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Sex Work and Pornography

Comparing the risks of sex work in First- and Third-World Countries

Published onDec 01, 2022
Sex Work and Pornography

What is prostitution? What is sex work? Are prostitution and sex work defined and seen as the same? These are questions that have more than one definition and answer to. Some individuals will agree and suggest sex work and prostitution are the same while others will disagree. Either way, regardless of the “correct” answer, one thing is certain. No matter where you are in the world, prostitution and sex work are prevalent and occurring as you are reading this. Prostitution and sex work have been brought to the attention of social media and news for many years in both first and third world countries. You may be wondering if these works may be regulated, viewed, or even be used differently depending on the type (first versus third) of country.

“First World” countries tend to be those industrialized nations that enjoy higher incomes, higher standards of living, and more economic and political stability. Sex work and prostitution are viewed differently in these countries depending on anyone you may talk to. There is not one overall view by the whole of the countries but there is a “standard.” For instance, in the United States, sex workers or prostitute is valued lower in society and not praised upon versus someone whose profession is a surgeon. Although, there may be some silence around this field of work, it is still very relevant, watched, and talked about regarding safety, STD’s, and, an individual within this field, rights’. In both the USA and Australia, there has been attempts of prostitution control and great utilizations of the criminal justice systems to do so.1

Prostitution victimization has been a rising concern in both countries and the attempts of control has shown very little to no effect on this issue. There have been new approaches, advocates, and recommendations for decriminalizing prostitution to prevent further harm in both the USA and Australia. There have been many newspaper articles regarding decriminalization of prostitution, especially in Australia. As seen in one article, it is expressed that this would apply to brothels and escort companies while keeping street prostitution illegal. This would only be accepted if the use of condoms were mandatory to lower rates of HIV, other STD’s, and unwanted pregnancies. A fine of up to 5,000 would be infiltrated to non-condom users.2 These recommendations are relatively helpful to an extent as in regulating the non-condom uses and maintaining other safety precautions. This takes time and money from the government which remains hesitant to these recommendations as there is no certain way to maintain 100% safety with the individuals within this work. The same issues and recommendations have been noticed in many other countries as well, such as third world, but at a much more extreme need.

A third world country is almost the opposite of a first world country in terms of less wealth, leadership, and development within the country. For example, some third world countries are Tanzania, Jamaica, and Pakistan. But again, sex work and prostitution are very common within these communities just as in first world countries. They also have many issues revolving around this work but with more extreme circumstances. For instance, in Jamaica, there is a monitoring control program regarding HIV and STD’s but with little supplies as the country does not have abundant resources in terms of medication, contraceptives, and sex education.3 Therefore, maintaining this safety effort remains difficult within the whole country. Another large concern within the third world countries is the violence behind prostitution and sex work. Within these countries there is much more inequality with less law officials maintaining peace. With this, for example, in Jamaica there is criminalization against same-sex practices, therefore those who partake in this do it in an unsafe manner.4 This heightens the risk and spread of AIDS, HIV, and violence. In Pakistan there is great violence within the community through enforced prostitution and forced pregnancy, giving individuals no choice at all.5 There is little to no help regarding this as this is a low-income society with poor government control and inequality.

Prostitution and sex work in both first and third world countries are rampant, but the issues that surround this field of work is greatly different between the two types of countries. This is to bring awareness of what is going on in our world at this very moment and to express how prostitution and sex work is something that should not be silenced but talked about. This awareness can potentially further prevent harm, dispute, and bring safety just by acknowledging how to prevent one from STDs, unwanted pregnancies, and so much more. Sex work and prostitution has been a part of the world for centuries and will most likely remain for many years to come.

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