DEBATE COMPETITION
This house believes that sex work should be legalised.
DEBATE BEGINS AT 6:00 PM
RULES
1. There will be 2 debators for each slot. (4 in total)
2. Each slot will be divided in minutes. (P denotes Participant)
FORMAT
0:05 minutes- P1- Overview FOR the motion. Word limit- 100-150 words
0:10 minutes- P2- Overview AGAINST the motion. Word limit- 100-150 words
0:30 minutes- P1- Arguments with a word limit of 400 words
0:50 minutes- P2- Arguments with a word limit of 400 words
01:00 hour- P1- Conclusory stance (300 words)
01:10 minutes- P2- Conclusory stance (300 words)
3. Each participant will make 3 comments in total. Every comment must start with
(NAME, FOR/AGAINST).
4. Participants will be judged on the following criteria:
A. Fluency of words/ Style of writing
B. Strength of arguments/ Backhand of research
C. Adherence to the word limit
D. Interactive tone
E. Adherence to the time limit
5. Anonymity is not permitted. The participants must use their registered names and email
accounts to comment during the debate.
My topic?
ReplyDeleteFor the motion
ReplyDeleteI argue that sex work should be legalized. The taboos associated with sex in the society is highly due to the secret and illegal nature of the sex work. So to change this attitude and think that its not something to be hidden from, we have to legalize it.
Sex market is vast and like a black market. Lot of money flow into it and there is no actual accounts or documents of it. There also flourishes market of drugs and such other commodities parallel to the sex market. So when it get legalized , things become more transparent and under the control of the government or the state to a certain extent.
The decriminalization of section 377 which allows homosexuality can be considered as a first step towards legalization of sex workers. We Indians have a rich cultural heritage of accepting the sex workers and giving them a dignified life. Previously sex workers were accepted as monks in the Buddhist ,Hindu tradition. We should uphold this and do not deviate.
Poorva
ReplyDeleteAgainst the motion
“If a pimp would have to demand a gift from Heavens, it would be legalisation of sex-work.”
We want to advance, society wants to advance, well, believe me that this entire world wants to advance. And the idea of this so called advancement/progress/modernity becomes problematic when few sections of this civilised society, from which also comes my worthy opponent, begins to support the legalisation of acts such as “sex-work”. Where many individuals trust this measure to be in tandem with liberation of human in respect to their choice, it is very reductionist in respect of the larger narrative of an individual availing myriad of other opportunities existing. there is not just one but so many different reasons so as to why sex work should not be legalized, on which I shall arvue and deliberate in my subsequent discourse.
Legalization is beneficial to the workers as they get a recognition in the society through it, access to healthcare, come under the law means under the government and their policies and thus there will be ensured welfare. They can also get a voice against their hardships like attacks faced from customers , regarding their social security , exclusions faced from the society. There are many fake calls in the social media which trap us to be a sex worker or someone who asks for that .So such incidents can be reduced. The saddest part that exists now is that whenever we come to find a sex worker and her customer, all the allegations will be against the worker . The same attitude and violence against the workers which is basically one -sided is really astonishing. By legalization , this can be prevented. Moreover it can offer a safe livelihood to those who are already engaged in this market . They can get more security in every terms like economic ,social, political .
ReplyDeleteWe can also reduce the number of children who is getting abandoned as things become more open. Now many sex workers fear to carry contraceptives as the risk of getting arrested is high and thus get into serious diseases like HIV . So , as a first step we can withdraw the laws which make contoms as an evidence. They can also make claims for clean and safe work places. It also gives them a chance to get out of it if they want to or if they were forcefully made to enter into this industry.
We have countries like Netherlands where prostitution is legal for more than 20 years. This shows that it can be beneficial if we properly regulate it, make the places clean and safe. Sex workers won’t be labelled as criminals anymore and thus they can have better access to legal system and the overall infrastructure that are available. There are many other positive externalities like increased tax revenue, reduction in sexually transmitted diseases, increased acceptance for them in the society, broadmindedness of the people and ultimately women empowerment.
