Prostitution: A Social Ill In Urban Areas

"Decriminalization is not at all a solution to every injustice that exists in the sex industry; it is a starting point. If prostitution were not an underground activity it would allow us to much more effectively address the serious problems of forced prostitution and juvenile prostitution and the other abuses which are part of an industry that operates completely in the shadows”

In my previous blogs I mentioned that although there are many positive characteristics associated with Social Nightlife in urban areas, there are also negative ones and I may have highlighted a few in past posts. This blog follows along the same line highlighting a very clandestine topic or type of industry that is a part of the Nightlife Industry. This type of nightlife experience is considered unethical by many people but yet there are those that follow this type of lifestyle and indulge in it. It is a very lucrative business and their operations are very controversial however the incidence of hearing such establishments are rare. Apart from deviance from moral, social and religious code and also destruction of many marriages every year prostitution in Urban areas whether establishments or even on street corners lead to many negative results. Some of the negative impacts of prostitution include STIs and other venereal diseases, risk of alcohol or drug addiction to deal with the lifestyle, depression/guilt, high risk of unwanted pregnancy and risk of injury from violent clients among others. When attempting to understand such a sensitive topic a greater understanding of it may be attained when looking at when the industry comprises of. Human trafficking is one of the biggest problems that is caused by prostitution as it involves the sexual exploitation of women and children. It is also believed by some that coercion and exploitation can only be stopped if the existence of prostitution is recognized and the legal and social rights of prostitutes are guaranteed. What does this say for a society that seeks to root out this type of activity? This leads to the morality of prostitution, some say that prostitution as an industry is evil and it does not matter if it is ‘the oldest profession in the world’ it is still wrong, while others see nothing wrong with it. I asked myself the question as to how could a business as such operate under the cover of darkness yet most of the society knows it is in existence, and they are rarely shut down? It is an industry that operates primarily in Urban areas at night and this begs the next question…is it a legitimate business? Some are under the impression that it is a business like any other because it must be managed and work must be put into its daily operations for it to be lucrative while on the other hand some see it as even though prostitution in some areas is legalized, it can never be a legitimate business because it will always be associated with crime, corruption, class, mass sexual exploitation and human trafficking. Who would chose to have a career as a prostitute? In some cases it is chosen because there is “no other means to make money” (truly?), others don’t have a choice (forced) and some do it to make quick money. There are many topics that surround this highly controversial topic and I may have only touched on a few of them, however this type of business does occur in Trinidad and Tobago and it has ties in many aspects of Urban Nightlife, including economy. employment, crime and alcohol and drug abuse.

References:

Hubbard, Phil. Sex and the city: geographies of prostitution in the urban West. Aldershot:            Ashgate, 1999

Read More:

http://guardian.co.tt/news/2012-07-22/cops-arrest-prostitutes-central-bar

http://dailynews.co.tz/home/?n=14012

Listen:

Prophet Benjamin- Delilha on the loose

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIDLifCP56k