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Poll: should prostitution be fully decriminalised?

This poll is over 8 years old
 

​TFN poll: should prostitution be fully decriminalised?

Should prostitution be fully decriminalised?

Yes
105
No
419

There was controversy recently when Amnesty International voted to support the full decriminalisation of the sex trade.

Supporters said it marked an important step in the fight for sex workers' rights, but opponents claimed it was a backwards step, which effectively legitimises exploitation.

It’s an issue which has drawn much heat on all sides of the debate.

So we’re asking what you think: should prostitution be fully decriminalised, as Amnesty has called for?

And remember to keep the debate going by leaving a comment below.

Options
Voting in this poll has now closed
 

Comments

0 0
Louise
over 8 years ago
the majority of women and men in prostitution are exploited and there are clear links to human trafficking. decriminalisation suggests that our society is fine with the exploitation of people
0 0
Helen Ysobel
over 8 years ago
Consenting adults should be free to engage in sex in any way they see fit. That's my strong belief. In addition criminalisation invariably harms the least powerful in our communities women and men ( and other genders) I am amazed that people who identify as 'feminists' have so wholly adopted criminalisation as a strategy. Dealing with inequality, child abuse and domestic violence will reduce abuses in prostitution.
0 0
Ed McArthur
over 6 years ago
If you want to know where decriminalisation or legalisation leads to read the article on the links 2 page of the website below. The Nordic Model which criminalises the pimps brothel keepers and sex buyers but decriminalises the prostituted people and offers help to get out ofd sexual exploitation. The point is to make prostitution HISTORY not safer(theanalogy would be a campaign to improve working conditions for Slaves. Sex with a prostitute is RAPE paid for rape and remember most of the billions go to the pimps and the Brothel Keepers..The advocates of decriminalisation in the UK want a slice of the commericial action they want to be pimps and brothel keepers or they are men who want it to be acceptable to pay to rape womenhttp://www.antiporn.bravesites.com
0 0
Sheila Kettles
over 6 years ago
I believe those people who are prostituted should not be branded criminals however those who purchase sex should be. #EndDemand
0 0
Susan Austin
over 6 years ago
Don't decriminalise pimps/brothel owner. Stop exploitation abuse of women girls (anybody).Say no to powerful sex industry lobby.The exploited shouldn't be criminalised but the exploiters should. People should consider what is happening in Germany and the shocking conditions in which many of the predominantly women work in the mega brothels which are not regulated in the same way as before the industry was decriminalised. People should also consider the number of migrants that are propping up this completely exploitative industry. About 75% of prostitutes in Germany are not Germans. Promises of employment contracts have not materialised/or access to health care/pension rights.The vast majority of women enter the sex trade in the absence of real choices. Many were children when they first "consented" to it. Amnesty International's stance has been heavily influenced by the powerful sex industry lobby including The Global Network of Sexwork Projects (NSWP) whose former vice president (Alejandra Gil) was jailed for 15 years for sex trafficking. Human rights of the many should prevail : the people who exploit should be criminalised and the exploited should be supported to gain alternative employment and have no criminal record.
0 0
rachel
over 6 years ago
Amnesty International have really discredited themselves here. Say no to powerful sex industry lobby, as the British Medical Association have done, seeing sense and rejecting Motion 422 to lobby for the full decriminalisation of the sex trade by a unanimous 75%. Women and girls, and indeed all vulnerable people have a right to live their lives without fear of violence! Once people hear the full story and all the facts, most people agree with the Nordic Model. It's just common sense!
0 0
Ana
over 6 years ago
Pimps and johns must be criminalised.
0 0
Christy
over 6 years ago
Prostitution cannot be considered like normal sex work. If a person pays for something, and the prostitute decided to stop before finishing, would that count as breach of contract? Or would insisting on following through count as rape? Should a woman have to endure whatever roughness the man thinks he's paid for? (And if the answer is no, a woman shouldn't have to endure roughness, how is that supposed to be negotiated in the absence of trust and caring, when what seems rough to one person is not to another?)People need to listen to the stories coming out of places where prostitution is legal. With prostitution treated as sex work, the men no longer feel embarrassed or guilty, so demand increases, and there aren't enough women to satisfy them, so it increases the number of women being trafficked. Women working in brothels have to accept worse and worse abuse to keep their customers and make enough to pay their brothel owners share.The Nordic model is the one to go for. Decriminalize prostitution while criminalizing being a john or pimp. The Nordic model helps decrease the demand for prostitution, so that there is less trafficking of women. By charging the men, and not the women, the women are able to seek help getting out. The Nordic model also includes having services available for the women who want to leave the abuse.
0 0
Megan
over 6 years ago
Criminalize pimps and johns, and protect those who are being sexually exploited. Prostitution is monetary coersion and is inherently nonconsensual.
0 0
Ssusan
over 6 years ago
Criminalize the males consuming and selling prostitution, and then prosecute it.
0 0
Sue Henderson
over 6 years ago
Naturally the women, men and children exploited in prostitution should be decriminalised. The best way forward is the Nordic Model which enables prosecution of pimps and johns while supporting those who wish to exit the trade to do so. This would not affect those who choose this way of life but would tackle trafficking, exploitation and violence.
