Write a paper on: What are the possible consequences (for society and the individual) of the criminalization of the following behaviors (choose one):
-smoking;
– bestiality (sex with animals);
– informal banking;
-commercial sex
– other
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Consequences of Criminalizing Commercial Sex Trade in Nevada, U.S.A.
Name
Institution affiliation
Course title
Date due
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Consequences of Criminalizing Commercial Sex Trade in Nevada, U.S.A.
According to Vanwesenbeeck (2017) commercial sex refers to the act of engaging in any
sex-related activity to acquire an economic benefit from it such as money or other material gains.
Some of the activities include prostitution, pornography production, or dancing in strip clubs.
Vries (2022) also notes that commercial sex may occur consensually or as a result of coercion,
threats, intimidation, or fraud which is commonly referred to as sex trafficking. Commercial sex
in the U.S.A was widely tolerated until the 20th century when scholars, physicians, feminists,
and Christians began to oppose it (Vanwesenbeeck, 2017). They argued that an end to
commercial sex in the country would help to curb the spread of venereal diseases which were
spreading very fast across the country during this time. In addition, they argued that regions such
as Europe which had legalized commercial sex and government-controlled this trade had failed
terribly in regulating the spread of venereal diseases.
Today, commercial sex trade is highly criminalized in all 50 states of the USA except for
some counties in Nevada which continue to practice it under strict surveillance by the local
government authorities in licensed brothels (Celaya & Boris-Tarré, 2015). However,
criminalizing commercial sex has its fair share of consequences. This paper seeks to illustrate the
consequences of the criminalization of commercial sex in the whole of Nevada both to the
individuals involved in the trade as well as the society in general. Some of the possible
consequences identified include increased stigma to the individuals involved in the trade,
negative consequences on their health and safety, increased socioeconomic hardships, failed
family reunions and their rights are likely to be infringed upon. In addition, this paper identifies
that criminalizing commercial sex negatively affects the families of sex workers once they are
arrested or harmed in their line of duty. Lastly, government agencies will end up spending a lot
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of resources on policing the commercial sex trade instead of investing such money in programs
that could benefit society.
Research Questions
The research question adopted for the purposes of this research is what are the
consequences of criminalizing the commercial sex trade to the individual and society in general
in the whole of Nevada?
Process of Criminalizing Commercial Sex Trade
The process of criminalizing commercial sex trade is not an overnight thing but happens
in distinct phases. The first phase of criminalizing this trade may involve the establishment of
surveillance and policing policies that define and identifies what commercial trade is and how
illegal it is by law. In addition, the theory of labeling may be employed to identify and define the
criminalized population or parties involved in the commercial sex trade such as sex workers,
third-party providers, and clients.
The second phase involves the actual arrests of the latter criminalized population and the
involvement of formal authorities such as the criminal justice system to put them on trial as
persons who have broken the law by engaging in the commercial sex trade or other related
activities. It also involves incarceration or application of fines as deemed necessary by the
authorities. This is meant to act as a deterrent to those individuals who might want to enter into
this illicit trade. The sex workers, their families and third parties involved in the commercial
trade will be the worst affected and nobody stands to gain.
Consequences
The criminalization of sex workers in Nevada will automatically convert them into a
target population and will likely promote stigma and discrimination in this population. This may
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impact their interactions with law enforcers, society, and their clients as they are unsure of who
is good or bad. Johnston et al. (2009) noted that even some law enforcers may take advantage of
them by intimidating them with arrests if they fail to give them various favors such as money or
sex. Street-based workers will be impacted more because they end up changing their locations to
areas where they cannot be reached by law enforcers and such places end up as unsafe which
increases incidences of harassment and violence towards them (Johnston et al., 2009).
According to Tsang (2018), criminalizing commercial sex, trade encourages the thriving
of a culture of impunity in society which in turn instigates the abuse of various human rights and
fuels physical as well as sexual exploitation of the criminalized population. Nevadas sex
workers will become a criminalized population and they will fear reporting cases of violence or
the abuse of their rights. In a society where it is known that a specific population is unlikely to
report cases of violence or cases of infringement on their human rights, they become a target for
violence since perpetrators harm them without fear of any actions being taken against them
(Cameron et al., 2020). In addition, when commercial sex workers are criminalized, they end up
being alienated from society which impacts their emotional well-being which in the long-run
impacts negatively their health. Brents and Hausbeck (2010) noted that marginalized workers are
twice likely to be impacted by stress compared to other workers who are not alienated in society.
Criminalizing the commercial sex population in Nevada may impact negatively on their
ability to seek health services because they feel alienated from society and since health workers
are part of the society, they may discriminate against them in several ways (Benner, 2022). For
instance, health workers may force them to undergo various medical tests that are unconnected to
their medical condition just because they are known to be sex workers (Nazrul et al., 2010). In
addition, they may deny them services and exhibit shaming behavior and derogatory language
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towards them. A study by Scorgie et al. (2013) on sex workers experiences while accessing
health services in four different countries in Africa established that they felt despised at the
hospitals. In other instances, derogatory remarks such as we dont have time for prostitutes
was made by the health care providers against them while in hospitals (Scorgie et al., 2013).
Another study by Tsang (2018) on commercial sex workers in China reported that healthcare
providers failed to offer treatment to commercial sex workers because they felt such people and
those who abuse drugs were a hopeless lot. Therefore, if Nevada criminalizes the commercial sex
trade, most sex workers are likely to face hostile healthcare providers and the result would be
resistance to seeking medical care. This in turn could result in poorer health outcomes in this
population as well as higher HIV prevalence rates.
Criminalizing commercial sex in Nevada is likely to affect society in various ways. The
first members of the society that could be impacted by the criminalization are the immediate
family members and friends of the commercial sex workers (Scorgie et al., 2013). Once the sex
workers are arrested and incarcerated, they are separated from their loved ones such as friends,
children, and other family members (Cameron et al., 2020). This definitely disrupts the social
support systems of the community involved since most of the sex workers are the breadwinners
of their families. This can take a toll on the emotional well-being of the family members and
friends of the incarcerated sex workers with the result being poor overall health (Cameron et al.,
2020). Once the family members or friends are admitted to the hospital because of their poor
health outcomes as a result of the incarceration of their loved ones, the government spends a lot
of resources and time taking care of them and such resources could have been used to positively
impact other sectors of Nevada.
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Children whose parents are sex workers may be forced into foster care at a tender age
once their parents are incarcerated which can impact their development later in life
(Vanwesenbeeck, 2017). In addition, they may never be united again with their parents until after
aging out of care because their parents even after being released from prison face economic
hardships and hence are deemed unfit to remain with their children. The money spent by the
government to take care of the children while in foster care could be invested elsewhere in
society to bring about positive change in the community.
However, proponents of criminalizing commercial sex work explain that this act would
help curb immorality in society and also help curb the HIV prevalence rates in Nevada. In
addition, they argue that by criminalizing the commercial sex trade, sex trafficking cases would
be reduced since most young girls are normally trafficked often to work in commercial brothels
(Ballester-Arnal et al., 2013).
Conclusion
I believe that Nevada should not criminalize the commercial sex trade. This is because
the criminalization of the commercial sex trade will likely subject the sex workers to violence,
abuse of their rights, marginalization by society, poor health outcomes, and an increased
prevalence rate of HIV infection among this population. However, proponents of the
criminalization of this trade argue that it will be a good way to stem immorality in Nevada and
also a good way to stem sex trafficking and human trafficking in general.
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Reference
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