Should sex work be decriminalised?

Allows the continuation of clients with disabilities who rely on sex workers to fulfil their sexual health

Question: Should sex work be decriminalised?
Position1 of 3›: Sex work should be fully decriminalised
Argument‹7 of 7: Allows the continuation of clients with disabilities who rely on sex workers to fulfil their sexual health

The argument

A strong social misconception exists between the topic of sexuality and disability. There is a taboo dissociation between sexuality and disability. Though sexual health, in general, is widely researched, medical professionals understudy the topic of sexual health for those with disabilities. In 1992, social worker Anna Finger wrote that “sexuality is often the source of our deepest oppression; it is also the source of our deepest pain.” Individuals with disabilities often face challenging experiences with sexual expression. There is a deep-rooted stigma about being romantically or sexually involved with a disabled person and that the behavior is deviant. People tend to think that if a person is disabled, whether physically or mentally, they are not sexual beings. Research has shown that this is not the case; the onset of a disability can enhance sexual pleasure due to heightened awareness of the body.The decriminalization of sex work can improve sexual health for those who are disabled and have a positive impact on their lives. It is human nature to require intimacy, and with the decriminalization of sex work, it meets these needs positively and safely.

Premises

[P1]People with disabilities face a deep-rooted stigma that wrongly treats them as non-sexual beings, even though research shows disability can heighten bodily awareness and sexual pleasure, and their sexual health remains understudied. [P2] Because intimacy is a basic human need, decriminalizing sex work would let clients with disabilities safely and positively access sex workers to meet their sexual health needs. [C] Because it enables disabled clients to fulfil their sexual health safely, sex work should be fully decriminalised.

Counter-arguments

Sexual health is not a necessary component for one's overall health and well-being. Those with disabilities are more vulnerable to abuse and require protection against sexual abuse and misconduct. Considering that the mentally disabled are at a unique risk of sexual predation, their sexual security is paramount. As a society, we consider the sexual protection of vulnerable populations a necessary concern. We protect children from sex acts and protect the victims of sexual criminals; the prevention of abuse and exploitation of the disabled is in the same category.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] The two halves of the premise do not connect: that disabled people are wrongly desexualised and understudied is an argument for taking their sexuality seriously in medicine and social attitudes, and nothing in it bears on the legal status of buying sex. [Rejecting P2] The step from a need for intimacy to a case for decriminalisation is where the argument is weakest, since a general human need does not generate a claim on any particular person's services — and the conclusion is far wider than its support, because full decriminalisation governs the whole market, so a narrow case about one group of clients cannot decide it.