Prostitution

 Is the business or practice of engaging in sexual relations in exchange for

payment or some other benefit.
 Sometimes described as commercial sex
 A person who works in this field is called a prostitute, and is a kind of sex worker
 One of the branches of sex industry

Kinds of Prostitution:
1. Female
2. Male
3. Child

Forms of prostitution

Direct Forms of Indirect forms of

prostitution prostitution

Street: Clients solicited Bondage and

1. on the street, park, or discipline: sexual fantasy
other public places through role play
Lap dancing: A
Brothel: Premises
development involving
2. explicitly dedicated to
erotic dancing at close
providing sex
quarters
Escort: Client contacts Massage parlors: Premises
3. sex worker by phone or ostensibly dedicated to
via hotel staff providing massage
Travelling entertainers:
Private: Client contact Persons involved in
4.
sex worker by phone entertainment may also
provide sexual service
Beer girls: Young women
Window or doorway:
hired by major companies
5. Brothels with sex workers
to promote and sell
on public display
products in the bar
 1. Street Prostitution
- It is a form of prostitution in which a sex worker solicits customers from a
public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking
alongside a street, but also other public places such as parks, benches, etc.

2. Brothels
- It is a place where people may come to engage in sexual activity with a
prostitute, sometimes referred to as a sex worker.

3. Escort Service
- The act takes place at the customer’s residence or hotel room (referred to as
out-call), or at the escort’s residence or in a hotel room rented for the occasion
by the escort (called in-call). The prostitute may be independent or working
under the auspices of an escort agency. Services may be advertised over the
Internet, in regional publications, or in local telephone listings.

4. Sex tourism
- It is a travel to engage in sexual activity, particularly with prostitutes. The
World Tourism Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations, defines
sex tourism as "trips organized from within the tourism sector, or from outside
this sector but using its structures and networks, with the primary purpose of
effecting a commercial sexual relationship by the tourist with residents at the
destination"

Reasons to Prostitution:
The Women:
 Some women have stated that they are attracted by the large sums of money
they can earn while they are still young.
 Others see it as a way to pay for university education and further advancement.
Most state that they intend to leave the business once they have earned the
amount they want or need.
 They also see themselves as helping men save their marriages by supplying
something they cannot get at home, or helping them chase away loneliness
when they are on business trips.

The Men:
  Believing they are ugly and unable to have sex without paying for it.
 Wanting sex but without all of emotional involvement that comes with a
girlfriend, marriage and family; wanting casual sex with no obligations attached.
 Being convinced that their genitalia is too small and that any average woman
would laugh at and reject them.

Main reasons for prostitution According to Sagip-Kababaihan (2005)

1. Poverty
2. Under-employment and/or lack of employment opportunities
3. Physical or sexual abuse
4. Drug dependence and other vices
5. Lack of proper education
6. Peer influence/pressure

Other causes of prostitution (as cited by NGO’s)

1. Dysfunctional homes
2. Deception by recruiters
3. Pornography
4. Tourism that capitalizes on Filipino women
5. General apathy of the society towards the system

Rights of persons exploited in prostitution

 The right to be treated as human beings

 The right to dignity and security
 The right against any form of discrimination
 The right to be protected by law
 The right to be protected from abuse and exploitation
 The right to seek redress for violations of their rights and to have their
complaints appropriately addressed
 The right to fair and human treatment
 To right to sensitive and appropriate legal, health and other social services
 The right to organize themselves as survivors and fight for their legitimate
concern
Top 10 destinations for prostitution:

1. Thailand
2. Brazil
3. Spain
4. Indonesia
5. Colombia
6. Philippines
7. Kenya
8. The Netherlands
9. Cambodia
10.Dominican Republic

Effects of prostitution (as cited by M. Farley)

1. Sexual violence and physical assault are the norm for women in all types of
prostitution
2. Health problems such as exhaustion, viral illness, STDs, vaginal infections, back
aches, sleeplessness and depression

3. Post-traumatic stress disorder

4. Prostituted women are at a higher risk of being murdered

5. Sexually-transmitted diseases

 It is also referred to as sexually transmitted infections (STI) and venereal

diseases (VD), are illnesses that have a significant probability of
transmission between humans by means of sexual behaviour, including
vaginal intercourse, anal sex, and oral sex.
 Some STI can also be contracted by using IV drug needles after their use
by an infected person, as well through childbirth or breastfeeding.

