PHI 1102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Street Prostitution

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Philosophy
• Course: PHI 1102
• Professor: Pamela Lee

Document Summary

Question of legal status is distinct from question on whether it is a morally acceptable practice (p 93) Previously was legal in canada but all conditions surrounding it illegal (making it more dangerous) Copied swedish model, criminalizes buyers but not prostitutes (who are seen as victims as exploitation: only looks at legal prohibition, not holistic change. Street prostitution reduced by half (apparently decreases harm) Critics say this drove it into more hidden areas which makes it dangerous. Aims to protect freedom of choice of prostitutes. Cannot change safety without holistic approach such as new training for police, labour laws, cultural stigma etc. Essentialist argument against: sex should not be commodified, makes it morally wrong, prostitution is degrading because: Because the intimate nature should not be commerclized. Because she is selling herself: objections: there is no moral ground for a society to endorse one meaning of sex as morally superior to others unless it is unjust, which is dependent on context.