Sex Work Decriminalization

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Sex work needs to be decriminalized in the United States. First of all, sex workers will not be afraid of interacting with the police. In addition, it will reduce the health risks for sex workers. Lastly, the criminalization of sex work denies the workers the protection of labor laws.

Sex workers will not be afraid of interacting with the police. Currently, sex workers avoid taking necessary safety precautions in order to avoid unnecessary attention from the police. They will steer clear of well-populated areas, working in pairs, and they may not properly assess a client before going into a private space with them. This increases the chances of something happening to the sex workers (Mensah and Bruckert, 2012). Sex workers would be able to …show more content…
To begin, they are not given the opportunity to form unions. The National Labor Relations Act allows and encourages collective bargaining and gives citizens the right to form unions (National Labor Relations Board). Unions protect members interests, improving wages, hours, and working conditions (Union Plus, 2017). Sex workers are being denied their legal right to form a union which would help improve their work benefits. According to the Department of Labor Workplace Safety and Health employers, pimps, in this case, must provide a workplace free from recognized serious harm (United States Department of Labor).Yet sex workers are exposed to many dangers throughout their work hours some of which come from their employers themselves. The employers don’t take any actions to reduce the risks of a sex worker being physically and sexually attacked during their work. Sex worker shifts typically last about ten hours (Stockton, 2013). If they work more than four days a week, according to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) they should be earning overtime pay, at a rate of one and a half times their usual rate. This means that they are not able to receive their overtime pay and are not able to exercise their right to it. Sex work must be decriminalized for the sex workers to be able to benefit from all labor laws. With sex work currently criminalized they are unable to exercise their rights. They are unable to create a proper and safe work environment for themselves because they are not being granted all their
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