0 0
Ann Hall
over 6 years ago
Purchasers of sex acts should be criminalised in order to reduce demand for the sex trade in which thousands of women and children are raped,abused and suffer violence on a daily basis.
0 0
Gisele Lamarche
over 6 years ago
Nordic model is the only one that protects the women!
0 0
Pam
over 6 years ago
johns and pimps = criminalsexploited people in the sex trade = not criminalstake a look at the impacts of the free for all in Germany and you will see hideous organized crime, racism, increased trafficking including of children and increased impacts on all women.
0 0
diana
over 6 years ago
Nordic Model NOW. Decriminalize the women in the sex trade. Criminalize (the hell outta) the men. Paid rape, not OK. Let women get the hell out.
0 0
Penny
over 6 years ago
It is long past the time that this dysfunctional tradition should be exposed for what it is and helped to die .
0 0
Red
over 6 years ago
Criminalize pimps and johns.
0 0
Realist
over 6 years ago
The vast majority of people who sell sexual access to their bodies are females. The vast majority of people looking to exchange money for sexual access to female bodies are males. If it was a job like any other, there would be 50/50 male to female ratio as both customers and bodies being sold. The body industry only exists in its current form because of sex inequality. It is absolutely rooted in that inequality. Sure, some people consider themselves sex workers and have a cushy apartment and go on nice dates and charge lots of money to these men. But they are the absolute minority. The majority are poor, drug dependent women who are trying to survive. They need help, and men need to stop exploiting their vulnerability. I support the Nordic model.
0 0
Rae Story
over 6 years ago
The full decriminalisation of the sex industry and the politics surrounding it are being promoted often by those who seek to profit from prostitution. In NZ & Germany & other places where tantamount free market prostitution polices are tried, business men from other 'adult sectors' benefit most by opening large scale brothels and murder and rape rate *do not* go down. Many of the so called 'sex workers unions' are not unions at all and are neither exclusively formed of prostitutes, but pimps, punters and other 'allies' and some well known examples have even been demonstrated to be run by them pimps and 'escort agents'.
0 0
Barbara Link
over 6 years ago
Decriminalization only benefits the buyers and the pimps and through the collection of tax monies makes everyone of us complicit in the victimization, commodification and trafficking of women and children. Decriminalize the victims, and prosecute the buyers and pimps.
0 0
Panda
over 6 years ago
Prostitution is a global industry. Education is needed regarding women being entitled not to be raped for money. This is a key fact in this global fight against the enslavement of females, children and all prostituted people. End demand.
0 0
Ches
over 6 years ago
Just like the law is used to discourage people from smoking in public places or using a mobile phone while driving, it should be used to discourage people from thinking that it is acceptable to be able to buy the use of other people's bodies for sex. Prostitution is not a job! For most who prostitute themselves, or who are coerced by others, it's a symptom of a lack of options.
0 0
samantha
over 6 years ago
I have been working as sex worker for twenty odd years and it is the best thing as I am in control of my life paying my bills and on the other hand the men are not abusing their wifes for not giving them a head job because woman get married the minbute their married the woman start saying no so men no choice but to purchase a prostitute THEY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY LIFE BUT MEN SHOULD BE HAPPY TOO.
0 0
Ed McArthur
over 6 years ago
Over 90% of prostitued Women and children are NOT in control.They ar being abused they are being raped for money by the punters. Normal men dont buy sex so that just leaves the perverts who do. Its a multi million $ Bindustry and its the p[imps and the Madams that make most of that money. Decrimanalisation of pimps Madams and Punters would increase trafficking it increases sex tourism.Its not responsible its not progressive its intended to normalise prostitution. The Nordic Model however imperfect is a route map to abolition. BTW any country that goes for decrim or legalisation is in breach of UN human rights law. . see http://www.antiporn.bravesites.com for more
0 0
Jennifer Murnan
over 6 years ago
Support the Nordic Model
0 0
Brii Davis
over 6 years ago
NORDIC MODEL NOW.
0 0
jacci stoyle
over 6 years ago
The sale of sex should be decriminalised but those who pimp women, traffick women, and buy sex from women should be criminalised. Full decriminalisation is madness. Why not go the whole hog and open the jails and let all criminals free? Why is it okay to rape, abuse and exploit women and children if you pay for it? People who believe that prostitution is mutually consensual need to think whether they would ever pay for or receive money from someone they wanted to have sex with. No, I thought not. The money does not pay for consent; it pays for silence. Amnesty International's prostitution policy was written by Alexandra Gill who received a 15 year jail sentence for Human Trafficking. Amnesty International only care about the rights of men and their sexual entitlement to pay for sex whenever and wherever they want it. Amnesty International do not protect the rights of women and children, so please do not think that they are a credible voice anymore in the Human Rights conversation.
0 0
Cayetana Martínez
over 6 years ago
Abolish prostitution!
0 0
Jan Williams
over 6 years ago
We need the Nordic Model and we need it now. Prostitution is and always has been exploitation of the poorest as a luxury f**k for the rich (ie men). It is to our century what the slave trade was to the 19th century. has massive costs both personally and to health and social services. Those who argue otherwise usually do not argue at all, they just assert and assert and assert the same old untruths. End it now. Like France, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Canada etc etc have done.
Commenting is now closed on this post