Kitabı oku: «Economics and human rights», sayfa 3

Prostitution and the right to life, health, work, rest
Or … “The state! Do not go to bed with people! Take care of a worthy deed!”

Strange as it may seem, talking about crime, which can be greatly reduced through the legalization of weapons, immediately leads us to the question, and at the expense of which the criminals live, where the maximum of crimes against the person is committed, where the state also does not want to ensure the inhabitants the right to life and health. And also for work and rest. The first thing that comes to mind when talking about crime is drugs and prostitution.

Let’s start with prostitution – one of the types of criminal business that is not criminalized by the will of people employed in it, but by the will of a state that does not want to legalize their work.

The same was in the United States when introducing a “dry law”. Illegal alcohol immediately became the cause of the growth of crime.

If tomorrow some state wants to prohibit milk, milkmen will fall into the sphere of criminal attention. They will forbid treatment – the crime will be dealt with by doctors.

So is it reasonable to prohibit?

A person has the right to work. This right is as immutable as the right to life.

Prostitution is work. If someone does not believe – he can try and make sure.

Maybe this work is not prestigious, it may not be very aesthetic, someone may not like this profession, but so are the sanitizers or pathologists, too, are not among the prestigious professions. The janitor is also not prestigious. Or the waiter.

But just as the state provides the right to work for a nurse, nurse or social worker, it is obliged to ensure the right to work and rest for a prostitute (prostitute), and hence to legalize prostitution.

Not all people want to be prostitutes. But not everyone wants to be policemen, doctors, teachers, plumbers, politicians, officials, dancers, masseurs, hairdressers or programmers.

A woman does not become a criminal by choosing the work of a janitor or waitress. But it becomes, choosing the work of a prostitute.

A waitress woman can call the police if the client does not pay if she behaves badly. And the waitress will get protection, and the client – the punishment. But a prostitute can not.

However, not only a woman, but also a man. For, as prostitutes are of both sexes, so are the clients.

I ask the reader not to consider the author as a sexist. The author will use the word prostitute, woman or she only in the above context. The context of the two sexes is both clients and employees. The female genus will be used solely to reduce the amount of text, as well as the most common type of sexual services. Women’s services for men.

From the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 3.

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 4.

No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms.

Article 5.

No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Article 7.

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.

Article 23.

(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.

(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.

(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.

(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.

Article 24.

Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.

Article 25.

(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

The most important thing in the legalization of prostitution is the reduction of crime around her. Legalized prostitutes are starting to pay taxes to the country, not the mafia and not the pimp. Both the client and the employee are protected by the police from crime (we also remember the right to arms). The crime ceases to receive money from prostitution and weakens. The police do not spend their time and taxpayers’ money on catching a person who decided to rest and catch a person who decided to earn by providing the client with such a rest option.

It would probably be rather strange if the police broke into a cafe and arrested a musician, waitresses and visitors at a time when some are working and others are resting. At the same time, both of them regularly pay taxes.

But the law and the philistine consider the musician and the waiter to be a “white profession”, and “prostitution” is a black one. After all, hardly anyone objects to the fact that prostitution is a profession. Segregated, discriminated in some countries, banned, but a profession. Those. there is discrimination on the basis of occupation, activity, profession.

But who cares? As once the “white people” did not care about the rights of immigrants from Africa.

As for family and morality, it does not depend on the employee, but on the client. In the cafe, you can also twist the adultery, destroy the family and spread diseases in the nearest motel. And not only in the cafe, and not only in the motel.

Prostitution, in terms of business – it’s just a service industry.

The service sector is a very profitable branch of the economy. In many countries, this sector (tourism refers to it, for example) brings a significant share of budget revenues.

From the perspective of human rights, the right to engage in prostitution is the right to work and the right to rest.

In terms of sales – a person can sell either the brain or the body (intelligence skills or body skills). We do not declare criminals models working in art institutes or in the open air of artists. The police do not catch athletes, masseurs, ballerinas, models that earn their body. Skills of this body. No one comes to mind to declare a fashion designer, choreographer or coach as a pimp.

