This analysis was provided by the distinguished retired jurist, John H. Wilson.
It has been said that the fall of ancient Rome was preceded by the legalization of various vices. One Italian historian has blamed the decline of the empire on a “contagion of homosexuality.” However, Roman history is not that simple.
In fact, slavery and prostitution were legal throughout the Roman Empire for most of its history. In the Second Century BC, prostitutes were registered and issued permits. But there was no regulation regarding slaveholders having sex with their slaves.
Now, two thousand years later, there is a growing movement to return to the morals and behavior of the Roman world.
While being interviewed by The Root, presidential candidate Kamala Harris stated that “when you are talking about consenting adults, I think that you know, yes, we should really consider that we can’t criminalize consensual behavior as long as no one is being harmed.” This brought attention to the efforts of State Senators Jessica Ramos and Julia Salazar to decriminalize prostitution in New York.
Never one to allow a crisis to go to waste, New York Assemblyman Richard Gottfried recently tweeted his support for “destigmatizing the sex trades through new legislation.”
At first blush, legalization of the sex trade may sound like a good idea. Proponents of the cause emphasize the consensual nature of the interaction between prostitute and client, and tend to be on the higher end of the business. In 2016, one such advocate, Meg Munoz, spoke before the West Coast conference of Amnesty International to support the “full decriminalization of consensual sex work.” However, the New York Times noted that “activists in the sex-workers’ movement (like Ms Munoz) tend to be educated and make hundreds of dollars an hour… “some of their concerns can seem far removed from those of women who feel they must sell sex to survive — a mother trying to scrape together the rent, say, or a runaway teenager. People in those situations generally don’t call themselves ‘sex workers’ or see themselves as part of a movement.”
In New York, the movement to decriminalize the sex trade is less high end, and more interested in preventing the arrest and prosecution of illegal aliens and transgender prostitutes. Decrim NY – a group formed by people involved in the sex trades through “choice, circumstance, or coercion” “links the fight for sex workers’ rights with a broader movement to end the criminalization of people of color, trans and gender nonconforming people, and low-income people in New York.” According to Nina Luo, of coalition member VOCAL-NY, “the coalition’s goal is to ‘decriminalize, decarcerate, destigmatize.’ That means repealing laws criminalizing sex work, restoring the rights of people who have been prosecuted for prostitution-related offenses, and ensuring all people in the sex trades can meet their basic needs, such as housing and health care, without discrimination.”
Thus, it is clear that a group like Decrim NY is not interested in improving the health and safety of those working as prostitutes, or in even restricting the sale of sex to consenting adults. They merely wish to allow certain people to continue to sell themselves without running afoul of the authorities.
Putting aside the jargon and rhetoric, the true nature of what’s been called “the world’s oldest profession” is far more dehumanizing than groups like Decrim NY and Amnesty International will ever admit.
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In a 2012 article on this issue in the Renewal Forum, M Heffern describes these books, and a study conducted of a sample of prostitutes from around the world…“of 854 people in prostitution in nine countries, eighty-nine percent wanted to leave prostitution but did not have other options for survival…poverty is most commonly cited as the reason for women’s entry into prostitution. Most prostituted persons struggle with extreme poverty and often entered prostitution as a means of paying the bills, helping support the family, and getting out of poverty. A majority of women ‘choose’ prostitution because they have no sustainable job alternatives available to them.”
Further, the link between drug usage and sex trafficking is well known. “Typically underage girls and boys begin sex work as a result of being forced from their homes due to sexual or physical abuse. A girl may meet an older man who convinces her to sell sex acts for money; commonly he may give her drugs to encourage the process.” Even activist Meg Munoz described her own use of methamphetamines during her initial experiences as a sex worker during her speech to Amnesty International.
Given these factors, which compel mostly women into a life of drugs, physical abuse, and poverty, the “consensual acts” between adults supported by Kamala Harris, Jessica Ramos and Richard Gottlieb seem to be less and less consensual, and more often the result of a form of servitude. In essence, then these “enlightened” politicians, who assert their desire to “decriminalize, decarcerate, destigmatize” the debasement of their fellow humans are doing nothing less than returning us to the morality of the ancient world, where a slave owner could do as he wished with his property, without fear of legal consequences.
The tragedy here is not that these politicians would advocate for their view – it’s that our society hasn’t learned anything about human dignity and worth in more than 2000 years.
Illustration: Pixabay