involved but we d not care if someone elses are commented Minnesota, social services administrator Molly Greenman ( CQ Researcher, 11june 1993). What types of customers visit prostitutes? Everybody frequents the brothels: half shattered slavering ancients seeking artificial excitement: boys, almost children: contoured pillars of society, the strict guardians of morals; itch and poor; rogues of every description, thieves, robbers smugglers, gamblers, swindlers, escaped convicts, imposters, bullies of the underworld, erc. One only has to go on any day to the vicinity of a brothel to see the well-dressed people from all walks of life, the good and the bad, the respectable and the shady, the banker and the bankrupt, and indeed, all classes so well represented. The supporters of prostitution say, it always has been and it always will be. Perhaps this is true. No palliative yet tried has proved satisfactory towards abolition of prostitution.

There can be no doubt whatever that the prostitution has its birth, growth and nourishment from the baser sexual desires of men and women have been sough through the ages to satisgy their sexual desires. Trapped in his selfish ego, man is all too ready for everything that brings him satisfaction. This applies to power, money, sexual freedom, wantom enjoyment. Sex is glorified. Rapid industrialization and urbanization have increased sex industry sex industry. Wealthy middle-class clients are keeping the girls on the streets because they are the majority that use prostitutes. Wealthier clients have always gone for the teenage girl because they have money. Tak, for example, sex tourism. Think how little regard one must have for the other person- and here we are speaking about children. Think how a child is considered as purchasable object, which, in exchange for money can be used as an outlet for passion. This act is all the more reprehensible object, which, in exchange for money can be used as an outer for passion. This act is all the more reprehensible when poverty of children is exploited in order to make them submissive. Whether prostitution should be legalized are not? There problems to the society and the condition of prostitutes in developed countries like UK and USA are discussed in future chapters.

RESEARCH PROBLEM
The research induced me to formulate the problems which are very serious, first of all I want to say that prostitution is itself a social problem and an legal problem too. The anti social problem prostitution is increasing rapidly in the Indian society.

 Prostitution is one of main root cause for the broken homes. Legalization of prostitution in India will the encourage the teenagers to engage in the act prostitution. Sexual Transmitted Diseases (STD), is spreading by prostitutes and by the act of prostitution which very dangerous to the Indian society

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this write up is to examine the intricacies involved in the problem of prostitution in India, and also to critically analyze the loopholes in the legal frame work which adds fuel to the continuance of the same, and to make comparative study with other countries like UK & USA, I also intends to suggest the appropriate measures that would help in taking up cudgels against the existing evils. In the present study an attempt has made to study about the present situation of prostitutes in India and other developed countries like USA & UK, and to whether prostitution should be legalized or criminalized. To check whether the problem of Prostitution in India really exists, and to know the condition of prostitution and prostitutes in UK & USA. To examine the extent of awareness of the problem of prostitution in the society To by and determine the causes of such problem prostitution. To create the awareness in the society about the disease and its consequence to the people. To strictly object legalization of prostitution in India, as India is a precious country and rich in culture and tradition.

HYPOTHESIS
The following hypothesis was formulated for the study: Poverty in Indian families leads to prostitution, Indian economy is unevenly disturbed among the public, richer is becoming more richer, and the poorer remains the poor. Most of the Indian families live below poverty line, to satisfy there basic needs and necessities the girls of the family opt for the profession prostitution so that they can satisfy their needs immediately. Compulsion is one of the main cause which drag a girl for prostitution. Here also poverty play an vital role, the family members compel the girl or a girl child to prostitution so that their stomach can be filled, here girl has to sacrifice and join the profession due compulsion.

Satisfaction of sexual urge tempts the person to engage in prostitution. the upper class people who are rich enough due the excess money take a change of going to prostitution or involve in prostitution profession for fun, time pass and for their self satisfaction from sexual urge. Impact of western culture on Indian culture leads to increase in prostitution. the so called people who have money and the teenagers due to the companionship of their western country friends they practice the art of prostitution and involve in the prostituting just for passion.

 Un uniformity in Indian law which gives the root to increase the problems like prostitution. Lack of implementation of laws in India, there are many laws but yet it is not implemented strictly, the legislators and the executers should come forward to implement strict laws and execute it.