All of them are protected by law. They, their life, their work.

And not legalized prostitution threatens the life and health of a prostitute and her client. It increases the number of crimes, contributes to the growth of crime, reduces revenues to the budget and attracts additional budget expenditures.

Legalization of prostitution, on the contrary, leads to the elimination of budgetary costs for catching prostitutes and their clients, to reducing the budget expenditures for investigating criminal incidents in this area, as well as for the receipt of additional taxes from workers in the sphere of sexual services.

Think and count:

How much time does the police spend in the fight against prostitution?

In what amounts does it cost the budget, or rather the taxpayers, that is, you?

And compare, for example, with the amount of taxes paid by prostitutes in Germany or the Netherlands.

4

Fortunately, as in the case of weapons, there are examples of countries where prostitution is legalized. This allows us to evaluate this legislative step in the experiment, both from the point of view of the economy and from the point of view of human rights.

Austria

Prostitution in Austria is legal, but it was not always so. The law of 1885 outlawed both prostitutes and their clients and intermediaries.

Only in 1973 the Constitutional Court ruled that this law is contrary to the Constitution. Since then, the number of officially working in Austria, prostitutes varies between 3,500 and 6,000. They serve about 15,000 customers a day. And they pay taxes from their income.

Austrian laws recognize a prostitute as an entrepreneur, oblige to pay taxes, stipulate compulsory medical examination, and also regulate the places and time of their work.

Belgium

Prostitution in Belgium is legal. Prostitutes enjoy the same rights as all working citizens. Including the right to retirement, security and health. All these aspects of life and work of prostitutes in Belgium are fully protected by law. Taxes also regularly come to the treasury.

Bolivia

In Bolivia, prostitution is legal. This is especially noticeable during the strikes of prostitutes, which happen very regularly.

Brazil

Prostitution in Brazil is legal and probably very beneficial for the budget, as the government refused to provide $ 40 billion in AIDS assistance under the terms of the prohibition of prostitution. Ie, logically, the amount of budget revenues from this type of business to the treasury of Brazil is more than $ 40 billion.

United Kingdom

Prostitution in the UK is legal. However, since 2009, contact with a prostitute, who was forced to engage in body trafficking, is criminally punishable, even if the client did not know about the slave position of the employee.

Hungary

In Hungary, a prostitute is a law-abiding entrepreneur and has the same rights and protections as an employee of any other service or trade. A prostitute has the right to open a business, register it and work as legally as any store. Advertising of services is allowed. Including in the newspapers.

Germany

Prostitution in Germany is legal for EU citizens. State bodies protect the rights of prostitutes, the consequence of this is the safe behavior of clients and the absence of criminal activity around this legal business. Prostitution is considered an official profession. A prostitute pays taxes, complies with laws, and after the end of his career, receives a pension, like people from other professions.

About 400,000 women are engaged in prostitution in Germany. The annual turnover of this legal business is approximately 6 billion euros. With this money, taxes are paid in full, replenishing the budget.

In Bonn for the payment of tax by street prostitutes there are special devices similar to automatic machines for parking payment. A prostitute, going to work, pays through this device 6 euros per shift. As a result, in 2011 the city budget received an additional 250 thousand euros. A quarter million extra income only within the same city! The annual turnover of the entire sex industry in Bonn is about 2 billion euros. (28)

The legalization of prostitution in Germany significantly reduced the risk of crime in this business. Prostitutes can complain about the client to the police, file a lawsuit against him.

Of course, legalization gave prostitutes in Germany not only the right to protection, but also the duty to pay taxes, contributions to the pension fund.

Like in any other country, prostitution is one of the favorite topics of political chatterboxes. And most of their arguments are about morality. The historical perspective allows us to take a close look at these moralists and understand the true value of their arguments.

