No, prostitution is not synonymous with violence per se, prostitution is strictly speaking "the provision of voluntary and negotiated paid sexual services" (Maqueda, 2009). Meanwhile, the State Council in its opinion on whether or not to prohibit prostitution ads says: "Prostitution is, according to the Dictionary of Language (22. nd edition), the" activity to which he is sexually engaged with others, in exchange for money. " The term prostitution means, "for legal purposes, all persons of either sex to be remunerated either in kind or nature, is delivered consistently and in a way that is, during all or part of their time, sexual contacts, normal or abnormal, with different people of the same sex or opposite sex "(Economic and Social Council of the United Nations Meeting Tokyo, 1958). "
Finally, prostitution is an economic activity and has been recognized as such by the Court of Justice of the European Communities. Specifically, in the Judgement of November 20, 2001 (Jany and others) "prostitution is a paid service, which is included in the concept of economic activities (...). It is an activity for which the provider satisfies a consideration, a claim the beneficiary, without producing or giving material goods (...). The activity of prostitution pursued independently be considered a service in return for remuneration and, therefore, is included in the concept of economic activities or self-employed. " Moreover, the Court rejected the grounds for denying such a character: namely, that the activity was immoral and behaved always a limitation of personal freedoms and labor.
What if there are conditions in which prostitutes are criminalized in the Penal Code and is important to separate the activities the concept of criminal prostitution itself recognizing different realities.
The biggest problem I've had to deal with and face my guys, is not serving customers, there is the stigma. When internalized stigma tends to provoke feelings of frustration, low self esteem and guilt. These feelings can influence, hinder or block the processes of resource recovery and valuation of their own capabilities initiated by women and even, and if necessary, can also cause the abandonment or waiver of a possible job relocation process (for not feel strong and safe, for fear of being recognized or discriminated by his past etc.).
From my point of view and my own experience much like that of my colleagues, stigma is the real violence that we must support those who are immersed in this world. There are many situations that we have to deal with users as women we meet them and literally send them "to hell" when needed. Clarify which of course I'm talking about women who are not forced by criminals to exercise, but a certain day, to particular circumstances, we decided to choose prostitution as an alternative.
Along with stigma, that prostitution remains on vacuum legal brothels and allow them to exist without any kind of control is what makes committed more situations of abuse, exploitation, and vulnerability to people who exercise, ie the conditions under which they must exercise experiences that lead to prostitution not be sanctioned. In this regard, a clear example are the initiatives being undertaken by different municipal ordinances as prohibiting women from being on the street, fined them and their clients, that if that is violence and a breach of their fundamental rights as people, since prostitution is not a crime and be in the street talking to a person not, the consequences are they can not negotiate with confidence, they take away their livelihood and if they are in this situation it endangers their physical and mental, as well as being under threat of offenders suffer police chase that should be protected.
If all the above, adding that the alternatives being offered to leave prostitution are scarce and often precarious and poorly paid jobs and no formal training and those who are in this situation, no one protects as victims, we close the cycle of inconsistency and perverse public policies that exist. Furthermore
abolitionist ideology gives a homogenized image of prostitution and to believe that most women are in this situation and we are victims of violence, when the reality is much more heterogeneous. This creates a macrovictimación; the creation, but instead do not apply the fundamental rights of the victims and the money received from the public subsidies spent on silly campaign instead of attending to the victims. This attitude is also violence against women (and men and transgender people) who engage in prostitution and also hides the real causes (social injustice) of prostitution and minimized.
For its part, the media social communication are also involved in that violence against women and persons who engage in prostitution, it does when used headlines such as "x prostitutes arrested, when in fact detained for alleged crimes that violate the Immigration Act and contributing to the perpetuation of the stigma of prostitution, comments and pictures showing sordid.
Finally some people linked to organizations, public and NGOs engaged the attention of people in prostitution, also engage in violence by giving discriminatory treatment and without any empathy and making disrespectful comments and value judgments. In first person I have had cases like this when ever I went to get help and I had to hear what he had to do "is leaving prostitution and get to scrubbing" or that he needed psychiatric treatment because prostitutes are sick people.
Prostitution is not an issue of votes and not on the priority projects of political parties, rather I have concluded that this issue to continue in a war of ideologies abolitionism-regulation, legalization and scuffles, some / as technocrats, lawyers, criminologists / as, social workers, sociologists etc. but without any real desire provide solutions. I had to hear in a professional answer to why we are not listening to prostitutes "do not listen to a prostitute to know what is prostitution." If we listen they would know that most women (men) are prostitutes like work, neither better nor worse than others, no more pleasant or less, some days are harder and not so . Is an alternative that allows some people use to earn more money than other jobs that are considered "worthy" by society "Neira
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