The debate on legalizing prostitution has heated up in South Korea as the Constitutional Court began reviewing the law that criminalizes the sex trade. The court held its first public hearing Thursday. The antiprostitution law was enacted in to protect human rights, partly prompted by fire that killed 14 sex workers who were locked in a brothel in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, in A year-old woman accused of selling sex for , won filed for a constitutional review of the law in The woman argued that punishing voluntary prostitution, especially when the sex worker has no other means of income, was a violation of fundamental human rights.
Is what we do worse than murder? Police crackdowns on brothels have also had damaging outcomes in recent years. Last year, a prostitute in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province, jumped from a motel during a raid and died. A police officer had reportedly approached her while pretending to be a client.
Those who are against the antiprostitution law claim there is little evidence that punishing sex workers is effective in curbing the sex trade. According to government data, the number of female sex workers increased by 3. According to a study last year by the Gender Equality Ministry, almost 80 per cent of female sex workers were in their 20s and 30s as of Also, The Gender Equality Ministry, which regularly conducts a joint crackdown against sex workers with police, said the current law was necessary to protect women's rights, especially teenagers.
Kim Hye-sook, a philosophy professor at Ewha Womans University also thinks the current law needs to be kept. We need to examine what pushes the women into prostitution first before considering giving them freedom to choose sex work as their job. S Korean court reviews anti-prostitution law. Claire Lee. Apr 10, Your daily good stuff - AsiaOne stories delivered straight to your inbox.
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