OR
The following hypothesis were formulated for the study: Poverty in Indian families leads to prostitution Compulsion is one of the main cause which drag a girl for prostitution Satisfaction of sexual urge tempts the person to engage in prostitution Impact of western culture on Indian culture leads to increase in prostitution Lack of implementation of Indian laws No uniformity of law

Since this project is limited by secondary sources many aspects has been omitted or not been discussed in detent due to constraint on content. A conventional footnoting is used or easy reference highlight in bold, italic is used in some sections to draw the attention of the reader, limitation of the research is the subject matter as the study

remains biased at the onset to

discuss those who spoke and

represented themselves and does not in any way intend to generalize the findings on those who were unheard. Examining the need for prostitution- Is our problem with prostitution a consequence of conditioning? Do not profane your daughter by making her a prostitute, so that the land may not become prostituted and full of depravity. Leviticus 19:29 If one were to ask a cross section of people for their views on prostitution, many would undoubtedly say that, as it demeans and degrades women, it is inherently wrong. But what if it is this attitude which is wrong? What if, by judging a prostitute as a fallen woman or seeking to protect her from a sexual role, we actually do her a far greater disservice? What if, by imposing an ideal of virtue on her, she becomes degraded? Just as a side note, it is important to distinguish here between those women who are trafficked into prostitution and those who elect to pursue it as a career. The prostitutes examined in this essay are those who have a choice in the pursuit, who do so of their own free will and volition. They are the women who are not psychologically traumatised through a history of abuse or low self-esteem but who accept their sexuality as an innate and natural part of their being and who are not restricted by societal and religious values. There can be no excuse or reasoning for those who are forced into the activity through coercion, violence or deception and who have no power to escape such a fate. Trafficking is illegal and unethical because it deprives its victims of the right to choose and subjects them to abuse, despicable living conditions and a standard of life which is contemptible and unforgivable and ultimately amounts to rape for anothers profit.

Such abuses are made possible, in part, by the stigmatisation of female sexuality. From the beginnings of Christianity, women have been oppressed through the parable of Adam and Eve. By making woman responsible for original sin, she could be treated effectively as a second class citizen. As Christianity developed and paganism, which favoured woman as lifegiver, was eradicated, the Church utilised the ideals of virtue and chastity to ensure that inherited property remained in the male line. Under the matrilineal system [of earlier society], all children born to a woman would automatically become members of the clan The laws of the Christian church, in sharp contrast to those of early Irish society, effectively helped to create the status of illegitimacy(Condren, 85). This meant that womans virtue effectively became a commodity that controlled her natural sexual urges. Where before her choice of sexual partner was her own and not dependent on monogamy, she now relied on a husband for her sexual experience and to protect her and her children from ostracisation. To be freely sexual was now seen as wrong- to enjoy ones biological instincts was to subject oneself to scandal, ridicule and exile from community. In such an instance, where woman can no longer be independently sufficient or wealthy as before (women could no longer inherit land- this option was available only to their male descendants), it was necessary to conform to the ideal of virtue in order to survive. Ironically, the virtuous ideal created by her decreased rights probably helped to facilitate the need for prostitution as the only viable means to support oneself. There are many arguments forwarded against the legalisation of prostitution. Many believe that it encourages women who are desperate to prostitute themselves. But if this argument is concerned with the protection of women, how is criminalising them going to make them any less desperate?

Janice G. Raymond forwards a ten reasons why prostitution should not be legalised, one stating that Legalization/decriminalization (sic) of prostitution does not protect the women in prostitution. She cites a study performed by the CATW which surveyed one hundred and fortysix prostitutes and trafficked women in a legalised setting. Where women were not under the protection of an agency, at every step of the way, violence was used for sexual gratification of the pimps, as a form of punishment, to threaten and intimidate women, to exert the pimp's dominance, to exact compliance, to punish women for alleged "violations," to humiliate women, and to isolate and confine women. She further states that, even within an agency, the women were less likely to be protected than the male clientele was. This has less to do with the legalising of prostitution and more to do with the continued stigmatisation of prostitutes as lower class citizens. It is inconceivable in most other professions that violence by an employer or customer might be accepted as a hazard of the job so why is it still expected that prostitutes may expect violence to be a known risk of their profession? To state this as a reason for keeping prostitution illegal is absurd; the attitudes of those frequenting prostitutes and those judging them needs to change as no person should ever have to accept violence as a consequence of a job. As it is, as is apparent from prostitute protection websites such as escortwatch.com which caters for Irish escorts, most prostitutes in a country where it is illegal will refuse to contact the police when assaulted or robbed, instead resorting to policing the situations themselves by spreading the word to othe prostitutes and madams. Furthermore, in regions where prostitution is legal, prostitutes are required by law, in most instances, to receive regular health checks and in New Zealand, it is illegal to indulge in sex with a prostitute without a condom or other

