Vatican urges jail for kerb crawlers (clients of prostitutes)

[Eugene]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/pope/story/0,12272,1527147,00.html

Vatican urges jail for kerb crawlers

John Hooper in Rome
Wednesday July 13, 2005
The Guardian

The Vatican has for the first time backed the jailing of prostitutes'
clients as a way of ending what it calls "a form of modern slavery".

A document issued by the Vatican department that deals with migration
said clients "must receive something more than a social condemnation
and be confronted with the full rigour of the law". It cited with
approval legislation introduced in Sweden in 1999 which provided for
sentences of up to six months in jail.

The statement, issued after a two-day conference on prostitution and
human trafficking hosted by Vatican in June, said the number of women
around the world taking to the streets had "grown dramatically". It
said "a growing number of men search out prostitutes more to dominate
them than for sexual satisfaction", adding that the clients needed
help as well as punishment because of their "deep-rooted problems".

At the heart of the Vatican's document was the argument that "selling
your body on the street is not something you would voluntarily choose
to do". Prostitution was thus "an offence to the dignity
and a serious violation of human rights".

more...

[lapfog_1]

1. Methinks the Church would be better off

"curbing" the pedophiles that it employs and protects, once they
have cleaned up sufficiently, then they can start talking about
jail sentences for Johns. (Not that we shouldn't work to end
any and all human trafficking, whether for prostitution or other
reasons).

[lectrobyte]

2. I never understood why prostitution is a crime. After all, there are

lots of things people wouldn't "voluntarily choose" to do, like working two or three jobs to make ends meet in *'s America, and yet they do it every day.

[HamdenRice]

4. I think the Church is referring to a different kind of prostitution ...

There are so many levels of prostitution, from the high end world travelling escort to the crack-head giving blowjobs to truckers for a few dollars, that one rule really cannot fit all circumstances.

Given the OP's mention of trafficking, I think the Vatican was referring to one kind of prostitution that is prevalent in Italy -- namely the entrapment and virtual slavery of girls and sometimes even boys, from Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America to brutal pimps.

If this is what the Vatican was referring to, I agree with them. This is not voluntary sex work at all -- it is a brutal form of sex slavery. And both the johns and pimps are complicit in this very violent, oppressive system.

That does not mean that two people involved in a voluntary sex transaction for money should be treated the same way.

[Beaver Tail]

3. Might be a good idea to go after the PIMPS

who prey on the women who are venerable to being recruited into prostitution.