Consensual sex work: An overview of sex-workers' human dignity in law, philosophy, and Abrahamic religions

Abstract

This article explores the dignity of consensual sex-workers through multiple prisms, namely: comparative law, philosophy, and Abrahamic religions. A deontological multidisciplinary approach becomes indispensable for discussing a multi-faceted phenomenon such as sex-work.In discussing the legal aspect of the sex workers' dignity, this article analyzes two notable Supreme Court decisions that focus on the human dignity issues associated with sex work: Bedford decision of the Canadian Supreme Court and Jordan decision of the Supreme Court of South Africa.Further, this paper examines the sex workers' case, philosophically, in light of Malby's working model of human dignity. It adopts Malby's model to assess the dignity of sex workers through examining sex-workers' autonomy in their relationships with clients, pimps, brothels, and authorities.This research also provides an overview of the human dignity of sex-workers in Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.Finally, it compares sex work to same sex marriage and dwarf tossing as types of victimless crimes to emphasize the leading role of human dignity in carrying out ethical transformation.This article is restricted to consensual sex work and it draws many information from interviews with sex workers available on YouTube and Social Media. It aims at emphasizing the distinction between the dignity of the profession (sex work) and the dignity of the professionals (sex workers) throughout the multiple prisms. This distinction shows that consensual sex work does not necessarily deprive sex workers of their inherent human dignity and autonomy, and thus does not deprive them of their basic human rights.