The foremost thing is the consent of the person engaged in the sex work. It is important when we make a step to legalize prostitution. I just want to add a beautiful reply from a UPSC aspirant to a question
“Think that someone says that your mother is a prostitute. What will be your reply? How will you react?” He replied “ yes, My mother is a prostitute and my father is the one and only customer”.
conclusion
ReplyDeleteWhen we try listening to the voices of the community, we can know the majority opinion is for legalizing prostitution. There are many practical difficulties starting from setting up a family life to getting a house to live to attending a public function and many for them when they are in a highly unorganized sector. The first thing we need to move forward with legalization is a determined government and a consensus from the community. We should think of them as they are also someone’s daughter, they also have feelings. We have to start listening to them without any prejudice or by not being judgmental. If it continues to be illegal, then their vulnerability will continue. As we are not able to curb the demand, its better to make it legalize and thus making it under the purview of the legal system and thus transforming it to a more inclusive market of the society and a widely discussed one in the open sphere.
Sex workers are like every human who deserve equal legal right and protection. We should strive to bring sex workers out of the dangerous margin and to the mainstream society. We should try to make a felling in them that we are trying to protect them by law, not targeting. We should try to initiate a conversation and understand the outcomes of such a legalization and then move forward analyzing it. Always be heard and live to be heard. Let’s make it together. With that, I would like to conclude my arguments on the topic” This house believes that sex work should be legalized”.
in response to the well-thought out but yet terribly problematic arguments presented by my worthy opponent, i’d like to highlight the inherent issues with legalisation of sex work. first of all, the legalisation of sex work in no ways is going to help the women in elevating their status of life. this is attributed to the fact that if the sex work gets decriminalised, the only ones to benefit will be the pimps and the institution of brothels, which without a doubt, does not care much for their prostitutes. it will be a similar situation where the person/agency at the lower strata gets to reap the minimum benefits, which are the prostitutes- the women primarily, in this case.
ReplyDeleteThe legalization in this case is just going to leave to more sex trafficking and children being forced to prostitution at a young age.
The one question that everybody needs to think while saying that we should legalize sex work, is that, what are we going to achieve if we legalize sex work?
as we just established above, it is not going to help the sex workers much but it will create 'prostitution' as a viable option as a career which is definitely not something any society wants to envision.
Today when many sexworkers are operating from their households, their identities remain hidden. But if the sex work is legalized, isn't there a bigger propensity of them facing social disapproval at the hands of people whom they have to interact with on a daily basis?
another prominent question is do we really want to empower the sex industry by legalizing prostitution?
According to research, more than half of the sex workers do not want the industry to be legalized then where is this question of legalisation of sex work hailing from?
if the legalization is not going to empower the women and rather push them deeper into the trench of being subjected as commodities of providing pleasure to the other half of the population, if it is not going to pull them out of the spiral of patriarchy web, then why do we talk about legalisation of sex work and not something, some legislative initiative, that can help their empowerment in different ways?
Hence, I strongly argue that instead of legalizing sex work we need to look at the other alternatives.
Confusion
ReplyDeleteWhat we do today sets a precedent for the coming generations-
Let it be any legislation or any judgement, the history is always referred to while weaving a rubric for the present and constructing the future. and on this note I would like to bring in my concluding remarks that we definitely are a society that would not like to advertise prostitution & if we legalize the sex work this is the only thing that will transpire. The idea that legalizing or decriminalizing commercial sex would reduce its harms is a persistent myth. Many claim if the sex trade were legal, regulated, and treated like any other profession, it would be safer. But research suggests otherwise. Countries that have legalized or decriminalized commercial sex often experience a surge in human trafficking, pimping, and other related crimes.
An example of this comes from New Zealand. Interviews with prostituted individuals in New Zealand reveal that a majority of prostituted people in the country did not feel as if decriminalization had curbed the violence they experience, demonstrating that prostitution is inherently violent and abusive.
Thus, I would like to strongly argue that sex work should not be legalised & the government should rather focus on passing the legislations that can provide the sex workers with ample of other opportunities that can empower them in the the truest sense of the term.