Prostitution is Immoral Essay Example

an organized crime that victimized unsuspecting women who have been “trafficked to strip clubs, brothels, or the streets” (Hughes). According to The Columbia Encyclopedia (38880), in the ancient times in the primitive societies, prostitution had a religious connotation.

Early religious beliefs considered prostitution as a moral act and even recognized as a way to worship respected individuals. Sexual intercourse with temple maidens was seen as an act of worship for the temple deity (The Columbia Encyclopedia 38880). In the Middle Ages, prostitution flourished, and there emerged licensed brothels that earned extra revenues fort he municipalities (The Columbia Encyclopedia 38880). This is especially true among societies that have made prostitution legal.

The legalization of prostitution in some jurisdictions did not lessen the debates on the morality of prostitution. In law, it is an accepted principle that there may be certain laws that are legal but not necessarily ethical moral. Not everything that is legal is moral. This is true in the case of prostitution. Many believed that the act of legalizing prostitution cannot be considered as an act of tolerating the practice as a moral act. Prostitution has continuously been considered as an immoral act.

Prostitution Is Immoral Many of the world’s penal systems have considered prostitution a crime. Soliciting, inviting and engaging in prostitution or to gain sexual favors, is a crime and punishable by law. In fact, in some courts, both the sex worker and the patron are meted corresponding penalties. Certainly, under these laws, prostitution is an illegal act. But is it immoral? First, before deciding on the morality or immorality of prostitution, it may be important to define what morality or what accounts for a

moral act.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, an act is moral if it conforms to established sanctioned codes or accepted notions of right and wrong. Many of the arguments against prostitution is the manner by which the industry works and the acts connected to it. In sum, these criticisms can be considered as those pertaining to the act of indiscreet and random sex fin consideration of a sum of money or anything of value. According to some moralist, sex should be sacred and it should not be used to gain favors or as a means to profit.

In addition, moralists also argue that sex is only done by two people in love and with the blessings of a valid marriage. One of the long standing and perhaps the strongest argument against the prostitution as an immoral act is anchored on some Biblical and religions beliefs. For Catholics, one of the Ten Commandments prohibit one from engaging into sexual intercourse with a person not his husband or wife. Being against the Word of the God, prostitution then becomes immoral because it obviously involves unmarried individuals engaging into carnal knowledge.

Prostitution also encourages infidelity that can endanger validly constituted marriages. However, according to Davis (88), “sexual relations outside marriage were not always viewed as sinful or immoral, especially for men in the Imperial China, although erotic literature and vernacular fiction were considered a taboo”. This explains the differences and the debates on the legality and morality fo prostitution because cultural differences mostly define how prostitution should be treated instead of the implications of the act its self.

For instance, still in China, “the boundary between the morality and immorality of prostitution

was often determined in accordance with one’s social status” (Davis 88). This only means that there is a dual standard when it comes to prostitution. A person can be permitted to engage in prostitution if his social status can be considered as an entry to the practice. This does not answer the question of morality per se but only on the basis of public policy. Under the concept of law, a crime can be committed either with malice or by negligence.

Prostitution can be a crime as it is specifically made punishable under major penal systems. However, prostitution, in some jurisdictions, is also made a crime not only because it is against the law, but also because it is against public morals and public policy. According to Hughes, existing laws about prostitution has been formulated in accordance to the assumption that prostitution is an immoral activity, with the women (the sex worker) being the most immoral participants. This makes the participants immoral not only the act. Prostitution, however seen, is always immoral because of the manner by which it is undertaken.

Although it cannot be avoided that some sex workers are merely lured or forced by circumstances to engage into such practice, this does not change the fact that prostitution is still immoral. The reasons behind prostitution will not in any way justify its immorality. But what makes prostitution an immoral act? Various authors who believe that prostitution is immoral presented arguments pertaining most importantly to the effects of prostitution. For instance, prostitution is believed to bring about other social problems like diseases and the degradation of the concept of morality, of sex, of the family and

marriage.

