Sollte man Freier ins Gefängnis stecken?

Das ist mal ein toller Titel, zumal wir heute den internationalen Frauentag haben. Ich könnte jetzt natürlich über PETA und die Feministen schreiben, aber das haben schon andere getan. Außerdem muss ich noch ein bisschen darüber nachdenken.

Auch nachdenken sollte man über Prostitution und Pornographie. Ich bin ja grundsätzlich ein liberaler Mensch und daher der Meinung, dass das was erwachsene Menschen auf freiwilliger Basis tun und lassen mich nichts angeht. Punkt. Somit dürfte Prostitution und Pornographie, wenn sie auf freiwilliger Basis geschieht ja kein Problem sein. Aber tut sie das denn in der Realität? Ich habe neulich diesen Text gelesen, der mich schon sehr nachdenklich gemacht hat.

Erstmal wird der Frage nachgegangen was Freiwilligkeit in diesem Kontext bedeutet:

Minimally, it should include that:

• She made a conscious decision, which was more-or-less free and self-chosen;

• She understood what she was consenting to;

• She had some reasonable & accessible alternative (other than homelessness, hunger, deprivation, etc.);

• She had the right, after agreeing, to change her mind at any time.

Klingt vernünftig. Und wie sehen jetzt die Fakten aus?

The reason that there IS a movement against prostitution is that in the real world of today, almost all prostitution actually occurs under circumstances that are totally un-like the Hollywood, consensual version. Research has found that women used in prostitution did not make an informed, adult decision: the average age of entering prostitution is 14, and the circumstances, usually horrendous. Those recruited overseas are virtually never told the full truth of the life that awaits them. And there is, effectively, no exit, no “quitting,” no turning back allowed. A girl will be controlled by a ruthless man who works with a network of many others, mostly men; she is in truth a sex slave. She will never see the money they make by selling her repeatedly to countless other men. Her life will be devastated by being used for years in prostitution, if she survives.

[…]

An especially telling finding is that an astonishing percent of these girls had already been the victims of sexual abuse at home. This has now been reported by so many researchers that it cannot be doubted.  Many scholars have independently reported that between 60% and 70% of prostituted women had been previously sexually abused as children (Widom & Kuhn, 1996; Murphy, 1993; Belton, 1992; Simons & Whitbeck, 1991; Weisberg, 1984, p. 4; Silbert & Pines, 1983; 1982, p.479; Papery & Deisher, 1983; James, 1980; James & Meyerding, 1977). Abuse by older male family members – usually fathers, stepfathers, and foster-fathers – is the most common.

[…]

The great majority of women used in prostitution appear to be under the control of (take orders, live in fear of violence, surrender all money) one or more pimps. Several studies of ‟street-walking prostitutes” have concluded that over 90% are controlled by a pimp (Barry, 1979). One study of women prostituted out of hotels estimated that over 80% of them were controlled by pimps (Prus & Irini, 1980).

[…]

In interviews conducted with 785 prostituted women, in nine countries, 89% said they would like to escape prostitution immediately (Farley et.al., 2003). In one study 65% of prostituted women had been beaten and physically abused by johns (Silbert & Pines, 1981). In one year in New York City two hundred prostituted women were reported murdered (Rosen, 1981). Seventy five percent of the „call girls“ in one study had attempted suicide at least once. Public hospitals have stated that about 15% of all suicide victims are women apparently being used in prostitution (Erbe,1984 ,p. 618-19).

Das sind ein Haufen guter Gründe gegen Prostitution zu sein. Was macht die Politik?

There are a number of different governmental policies on prostitution (prohibition, legalization, regulation, decriminalization, and sub-types) that seem, legally, quite different. In effect however, they were all amazingly similar, in day to day reality. Pimps and traffickers basically operated and profited hugely from the legal “business.”  Customers or johns were able to buy sex conveniently. The prostituted women were exploited, paid little, abused, and had no real control of their lives.

Wer hat es besser gemacht?

In Constantinople in about 535 AD, Theodora, Empress of Byzantium issued a decree making it punishable by death to entice a woman into prostitution. She further converted one of her great palaces into a shelter, where women who had been used in prostitution could go to start new lives (Chicago, 1979, p.72). In the fourteen centuries since, governmental intelligence, decency, and compassion has never again quite approached that level.

Nein, ich bin nicht für die Todesstrafe…