NCJ Number
242364
Journal
Revija za Kriminalistiko in Kriminologijo Volume: 63 Issue: 4 Dated: 2012 Pages: 291-300
Date Published
2012
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the criminalization of those who represent the demand side of prostitution, i.e. the clients.
Abstract
While the usual, more established ways of tackling prostitution focus on the prostitutes themselves, i.e. those offering services, the newer (Swedish) approach advocates the criminalization of those who represent the demand side of prostitution, i.e. the clients. This approach, which has recently been followed or contemplated on by some other EU countries, stems from the belief that prostitution is per se a violent phenomenon; that it is, more concretely, a form of violence against women, which is why it needs to be fought against and extinguished. The first part of the article demonstrates the basic elements of the main arguments of the proponents of criminalization and suggests some counterarguments, targeting the claim that voluntary prostitution equals violence. The idea that criminal law or criminalization is the best solution for tackling undesirable social reality is then challenged and certain negative characteristics of such regulation exposed. Lastly, some other criminological considerations that militate against such a prohibitionist approach are discussed. Through the use of existing research, examples and deconstruction of the discourse of the proponents of criminalization, the article indicates that the conception of prostitution as violence is misleading and legally-philosophically untenable, while the proposed solution to the "prostitution problem," i.e. the criminalization of clients of prostitutes, problematic in a criminological as well as wider societal sense. (Published Abstract)