Laws on Prostitution:

Article 202 of the RPC as amended by R.A. 10158 provides:

“Article 202. Prostitutes; Penalty. – For the purposes of this article, women
who, for money or profit, habitually indulge in sexual intercourse or lascivious conduct,
are deemed to be prostitutes. ENACTING THE ANTI-PROSTITUTION LAW: AMENDING
ARTICLES 202 AND 341 OF THE RPC POLICY BRIEF NO. 9 This policy brief provides the
rationale for amending Articles 202 and 341 of the Revised Penal Code on Prostitution
and White Slave Trade. It also presents recommendations on how to address the
system of prostitution in the Philippines by providing legal protection and support
services for its victims and shifting the criminal liability to those who exploit people in
prostitution. 9 Enacting the Anti-Prostitution Law: Amending Articles 202 and 341 of the
Revised Penal Code (RPC) 1 Any person found guilty of any of the offenses covered by
this article shall be punished by arresto menor or a fine not exceeding 200 pesos, and
in case of recidivism, by arresto mayor in its medium period to prision correctional in its
minimum period or a fine ranging from 200 to 2,000 pesos, or both, in the discretion of
the court.”

The 1987 Philippine Constitution provides that “the State values the dignity of every human person and
guarantees full respect for human rights” (Article II, Section 11). It also states that “the Congress shall
give highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect and enhance the rights of all people to
human dignity, reduce social, economic, and political inequalities, and remove cultural inequities by
equitable diffusing wealth and political power for the common good”(Article XIII, Section 1).

The Magna Carta of Women (MCW) or RA 9710 specifically recognizes that prostitution is an act of
violence against women (VAW) from which women should be protected. The MCW also provides for the
amendment or repeal of laws that are discriminatory to women which, among others, include Article
202 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) on the definition of p prostitution (Section 12).

RPC Article 341 on White Slave Trade, as amended by B.P. Blg. 186 imposes penalty of imprisonment
from 8 to 12 years “upon any person who, in any manner, or under any pretext, shall engage in the
business or shall profit by prostitution or shall enlist the services of any other person for the purpose of
prostitution.”

The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act or RA 9208 as amended by RA 10364 explicitly defines prostitution as
“any act, transaction, scheme or design involving the use of a person by another, for sexual intercourse
or lascivious conduct in exchange for money, profit or any other consideration.” It also penalizes the use
of trafficked persons for prostitution (Section 11) and gives legal protection to prostituted persons who
are victims of trafficking (Section 17).

An Act Decriminalizing Vagrancy or RA 10158 only repealed Article 202 provisions in the RPC that pertain
to vagrancy, leaving behind the provision that penalizes prostituted women.

Quezon City Ordinance No. SP-1516, series of 20055 recognizes persons in prostitution as victims. It
imposes penalties only on the perpetrators, such as the pimps and recipients of the sexual act. It also
provides services to persons exploited in prostitution through education campaigns against prostitution,
crisis intervention service, education and socioeconomic assistance, sustainable livelihood skills training,
financial support for scale businesses, integration and complete after-care programs, health services,
counseling, and temporary shelter.
The Philippine Plan for Gender-Responsive Development (1995-2025), comprehensively tackles violence
against women (VAW) within the context of a national development framework, and views prostitution
as a human rights violation and identifying the decriminalization of women in prostitution as a starting
point in addressing the problem. According to the PPGD, “the desired effect of such legislation is that
women and children should no longer be arrested or fined like criminals.”