One of the more concrete undesirable consequences of prostitution is the ever increasing number of prostitution and the number of AIDS cases in infants. Prostitution puts the sex workers in high risk of getting pregnant and the possibility of her having the fetus expelled from her womb. As also universally accepted, abortion is likewise immoral. In like manner, unprotected sex and casual sex puts the sex workers and the customers in high risk of getting infected with sexually transmitted diseases like HIV and AIDS.

This is also one of the leading causes of the growing number of infants born with AIDS. According to Parker, some people would rather refer to prostitution as a lifestyle choice or even an addiction to a lifestyle. This is because these people believe that many sex workers engaged into such activity in order to sustain other undesirable habits and vices like drugs and alcohol (Parker). This makes prostitution even more immoral because it becomes a means to an even more dangerous and another immoral end.

In opposition to the claim that most sex workers are forced by circumstances, many of them in fact entered the business by choice with an aim to sustain and finance other illegal and immoral activities. Under this view, the immorality of prostitution is not based upon the claim of the immorality of the act itself but also on the reasons why sex workers engage into paid sexual intercourse. Sometimes, it is easier to understand why people engage into prostitution if the poverty is very apparent or if the prostitution will help them fix their lives.

Meanwhile, in another article by Armstrong, he explicitly said that “prostitution is wrong”.

According to him, “it is wrong to take money for sex, and it is wrong to pay money for sex” (Armstrong). Prostitution is immoral because it treats the human body as a commodity. Further, Armstrong considers prostitution immoral simply because “indiscreet sex with anyone is dangerous to one’s health”. By engaging into prostitution, one can endanger not only his life but also the lives of her partners and their families. Sometimes, there can be innocent parties that can be unduly harmed by the consequences of prostitution.

In arguing for this claim, Armstrong insisted on the more harmful psychological impact of prostitution. In prostitution, the sexual encounter is not so intimate (Armstrong). The customer merely engages to the prostitute for simply gratification, transforming the sex worker into a thing demeaning her or his personhood. “There is something so demeaning about selling one’s body” (Armstrong). It demeans and discounts the ability of the sex worker to find gainful, moral and legal employment for her and the family. Prostitution is sometimes merely about power.

Customers are often in the position to abuse and take advantage of the weakness of the worker, demeaning her person and treating the sex worker not as a human being but as a thing he can use, a thing eh can buy and dispose of anytime he wishes. But according to Armstrong, this argument on the immorality of prostitution is not based on some religious or Biblical passages, but on the well- being of the individual. Conclusion Prostitution is indeed immoral. It is one of the long-standing illnesses of the society that undermine reason of human existence and the sanctity of life.

It is undeniably true that

prostitutes abound. But it should be remembered that there would be no prostitutes if there won’t be any patrons. So, it is but right that penalty be also meted those who solicit for sexual favors. In fact, according to Parker, “it takes a village to create a prostitute”. Thus, according to parker, in order to address prostitution, it is important first to understand the customers. More than this, it should also be remembered that despite the consensus that prostitution is made both a crime and an immoral act, it is not right to judge many of the people who have been engaged in prostitution.

In some instances, as documented by some stories of some sex workers, it is not prostitution that created the problem of immorality but the poverty that has brought them into this kind of profession. So, instead of judging them and calling them names, the best thing to do is to help them fix their lives. Many still consider prostitution as a victim-less crime, but unfortunately, this cannot be true at all time. In some instances, some workers engage in prostitution by choice and not for any compulsion or pressure (Parker).

Prostitution is a social illness that until today turns out to be incurable. The government and the society have joint responsibilities, and should join hands in finding the best treatment for prostitution, the sex workers and the customers. Although legalization can be a good start to treat and finally end prostitution, it seems to be turning out not so well because prostitution even flourished and the industry is even growing faster and faster, implicating even the innocent children who have already been involved

in child prostitution and child pornography.

What is very apparent about prostitution is the role of poverty in its existence. In this regard, it may be advisable for governments and societies to address the issue of poverty so that no more individuals will be caught in the unfortunate situation of having been force to engage in prostitution. It is a very sad truth that prostitution, “however undesirable, immoral may be, no society has ever been able to suppress it” (“Prostitution: How Liberal Should We Be? ”).