Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter posted an op-ed in the Washington Post on May 31, 2016, expressing his disagreement with the human rights and public health organizations that are advocating for the complete legalization of prostitution and sex trade — even the most abusive aspects. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate says he agrees with Amnesty International, UNAIDS and other groups that say that those who sell sex acts should not be arrested or prosecuted — but he cannot support proposals to decriminalize buyers and pimps.
In his piece, Carter says prostitution is not oldest “profession” — it is the oldest “oppression” and he cannot accept a policy that codifies such a “pernicious form of violence against women.”
“Normalizing the act of buying sex also debases men by assuming that they are entitled to access women’s bodies for sexual gratification. If paying for sex is normalized, then every young boy will learn that women and girls are commodities to be bought and sold.”
In the book A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence and Power, which Jimmy Carter penned in 2014, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate describes an approach that is “more consistent with advancing human rights and healthy societies.” It’s called the Nordic model and it’s now enforced in Sweden, Canada and France. The approach involves decriminalizing prostituted women and offering them housing, job training and other services.
Instead of penalizing the victims, however, the approach treats purchasing and profiting from sex acts as serious crimes. Another key component is public education about the inherent harms of prostitution for those whose bodies are sold.
Carter says the demand for prostitution has fallen dramatically in Sweden and the opposite has occurred in Germany and New Zealand where there was an increase in human trafficking after prostitution was legalized.
Human trafficking, along with selling women, girls and boys for sex is a $150 billion criminal business — second only to drug trafficking. As one TED Talk speaker states in a haunting quote:
“If you really think about it, you can sell a kilo of Heroin once; you can sell a 13-year-old girl 20 times a night, 365 days a year." ~ Tony Talbott/TED Talk
Those who oppose the Nordic model assert adults should be “free to exchange money for sex.” Carter says this argument ignores the imbalance of power when sex-for-cash takes place. He says when mutually consented, sex can be a wonderful part of life, but when one party has power over another to demand sexual access, mutuality is extinguished, and the act becomes an “expression of domination.”
Last may, the non-profit Carter Center founded by Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter held a global summit to end sexual exploitation. One of the speakers was author and prostitution survivor Rachel Moran who explains in her book Paid For that once money has been exchanged, a woman must deliver whatever service the customer demands. Sex-trade survivors told of the abuse they suffered and became voices for those too traumatized to come forward. The survivors spoke for those who have died as a result of homicide, suicide, drug abuse or disease. Carter believes that kind of abuse should be understood as torture. He adds:
If full legalization is adopted, it will not be the “empowered sex worker” who will be the norm — it will be the millions of women and girls needed to fill the supply of bodies that an unlimited market of consumers will demand. Where do we think these young girls in the sex trade will come from? (Most victims are girls, though some boys are exploited, too.)
Carter believes it’s naive to oppose sex trafficking of children and women — and at the same time support the decriminalization of the buyers who create the demand and the pimps who profit from the supply of girls and women.
In his conclusion, Jimmy Carter believes we should “help women and girls avoid a life of prostitution and deter men from buying sex acts. There is a better way.”
At 91, Jimmy Carter continues to advocate for human rights with relentless and veracious fortitude and compassion. To honor him, over 164,000 people have joined the Facebook page, Honoring Jimmy Carter and are sharing their thoughts about this remarkable man. In addition, many are also showing their appreciation by signing the Thank you note to Jimmy Carter:
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