Somehow people continue to call prostitution a “victimless crime.” You have thousands of girls that are sold worldwide into prostitution to feed the reckless, immoral desires of others. Even those that “choose” the life as a prostitute in America rarely choose to live that life. Take the now high-profile, high-dollar escort called Kriten.
Tell me how the young lady described in this story is not a victim:
She left a broken home on the Jersey Shore at 17 and came to New York City to work the nightclubs as a rhythm and blues singer. Now, at 22, she is the unwitting, and as yet unseen, star of the seamy drama that is the downfall of Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York.
She left “a broken family” at age 17, having been abused, according to the MySpace page, and has used drugs and “been broke and homeless.”
“Learned what it was like to have everything and lose it, again and again,” she writes. “Learned what it was like to wake up one day and have the people you care about most gone.
“But I made it,” she continues. “I’m still here and I love who I am. If I never went through the hard times, I would not be able to appreciate the good ones. Cliché, yes, but I know it’s true.”
“But she also is a 22-year-old, not a 32-year-old or a 42-year-old, and she obviously got involved in something much larger than her.”
Kristen is the victim of a culture that objectifies woman as merely sexual objects and one that views prostitution as simply an “adult choice.”
Over at National Review Online’s Media Blog, Kevin D. Wiliamson makes some excellent points when it comes to many on the left and their reaction to prostitution:
…I wonder, though: If individual rights justify legalizing prostitution, why don’t they justify working for presently illegal wages, or ignoring laws that oblige members of certain professions to join unions, or that oblige businesses to do business with those unions?…
Why is the Left libertarian on sex but authoritarian on practically everything else?
…Can we really say that anybody is exercising a “right” to do any kind of business when that business can only be done in accordance with narrow regulatory mandates? Why should you have a “right” to be a prostitute but not a “right” to work for $7 an hour at a video shop in Bovina, N.Y.?
That thought, while spot-on, is purely academic. For Kristen there was no “right” to be a prostitute. She went that route after being abandoned by virtually every male in her life and being unable to get attention doing what she loved – music.
At times like these, I don’t rejoice over the moral failings of someone from the other party. I’m saddened over the hurt caused to the families of those involved (also victims) and for people like Kristen who suffer objectification and humiliation all the while never being granted victimhood or a way out.
Aaron, you are right about all of this, of course.
But the question is why should I care? What difference does it make to me if Kristen has a rough life? Too bad for her!
That calloused and cruel response is the only rational one for unregenerate humans. If one does not have the love of Christ in them, what reason do they have to care? None.
Therefore, only the church, which is made up of those who can care (notice I didn’t say should, but CAN. Unregenerate humans CAN’T be purely selfless.) are responsible to do anything about these sorts of problems.
Since the government involves not only regenerate people (the church) but also the unregenerate, it ought not be the institution through which people who can care about the least of these seek to help them. The church should be.
So, as far as the state is concerned, it ought not to be concerned with prostitution. As far as the church is concerned, it ought to be solely responsible for helping those who want to get out of prostitution.
Unfortunately, most Christians spend most o their time either hating on the prostitute, or trying the state to absolve them of the responsibility. Shame on us.
Nathanael Snow
Ya, Kristen also lives in a $3500 a month apartment in NYC and her songs are #1 now. I feel so bad for her. Poor thing.
Nate – Very true.
Cin – What about the hundreds like Kristen, who don't get the "pleasure" of sleeping with a disgraced politician and making national news? I was using Kristen as a representative for them, as little girls don't say, "When I grow up I'm going to be a prostitute." They end up in that lifestyle because of our culture's sexual perversions and their own poor choices. But it is beyond ridiculous to talk about prostitution being a victimless crime when everyone involved is a victim of some sort, even though many of them bare responsibility for their own actions.
Millionaire Call Girl? Spitzer’s Hooker Rakes In A Fortune Online From Her Music
I think you should have chosen a different prostitute to make a valid point, Aaron.
Cin – Granted. Kristen is turning out to be a very poor illustration for my point, but her own current "success" does not negate my point. She may now be awash in cash, but she still has sold herself in order to obtain that. That's not the dream of little girls. That's the harsh reality of a sex-saturated and obsessed culture.
Prostitution is legal, to different extents, in Australia, Switzerland, Canada, the Netherlands, etc. How has government regulated prostitution affected the well being of these countries? Are they better able crack down on child prostitution and sexual slavery because of that? These are big problems for countries like India where prostitution is illegal. I'm not taking sides. I'm just seeing if there's a counterpoint to be made.