Tulsi Gabbard on Decriminalisation of sex work
Benefits of decriminalisation of sex work :
1. Improves access to health services, reduces risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted services:
This is the same policy held by other organizations and agencies, including Human Rights Watch, the World Health Organization, UNAIDS, leading HIV and AIDS groups and leading advocates for LGBTI rights. It is also supported by the medical journal The Lancet, which said that decriminalization “would have the greatest effect on the course of HIV epidemics across all settings, averting 33-46 percent of HIV infections in the next decade. Such a move would also reduce mistreatment of sex workers and increase their access to human rights, including health care.”
2. Full decriminalization reduces the risk that sex workers will be vulnerable to discrimination, eviction or arrest for related charges.
3. Decriminalizing sex work still means trafficking and other abuses are illegal :
Removing criminal penalties for sex work does not remove penalties for exploitation, forced labor, violence, trafficking, rape or sexual assault — including of minors.
4. Criminalizing buyers does not protect sex workers :
Sex workers are often forced to put the protection of their clients above their own well-being. This pushes sex work further underground, making it difficult to seek help when needed. Sex workers are also forced to meet clients in hidden places where the risks to their safety are higher, rather than places where they know they will be safe.
5. Decriminalization is just one step in protecting the human rights of sex workers, but it is an important one :
Sex workers must also have a say in developing laws that affect their lives and safety. But without decriminalization, they cannot expect equal treatment under the law to achieve these ends.
Paraphrased from :
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/5-reasons-decriminalization-protects-sex-workers-rights-91292/
This is the same policy held by other organizations and agencies, including Human Rights Watch, the World Health Organization, UNAIDS, leading HIV and AIDS groups and leading advocates for LGBTI rights. It is also supported by the medical journal The Lancet, which said that decriminalization “would have the greatest effect on the course of HIV epidemics across all settings, averting 33-46 percent of HIV infections in the next decade. Such a move would also reduce mistreatment of sex workers and increase their access to human rights, including health care.”
2. Full decriminalization reduces the risk that sex workers will be vulnerable to discrimination, eviction or arrest for related charges.
3. Decriminalizing sex work still means trafficking and other abuses are illegal :
Removing criminal penalties for sex work does not remove penalties for exploitation, forced labor, violence, trafficking, rape or sexual assault — including of minors.
4. Criminalizing buyers does not protect sex workers :
Sex workers are often forced to put the protection of their clients above their own well-being. This pushes sex work further underground, making it difficult to seek help when needed. Sex workers are also forced to meet clients in hidden places where the risks to their safety are higher, rather than places where they know they will be safe.
5. Decriminalization is just one step in protecting the human rights of sex workers, but it is an important one :
Sex workers must also have a say in developing laws that affect their lives and safety. But without decriminalization, they cannot expect equal treatment under the law to achieve these ends.
Paraphrased from :
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/5-reasons-decriminalization-protects-sex-workers-rights-91292/
Even if you morally disagree with sex work, there is real strong, clear evidence that criminalization of sex work harms the society significantly and that decriminalization of sex work would help quite a bit.
Tulsi was the first among the currently active candidates to come out clearly in support of decriminalization of sex work. In March 2019 :
A majority of Americans now favor "removing criminal penalties for adults to sell and pay for consensual sex," with support particularly high among Democrats and younger voters but also crossing party and age lines. Yet most of the Democrats running for president prefer to keep quiet about sex work issues, and only one remaining candidate—Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D–Hawaii)—has publicly expressed support for decriminalizing prostitution.
"If a consenting adult wants to engage in sex work, that is their right, and it should not be a crime," Gabbard said in a statement this weekend to Reason. "All people should have autonomy over their bodies and their labor."
Gabbard is the only one to get a good grade on a recent report card put out by the group Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW). "Gabbard supports the full decriminalization of sex work, which removes criminal and civil penalties from adults engaged in consensual acts of prostitution," the group reports.
DSW gave Gabbard an A-.
DSW gave Warren a C+ and Sanders a C, the same grade given to Pete Buttigieg.
https://reason.com/2020/02/10/only-tulsi-gabbard-wants-to-decriminalize-sex-work-but-other-dems-show-signs-of-progress-on-the-issue/
DSW gave Gabbard an A-.
DSW gave Warren a C+ and Sanders a C, the same grade given to Pete Buttigieg.
https://reason.com/2020/02/10/only-tulsi-gabbard-wants-to-decriminalize-sex-work-but-other-dems-show-signs-of-progress-on-the-issue/
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