So at the beginning of the 20th century, in Germany, the faction of the Nazi Party (ie Fascists) in the Bundestag was against the legalization of prostitution, because it “threatens the moral and racial bases of the family”. Der Sturmer believed that the adoption of the law on the legalization of prostitution “is beneficial to Marxists and Jews.”

On February 28, 1933, the day after the Reichstag arson, an “Extraordinary Decree on the Protection of the People and the State” was adopted. A man in his right mind can not understand how prostitution and the arson of the Reichstag are connected, but the arson and the “Extraordinary Decree” led to the arrest of tens of thousands of prostitutes throughout Germany.

For example, in Hamburg in the spring and summer of 1933, 3201 women were arrested, only on suspicion of prostitution, 814 of them remained in prison for quite some time.

Prostitutes “disappeared”. The party of the Center of Germany was pleased and voted on March 24, 1933 for giving the government of Hitler emergency powers. The Social Democrats objected to these powers (well, the members of the Communist Party of Germany were already in prison at that time).

Those. in pursuit of morality… Germany received Hitler.

A very clear story for moralists and champions of the prohibition of prostitution. Which is not tricky. As it was said above – the legalization of prostitution ensures human rights for work, life, health and recreation. And human rights and Hitler are diametrically different concepts.

But back to history.

Very soon, the Nazi government, which received full power, softened its moral principles.

On September 9, 1939, the Nazi government issued a decree restoring the regulation of prostitution. The decree stated that “where special prostitution houses still do not exist, the police should organize them in suitable areas for this.” By 1942, the police organized 28 brothels in Berlin. (4) That’s all there is to know about moralists, the price of their words and arguments.

Greece

In Greece, prostitution is also legal. It can be used by men and women who have reached the age of 21. Of course, from their income they pay taxes that supplement the country’s budget. Employees of this profession (as, indeed, the employees of many other professions – cooks, drivers, pilots, etc.) should undergo regular physical examination.

Denmark

In Denmark, by law, only those people who have some other source of income can be engaged in prostitution. (31) There is a certain logic in this. The source of income outside of prostitution allows us to assert that it was not poverty and need that pushed the market for sex services, but something else. To some extent this is an insurance against trafficking in human beings and compulsion to engage in prostitution. A well-fed person is difficult to force something, if he does not like it.

Proponents of morality in this connection want to point out that at the main place of work, a prostitute can be a teacher, an educator, and a trainer. Or a financial worker, a pilot, a bus driver, a waitress. Danes do not care. They are worried about another – some Danes believe that the services of a prostitute must be included in the state social package for the disabled, along with medical assistance.

Israel

Prostitution in Israel is legal. Brothels and pimping are illegal. The annual turnover is approximately $ 2 billion shekels a year. (4)

Spain

Prostitution in Spain is illegal. And this immediately leads to the growth of crime. So, according to Wikipedia, in 2007 in Spain, only officially found 1035 victims of sexual slavery.

However, it is useful for moralists to know certain facts. So in 1076, in some parts of Spain, the ban on prostitution was treated very ingeniously. A woman who was at night in the vicinity of a male bath could be raped with impunity. Such an unusual concern for morality. It was herded, probably also by select moralists…

Morality quite often took very bizarre outlines when it came to prostitution. So in 1325, King Jaime II founded the first red light district in Spain in Valencia and surrounded it with a high wall. The king ordered all women of easygoing demeanor to move into this quarter. It is important to note the word “move”. Those. despite the prohibitions, prostitution continued to exist.

Further medieval moralists did as follows…

Many municipalities began to ask the king to allow them to create the same neighborhoods in their cities. The permission was obtained and the “red lights” appeared in Tarragona in 1325, in Barcelona in 1330, in Castellón in 1401 and in Mallorca in 1411. Also brothels were opened in the kingdom of Valencia in the cities of Orihuela, Elche, Sagunto, Vila-reale, Alsir and Gandia. And before 1450, also in the cities of the kingdom of Aragon: Daroca, Huesca, Jaca, Barbastro, Sobreba, Cataluyde and Zaragoza.

