Prostitution In China And Scotland
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Prostitution for the early Chinese American as to the Scottish Prostitute
In 49 states of this country prostitution is an illegal activity. Nevada legalized prostitution, however it does not mean the entire state is open to prostitution. Indeed, only certain cities allow this act. As Troubnikoff states in Trafficking in Women and Children, “Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, frued of coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not reached the age of 18” (Troubnikoff, 2001). Today, trafficking is one of the most profitable parts of organized crime. The US government estimates that 800,000-900,000 people are sent from country to country illegally for either sexual exploitation or unfair forced labor (Troubnikoff, 2001).
In todays society, we perceive women who put a price on sex as prostitutes, whores, hookers, or sluts. In spite of this, they are still human beings. Society fails to see that these women are mothers, daughters, and have various family members who care deeply for them. At the same time, we feel that the men who buy the sex are not fathers, sons, or brothers. What we do not understand is that in certain places of the world prostitution is not simply a choice, but a necessity for survival. Their involvement in this work occurs without a sense that these actions are immoral or inappropriate. Society, location of their neighborhood, and the conditions of their household overwhelm these women, and what may be unethical is the least of their concerns when it comes to survival and providing for a habitable way of life.
Citizens living in the United States usually do not focus too much on what is going on in other parts of the world. So, that is what I intend to do with this paper. The United States is probably seen as one of the more conservative countries when it comes to prostitution. We do have it legal in one state, but even within that state they are very powerful laws around it. I will focus my attention on the Chinese woman and how they got into this country and into that profession, as well as with the Scottish legal system and how prostitutes in Glasgow have reacted throughout the years. I look forward to showing the difference on how Scottish prostitutes today react towards their profession, to what Chinese women had to go through to get into this country and how they got shoved into the profession.
Legislation introduced by the Swedish government in 1999 criminalizes those who actually go out and buy sex, but not the women or males who provide it. If one is caught, the offense carries a maximum of a six-month sentence in jail, and the minimum penalty fine of 1500 Euros, which converts into $1,800 American dollars (McKeganey, 1996). According to CIA files, Scotlands biggest city by population is Glasgow: 629,501. There are two areas in Glasgow where women work on the street. The first area of the city operates during the daytime, but prostitution here stays small and quiet because of the many different businesses and residents living there (McKeganey, 1996). The second area, which is the biggest part of the city where this goes on, is called the Red Ð-Light area (McKeganey, 1996). This area is in the middle of the entire citys business district where several different businesses operate out off.
Neil Mckeganey and Marina Barnard had an extensive ethnographic experience in the city of Glasgow, Scotland where they came in contact with over 300 women. There were several reasons that women stated that they joined prostitution in Scotland. They came to a conclusion that women joined due to the lack of money and goods. There was a story of a girl who got into it because she got pregnant. This young girl struggled with money to pay for the pregnancy, and was concerned with how to gain some sort of extra cash flow. She went out with her friend one night and worked the streets in the red-light area. There was another Scottish, 14 year old girl who first got into prostitution because of her relationship with a pimp. She had run away from home and had landed in London, where she met a pimp who offered her a place to stay. Meanwhile, he bought her gifts and food. She ended up sleeping with him and one night he brought somebody else into the bedroom. Since that moment on she entered into the profession. The girl felt that her past experiences with her grandfather, who molested her when she was 11 years old, were a harder path then her present situation. They do mention that in recent times the profession of prostitution had changed in the red-light area. They spoke to some of the older experienced women and they informed them that most of the younger girls doing this today juggled prostitution with financing a drug habit. Thus, with different directives, the younger women are starting to work without the support of the more experienced hand.
Neil Mckeganey and Marina Barnard conducted a small survey in Glasgow of sixty-six working women. The womens ages ranged from 16-51 with a medium of 24 years old. The average period that these women had been doing this was almost two years, but they ranged from one night to 30 years of service on the street. Each woman practically worked five nights a weekend and had an average of seven clients a night. Of the various sexual activities performed, the survey concluded that the most common action asked for was for oral sex. The biggest reason to turn down a client was when they asked for anal sex.
Out of the 143 men Neil Mckeganey and Marina Barnard interviewed, there were several reasons why Scottish men go and look for prostitutes. The first of the reasons is for the specific sexual acts, because the men felt that since they were paying these women for a certain service it should be a lot easier to ask them for specific favors such as whipping or bondage. The second was the fact that these men enjoyed that they had the opportunity to sleep with as many women as they wanted and they were all different. The third was that these men wanted to be picky and only go and look for the type of woman they wanted. An interesting finding was that these men did not want to have to compete or did not want a challenge because if they go to a prostitute both parties would know what they wanted and they would get straight to the point no questions asked. The final reason the study showed was that these men shared a sense of adventure and illicit things you could do with the prostitute but you could not do with your wife.
The most interesting thing found in both of these surveys was that both the man and the woman felt they had the power over one another. In the males views since they were the ones that were paying for the sex and they had the money they deserved a certain amount