In this blog post, we will examine the practical limitations and side effects of sex trafficking laws and explore how legalizing sex trafficking could be a solution for protecting women’s rights and solving social problems.
This brings to mind the old saying, “Red-light districts protect the chastity of women in their homes.” This expression is a metaphor for how difficult it is to uphold moral values in extreme situations. However, it raises the question of whether this saying still applies in modern society. In particular, in a country where men have strong sexual desires, will it work to discipline them and tell them that buying sex is wrong and must be suppressed? Furthermore, are the human rights of women involved in prostitution truly protected in this process? Isn’t this pushing them further into a corner, forcing them to leave the country and even resort to illegal immigration?
These questions cannot be discussed solely from an ethical or moral perspective. The approach to prostitution is a complex issue involving economic, social, and psychological factors. These issues are particularly complex in societies such as South Korea. The above article is from a column in the South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo. It was published several years ago and received a lot of criticism from readers at the time for its unconventional views. Although it may be a somewhat controversial topic, this blog post will discuss the legalization of prostitution.
Originally, not only South Korea but most countries around the world have laws prohibiting prostitution. In South Korea, the “Prostitution Prevention Act” has been strictly enforced for a long time, and many efforts have been made to eliminate prostitution establishments. However, these laws have not been an ideal solution in themselves, and the resulting “balloon effect” has rendered the purpose of the legislation meaningless. Today, prostitution has spread to massage parlors, sports massage establishments, motels, kiss rooms, office hotels, and even the internet in the form of “conditional dating.” In particular, South Korea has the most developed internet infrastructure in the world, which has exposed it to the underground prostitution industry. The US State Department has even classified South Korea as a “sex trafficking country,” saying that South Korean sex workers are victims of “voluntary human trafficking.” These women risk illegal entry into the country in search of work, and South Korea’s sex industry, which has spread throughout the world, has even given rise to the term “Korean business.”
Sexual desire, along with appetite, is one of the two basic physiological needs of human beings. Policies that go against human nature are bound to fail. Rather than struggling to implement policies that cannot succeed, it is more reasonable to come up with ways to solve the problem directly. In this context, there are three main reasons why the “prostitution prohibition law” is unrealistic.
First, it is impossible to prevent the sex trade from existing. Sex work is a typical low-intensity, high-paying job. Feminists cite “forced prostitution” through human trafficking and loan sharking as reasons to ban prostitution, but the reality is quite the opposite. Most women who engage in prostitution choose to do so voluntarily because it is an easy and quick way to make money. It is unrealistic to prevent the emergence of a market where the sexual desires of buyers and the financial needs of sellers coincide.
Second, there is no way to crack down on prostitution. Since the Prostitution Prevention Act came into effect, prostitution has been taking place in numerous office buildings in Ilsan, Bundang, and Gangnam, which were previously used as prostitution sites. Now, prostitution, which used to be limited to certain places, is taking place anywhere, even in residential areas. Therefore, even if the law is enforced, there is almost no way to crack down on prostitution.
Third, when it comes to the value of sex, the values of sellers and buyers differ greatly. Contrary to the wishes of feminists, some people can sell their sex without it affecting their dignity. Furthermore, the view that opposes the special treatment of sex itself cannot be ignored. Is it really reasonable to respect the human rights of sex workers while disregarding the human rights of emotional laborers who smile and greet customers at department store parking lots or slaughterers who kill animals for food?
The irrational aspects of the “prostitution prohibition law” cannot be ignored. First, among women’s groups that talk about “women’s rights” in relation to prostitution, there are almost no groups that recognize that women in prostitution are “people who want to work voluntarily.” On the afternoon of May 17, 2011, sex workers gathered in front of Times Square in Yeongdeungpo-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, to protest the closure of the red-light district. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family dismissed the protest as “women who were pressured by pimps to participate,” but in fact, none of the women were forced to participate. This can be seen as a battle between gender discourse and labor rights. In other words, it was a battle between policymakers who “could not tolerate the fact that some women like themselves were earning money through prostitution” and workers who “could not survive if they stopped working for even a day or two.”
Second, the discourse on sex work fails to adequately address the labor rights of lower-class women in their 30s and 40s. Since its illegalization, the sex work market has become even more stratified. The sex work industry ranges from the primary market, where “young and pretty women” receive large sums of money from wealthy men, to various other types of establishments, such as room salons and massage parlors. Recently, due to the economic recession and youth unemployment, the number of new sex workers has increased significantly. Due to the nature of the sex industry, it is difficult to obtain accurate statistics, but it is easy to see that the expansion of sex work in office buildings and room salons has led to an increase in the number of new sex workers in their 20s. Here, we must pay attention to how women in their 30s and 40s have been selling sex since the Prostitution Prevention Act was enacted. It is highly unlikely that those who lost their jobs in the sex industry to new sellers in their 20s and saw their workplaces, such as brothels, shut down have successfully reintegrated into society.
Considering the unrealistic and unreasonable elements of the Sex Trade Act, we come to the conclusion that legalization is a more reasonable approach than criminalization when a sex trade market emerges. There are three reasons why legalization of sex trade is reasonable.
First, if prostitution is legalized, brothels can be operated legally and taxes can be collected. In Antwerp, Belgium, $800,000 in additional taxes were collected after prostitution was legalized. This is also a way to utilize prostitution as an economic resource.
Second, intensive management of areas where prostitution is legal can more effectively address problems caused by sexually transmitted diseases. Since prostitution was outlawed, the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases has been steadily increasing nationwide. In fact, 60% of seniors over the age of 65 have experienced prostitution, and 3 out of 10 have been infected with a sexually transmitted disease. Furthermore, according to the Kookmin Ilbo, the underground nature of prostitution has led to an increase in prostitution among teenage girls, with the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases among teenage girls rising by 23% between 2007 and 2011. Even if they contract a sexually transmitted disease, they are unable to receive proper treatment and must hide it, leaving them to suffer until their symptoms worsen.
Third, legalizing prostitution would provide a safer working environment for women who engage in it. Currently, most women who engage in prostitution work in old and dilapidated buildings to avoid exposing their workplace. If prostitution were legalized, women who engage in it would be able to comply with public safety regulations and work in a safer environment.
Legalizing prostitution is only one way to solve the complex problems of Korean society. Efforts are needed to prevent the prostitution industry from becoming underground, protect the rights of women involved in prostitution, and further reduce social problems. This requires not only laws and institutions, but also a change in the perception of society as a whole. The debate on the legalization of prostitution cannot be limited to ethical issues alone, and it is important to approach it from various perspectives.