In 1476, Queen Isabella, the wife of King Aragonese Ferdinand, ordered all prostitutes in Castile to pay tax. Probably, to maintain morale in society.

Catholic kings widely distributed licenses to open brothels to city municipalities, charitable organizations and their associates. As a result, brothels were opened in 1479 in cities such as Segovia, Cuenca, Toledo, Valladolid, Logroño, Madrid, Medina del Campo, Palencia, Ecija, Carmona, Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada, Jerez de la Frontera, Malaga, Salamanca, etc. As they say… all for the sake of morality…

Since then, prostitution in Spain has been banned, it has been allowed many more times.

Currently, brothels in Spain are banned, but there are quite a few “clubs” that do not hide much and function as semi-legal brothels.

On 25 January 2005, the Spanish National Court of Justice declared prostitution a legitimate economic activity in the lawsuit between the National Association of Entrepreneurs of Messalina and the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of Spain. A judge from Barcelona recognized the right of a prostitute to pay contributions to the system of state social insurance, because the woman is engaged in “labor for the benefit of society.” However, the courts referred to the European Court’s decision of 2001, in which prostitution is regarded as a “legal form of economic activity”.

Italy

In Italy, there are no brothels, they are prohibited by a special law from 1958. But in private, sex services are not prohibited. Punish only pimps and traffickers. Clients who did not pay prostitutes are treated as rapists. In 2010, in Italy, 70,000 prostitutes from 60 countries worked. In December 2002, the Italian authorities passed a law permitting prostitution in private homes. And street prostitutes face fine and arrest. (28)

In the Middle Ages in Italy, some cities tried to expel prostitutes (Bologna in 1259, Venice in 1266 and 1314, Modena in 1326), but unsuccessfully, for demand generates a proposal. Florence in 1287 ordered that within a radius of 0.5 km from the city there were no brothels, but already in 1325 again began to register urban prostitutes and the allocation for them of separate areas. In 1355 prostitutes were forbidden to appear in the city on all days, except Saturday and Monday. And according to the decree of 1384, prostitutes were ordered to wear bells on the head, gloves and shoes with high heels.

Since 1401, Naples began to impose prostitutes tax.

On April 30, 1403 in Florence, the Onesty police were created, which controlled prostitution, based on the writings of Augustine and Thomas Aquinas, who considered prostitution an indispensable institution for satisfying the sexual desires of men and an alternative to homosexuality. In the latter part, their views coincided with the position of Minister of the Interior of Nazi Germany Himmler, who was also a homophobe and saw in prostitution salvation from homosexuality.

Since 1823, the municipality of Palermo began issuing licenses to open brothels in the city. In 1841, at the request of the King of Naples, a compulsory medical examination for prostitutes was introduced. Likewise, Bologna also entered, having established even a special hospital for prostitutes.

The first law on prostitution in the united Italy was adopted on February 15, 1860. The number of registered prostitutes reached a peak in 1881 – 10,422 girls; in 1948 there were 4,000 of them, and in 1958, 2,560.

In 1923 Mussolini ordered all prostitutes to wear special passes, in which the results of their examination for venereal diseases were noted.

During the occupation of Ethiopia, special houses of tolerance for the needs of the army were created in Addis Ababa. Separate brothels were established for Italians, separate brothels for local residents.

Colombia

In Colombia, prostitution and brothels are legal. The activities of prostitutes are limited to “zones of tolerance” – districts specially designated for legal activities.

Latvia

Prostitution in Latvia has been legal since 1998. Prostitutes, under the law of 2017, must be at least 25 years old, have a health certificate (health card issued by a venereologist) and can provide sexual services only in their own or removable living quarters. A client who uses the services of a minor prostitute risks a fine of 350 to 700 euros (29, 30)

The number of prostitutes in 2005 was estimated at between 10 and 30 thousand. The legalization of prostitution in Latvia has led to a significant increase in the flow of tourists. And here it is important to understand that tourists at the same time use not only the services of girls, but also rent housing, pay for the hotel, for travel, for food. Those. the legalization of prostitution had a beneficial effect on the Latvian economy and the development of the tourism industry.

