Prostitution... give them all a share of it!

I was eagerly preparing to read an article entitled “Romanian Authorities promise to legalize prostitution”. I was comforted, somehow, to find that title, and amazed at how fast Romania is progressing in promoting Human Rights, even if it joined the European Union only 3 months ago. The topic of prostitution and whether it should be legalized in Romania has been brought up for discussion before. This generated heated exchanges between antagonist parties everywhere in the media, the Orthodox Church and its followers being the chief opponents of legalization. Well, I must say that in a society where sexuality is still not tackled enough as a subject of discussion even between partners; where sexual education in schools is still often approached in biological terms of how humans “breed”; where “sexual and reproductive rights” is a neologism that most people have never heard about; where sexual orientation is considered by many a “politically correct” disguise of “perversion”, and where a big part of the heterosexual population believe that they are immune to HIV because they aren’t gay - yes, Romania doesn’t seem to be ready for such a legislative “liberalization” of commercial sex.

So I was indeed surprised to read that this initiative came directly from the Government and that the Romanian Minister of Internal Affairs declared loudly that “prostitution has to be legalized” and mentioned how the General Police Department has already been working on this project for a year. The question that immediately popped into my head was: “Do they really care so much? Is this Government the one that wants to ‘make a change’?” But I was probably the only one to imagine that there was any juxtaposition between Human Rights and this legislative initiative. Now I must say that since I learnt how human trafficking from Eastern to Western Europe intensified after prostitution was legalized in several EU countries, my enthusiasm towards considering that legalization necessarily helps end the sexual exploitation of women kind of dimmed out. But still, if well considered, I think it might be one of the good steps towards educating the Romanian society that sex workers are no less human than any other one of us and that they deserve access to services, institutions and equality as much as workers from any other industry do. Legalization can represent in Romania an official acknowledgement and taking on of responsibility for this phenomenon at all levels of society. It should reflect a desire on the part of authorities to address the issue as a reality that concerns us all and not only the underground where it is currently marginalized by illegality and social stigma. The official recognition of human rights issues and implementing legal measures to curb abuses are part of the work that must be done by society towards change.

Unfortunately, the whole manner in which such subjects are approached in Romanian media will kill any feminist enthusiasm from the get-go; in this case the sexist tone is set by the first sentence of the article: “Good news for bachelors...” Leaving that aside for now, I will just attempt to analyze the reasons given by the Romanian government official when presenting his case, and the general tactic of trivializing this problem that ultimately, whether one is aware or not, costs lives. Minister Vasile Blaga starts with the statement that “prostitution has to be legalized [...] because ‘the girls’ are gathering hundreds of fines that they never pay”. He also insists to mention several times how “among the advantages of legalizing prostitution is the huge profit that the state would make – estimated at around half billion euros annually”. The media extends the emphasis on the financial aspect by providing us with numbers gathered by the Police Department during the year; numbers that refer to hundreds of fines collected by illegal sex workers: “they are setting back the budget by hundreds of millions of dollars”. And to make it all spectacular... or maybe entertaining... we even get to read a little enumeration of a few workers who hold records in fines and yet are back on the streets – in a joking tone that I still can’t figure out what is supposed to suggest. There is no mention of human trafficking, of violence against women, of the rights and safety of sex workers, their integrity and dignity. No mention of the factors that determine these people to earn their living by practicing an illegal and dangerous activity or of the health and safety risks they are exposed to. No mention of all the other issues related to the bigger picture of a world where sexual exploitation, drug addiction, homelessness and poverty are all chained in a web from which - in most cases - death represents the only way out. No mention of any of the real issues that are behind this phenomenon. And since the voices of those chosen to represent and lead the country, along with the media, can afford to be amused or joke about this issue, should it be any wonder that the only plausible premise for legalization of prostitution in Romania is the financial one, namely the profits the state might gain from it? Even though the reality that forces societies to change legislations and mentalities around prostitution is exactly the desire to end abuse and create a safer space for those who sell sex, the Romanian government is mainly concerned about how the state could better profit from sexual exploitation and presents the issue to the public opinion in a diverted, amused tone.

In such a context, if prostitution does become legal, I can easily imagine that the change it will bring to Romanian society will probably have nothing to do either with Human Rights, care and protection of those afflicted or with changing mentalities, ending abuse and sexism, but rather with changing the name of the abuser who collects the taxes. And since the money will go to the state budget that big segments of society benefit from, maybe the general opinion will say “yes to legalization” and happily claim their share of this dirty profit brought by abuse and exploitation.