such contraceptive. The legislation of New Zealand requires that brothels, prostitutes and clients take all reasonable steps to ensure that no commercial sexual services are provided by a sex worker unless a prophylactic sheath or other appropriate barrier is used if those services involve vaginal, anal, or oral penetration or another activity with a similar or greater risk of acquiring or transmitting sexually transmissible infections. To contravene this law carries a hefty fine (New Zealand Prostitution Reform Act, 2003, 8:1a and 2). The assumption tends to be that any woman who sells sex as a commodity must be a desperate woman who has no other options. While the argument is surely a valid one in most cases, shouldnt the focus therefore be on the improvement of and access to better facilities and education? If these women are truly prostituting because they have no other choice, why not ensure that there are plenty of choices available? And if, when presented with these other options, a woman still chooses to prostitute as a balanced and considered option, who are we to judge and assume that her profession surely brings her shame? What right have we to dictate what consenting adults (and the emphasis of this essay is on mutual and uncoerced consent, as an adult decision) do in the privacy of a bedroom? While surely this should not be the only avenue of income available to any woman, it is a viable and high earning profession in the eyes of these women. Indeed, in a society where income levels can be quite unfairly stacked, prostitution provides a much better source of income than most other lower level jobs. In A Theory of Prostitution Edlund and Korn point to various studies which compare the earnings of low-skilled prostitutes to other low-skilled women. For a probability sample of 1024 female prostitutes in Los Angeles in 1990 and 1991, the annual average total

earnings were $23,845 for prostitutes, whereas working women averaged $20,197 and female service workers only $17,192, despite the facts that prostitutes were less educated and much younger than the female workforce at large (Edlund and Korn, 188). The earning capabilities of female prostitutes is in part the reason why this essay focuses sole on female prostitutes where surely there are a small number of heterosexual male and an increasing number of homosexual male prostitutes. However, the number of heterosexual female prostitutes far outnumbers their male counterparts. It is quite interesting to note that the prostitution of homosexual females is almost unheard of. This sheds an interesting light on the attitudes of the general male population to female sexuality. While a small number of females visit male prostitutes with the expectation of buying sex, the number of male customers buying female sex is far higher. In a study which questioned the buying habits of adults in Victoria, the study evenly separated its scope into both male and female respondents. Despite the fact that six hundred and twelve of those surveyed were male and the remaining six hundred and thirteen were female, the surveyors were forced to discount the responses of the female respondents whose percentage of sexual buying was too low to be included in the results. On the other hand, 23.4% of males confessed to buying sex at least once (Pitts, Smith, Grierson, OBrien and Misson). It is interesting to consider the reasons why these respondents confessed to buying sex. The need for human contact and the ability to interact without the necessity for great social skills was a huge draw for the respondents. Ease of contact and availability also contributed to the reasons why these men were buying sex. Is it not fair to speculate, therefore, that prostitutes provide what is, at least for the moment, an essential service? Without the services of these women, these men might be

deprived of what is essentially a very basic human desire and need, not having the necessary skills required to lead a more traditional and standard boyfriend/girlfriend relationship. The draw of a prostitute, for some, was the chance to interact with another human being on a physical and emotional level. The Danes, who also pay prostitutes to visit their disabled citizens once a month, enjoy a much lower crime rate than other major countries where prostitution has not been legalized or decriminalised. The murder rate was lower than most with only one in 100,000 murders and the rape rates were also low with one in 10,000. This compares to the United Kingdoms similar murder rate but 14 in 10,000 rape rate and the strictly prohibitive United States who have five times the murder rate and a massive thirty two times the rape rate (Liberator,XII). The speculation here is not that the absence of prostitutes encourages rape but that the ability to form meaningful short term relationships is an aid to those who may be psychologically imbalanced otherwise and therefore more inclined to rape to take back the power they perceive as lost by their social ineptitude. The morality imposed by Church, state and society has contributed to the ideal of woman as virtuous. By refusing to view a potential mate as a sexual being in the past, men may have visited prostitutes to indulge sexual urges they would not like to ask of their wife. While this is now changing (the Victoria study shows that the sexual acts performed were not dissimilar to those the clients would ask of a partner), the sexual revolution is by no means over. Until women can fully learn to appreciate themselves as sexual beings unencumbered by ideals imposed upon them and men also start to view potential partners as such, the need for prostitution will never be eradicated but rather created by this ideal. The ideas of promiscuity as wrong and any woman who indulges in frequent sex as a self-debaser

are contrary to our natures and will continue to create a divide which, maybe, only prostitutes can cater for.