Netherlands

Prostitution in the Netherlands is legal, and near the red light district of Oude Kerk, in fact, in the center of Amsterdam, stands the statue Belle, on the pedestal of which it says: “Respect sex workers of the world.”

According to official figures, in 2000, between 20,000 and 25,000 prostitutes worked in the Netherlands. Including:

• 32% of Dutch citizens,

• 25% of visitors from Eastern Europe and the European Union,

• 22% of newcomers from Latin America,

• 21% of newcomers from Africa and Asia.

In the Netherlands every year, from 1,000 to 1,700 victims of sexual slavery are registered. In 2008, 763 women from Hungary were identified, 60% of whom were forcibly involved in prostitution. Is it the fault of the legalization of prostitution, is it the fault of legislators? Hardly. If prostitution were illegal, then the percentage of forced exploitation would be much higher. But of course there are questions to the work of the police.

Modern s

The argument that the legalization of prostitution leads to trafficking and forced exploitation does not stand up to criticism. First, these are shortcomings in police work, and secondly, there are many other ways of violent exploitation and modern slavery. For example, the creation of clandestine shops, where they are held in slavery and forced to slave labor not prostitutes, but seamstresses or people of other specialties. So the profession and legalization of prostitution is not to do with it.

Do not think that slavery and prostitution are equivalent concepts. Slavery, human trafficking, the concept is much broader, and therefore is not the cause of prostitution and lead to the prohibition of prostitution. The causes of trafficking lie in a completely different plane and the ban on prostitution is more likely to promote the slave trade than the legalization of sex workers’ work.

Let’s look at the numbers. According to the Global Estimates of Modern Slavery study prepared by the Walk Free Foundation in conjunction with other organizations in 2017, 40 million people worldwide are in slavery, earning up to $ 32 billion annually. Of these 40 million, only 5 million slaves (99% of the cases are women) are involved in the sex industry. (140, 141)

But apart from sex slavery there is still a huge layer of labor slavery, child slavery.

According to the Walk Free Foundation, Russia ranks 7th in the world in terms of the total number of slaves – over 1 million. The majority are labor. (142, 143)

In February 1985, the first World Congress of Prostitutes was held in Amsterdam. The Congress was held on the initiative of the head of the American organization COYOTE Margarita James and her like-minded Gale Featherson. At the congress, the International Committee for the Rights of Prostitutes was established, and the Charter of Rights of Prostitutes around the world was adopted. The public organization “Red thread” was established, which set itself the goal to achieve the legalization of prostitution. This organization, as well as the de Graaf Foundation and the Fund against Trafficking in Women, have become the main lobbyists for the legalization of prostitution. In January 1988, the Netherlands government recognized prostitution as a profession. On October 1, 2000, the Netherlands allowed the opening of brothels. Since then, the Oude Kerk quarter in Amsterdam is not only the place of sale of sex services, but also a tourist attraction.

In Holland, women and men who earn a living with their own body have equal rights with all other working citizens. They pay taxes, and in return receive the right to health insurance, funded pensions and vacation. Prostitutes should have a medical certificate, the age of the prostitute must be at least 18 years old, the age limit for clients is 16 years.

New Zealand

New Zealand legalized prostitution more than 10 years ago. The law protects both prostitutes and their clients. Even pimping in New Zealand is legal.

Costa Rica

In Costa Rica, prostitution is legal and protected by law. Tolerance houses and individual activities are permitted. Prostitutes should have a medical book with them and be over 18 years of age.

Singapore

Prostitution in Singapore is allowed from the age of 18. There are special quarters of red lanterns. Prostitutes undergo regular physical examinations. (32)

Turkey

Women in Turkey work as prostitutes not only at will, but can also serve their sentence, as in prison. (29)

Only women can be engaged in prostitution. Men are forbidden.

