The abolitionism of prostitution
Prostitution is illegal in many countries, but still the demand remains high in all of them and prostitutes are dedicated to a situation of both economic and social vulnerability. In places where ‘sex work’ has been legalized, the situation is the same or even worse. Therefore, what is the solution to the problem?
Radical feminism has found the answer: abolitionism. This proposal, on the one hand, aims to end capitalism, since the women who prostitute themselves are lower class and are subject to entrepreneurs (pimps) that enslave them in order to get the greatest possible economic benefit.
On the other hand, it wants to destroy the patriarchy, since this institution is based on the objective of the female bodies, that is, the woman conceives as an object and not a subject. This idea of women has led to the appearance of women’s trafficking, intimately linked to prostitution: 95 % of women who prostitute Spain are victims of trafficking according to the Andalusian Institute of Women. It is true that there is a minority of prostitutes that exercise voluntarily, and in this the regulatory discourse is based, but as long as prostitution continues there will also be slavery, abuse and violence.
There are many studies that show that prostitution can be a devastating activity for women: American psychologist Melissa Farley demonstrated in some test that he performed 800 prostitutes that 68 % gathered the criteria of post-traumatic stress disorder with a severity comparable to that of war veterans in treatment and that 63% had been violated by exercising prostitution. In addition, countries that have legalized it in order to improve the conditions of prostitutes have failed. This is the case of Holland, which legalized prostitution in 2000 and that the only thing he has achieved is an increase in trafficking and children under fourteen exploited by the business.
Faced with the evidence of personal drift that can lead to prostitution, abolitionism raises a series of key measures to end the business and improve the living conditions of prostitutes. The first is to approve laws that pursue both pimps and pourers (consumers), but that in turn offer them therapies so that they do not return to recover. The second consists in offering free training to women in a situation of prostitution so that they can access other jobs, provide host houses (the lack of housing can play a determining role) and hire psychologists who can help them. The last is to make awareness campaigns in order that men stop being consumers of this business.
This model has materialized in the Nordic model, applied in northern European countries such as Sweden and Norway. In these places the situation has improved significantly: there has been 70 % fall in the business, the rapes of prostituted women decreased almost half in Oslo and the number of pourters has been reduced (a decrease of one for every eight to one for every thirteen).
In sum, the legalization of prostitution ensures greater benefit for large companies, more consumption and less protection for prostituted. Therefore, the only way of solution is to abolish the business that, as has been demonstrated with the Nordic model, improves the situation. And this will only be achieved when people understand that prostitution is only a modern form of servitude.
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