Matilda Manukyan (1914 – 2001), owner of a network of brothels in Turkey, was the largest taxpayer in Istanbul in the 1990s. (4)

Finland

Prostitution in Finland is not officially banned, but there is a ban on brothels and pimping. Also, the purchase of sexual services from victims of trafficking in persons, prostitutes under the control of pimps and persons under 18 years of age is punishable. Those who pay a prostitute, knowing that she was forced to have sex, faces four months in prison or a fine. Buying and selling in public places is punishable by a fine.

According to data for 2015 in Helsinki on the streets worked prostitutes from Africa, Russia, Estonia and Romania. Basically, according to the Finnish police, 90% of sex services are advertised on the Internet and sold in private premises.

The sober approach of Finnish policemen is respected. The Finnish police are combating trafficking in human beings and forcing women to prostitution. According to the representative of the Finnish Ministry of Justice, Janne Kanerva, the most obvious sign that trafficking occurs is the presence of an intermediary or the payment of “services” to a third party.

According to the THL Health and Welfare Office’s research for 2013, 95% of Finnish prostitutes use condoms, and 60% have been tested for HIV during the last half-year. Half of sex workers are vaccinated against hepatitis B. It is noteworthy that the respondents of this study answered questions in Finnish in 32% of cases, in Russian in 34%, and in Thai in 30%.

France

Prostitution is legal, but since 1946, outlaws are brothels, pimps, street pestering and prostitution among minors. A prostitute who spoke to a man on the street faces a fine of up to $ 1,500, and a pimp can receive up to 2 years’ imprisonment. (28)

Czech Republic

Occupation of prostitution in the Czech Republic is not prosecuted by law. But the organization of brothels is considered a crime.

Chile

In Chile, prostitution is legal. Since 2009, laws have been enacted in the country that provide for the social and physical protection of prostitutes. Prostitutes were even allowed to publish a textbook, in order to teach police to respect the rights of female workers in this profession. (28)

Switzerland

Prostitution in Switzerland has been legal since 1942. A sex worker must be over 18 years of age, and a brothel must undergo a licensing procedure. In 2010, Zurich opened a special public house for gays.

Ecuador

In Ecuador, prostitution is legal. Public houses are licensed. One of the motives for the legalization of prostitution and licensing of brothels was not even budget revenues or any lobbying, but the fight against prostitution of minors, crime and containing sex slaves. It was from the women who were forcibly involved in prostitution that the contingent of underground brothels at the end of the twentieth century consisted. Legalization helped solve this criminal problem.

Japan

Since 1956, prostitution has been banned. But, of course, there is. The turnover of this services market is more than 2.3 trillion yen or 0.4—0.5% of GDP. However, in Japan, “sex industry” and “prostitution” are different things. Prostitution, according to Japanese laws, is vaginal sex for money. Therefore, there are absolutely legal, for example, sex clubs offering oral sex. These services are regulated by the 1948 law “On Enterprises Affecting Public Morality.” (4)

Occupations of prostitution are also legal in South Africa, Canada, most of Mexico, in Australia, as well as in countries of southeast Asia (with the exception of the Philippines and China). In the US, prostitution is allowed only in a few counties in the state of Nevada; in fact – in Las Vegas (since 1971). In Sweden, Norway and Iceland, the offense is committed by a client, not a prostitute. (36, 37)

One can debate for a long time the consequences of legalizing prostitution. It is possible to discuss just as long the consequences of the ban. However, these discussions are not important. It is important whether human rights are respected in the legalization of prostitution. Or they are observed with the prohibition. It is important to observe human rights, not arguments, why these rights should not be respected.

The point is not whether the legalization of prostitution or anything else is good or bad, but whether the right to engage in prostitution, the right to use this service to the right of a person to work and rest. Does the prohibition on prostitution limit the right to life and health for a prostitute and her client. And if the answer is positive, then prostitution should be legalized.