People say prostitution is the oldest profession and that it cannot be eliminated. Others seek to sympathise with the practitioners of the trade and are fighting for its legalisation, with some nations actually enacting legal instruments to make it legitimate.
SUNDAYWORLD BY PROSPER TINGINI
Various views are advanced either in support or in condemnation of the practice.
There are different categories of prostitutes. The most common group is that of people who, because of poverty, choose to engage in acts of prostitution as a means to earn a living. It is by choice that people in this group decide to make it their profession, either on a full-time or part-time basis.
It is also this group that is at the forefront of calls that this practice should be legally recognised as a profession.
They also have the support of some human rights groups who are not necessarily in the trade, but are just sympathetic to their cause.
Another category of prostitutes is of those forced into the practice unwillingly. These are people who are duped into traps of promises for jobs in foreign countries and are then forced and turned into prostitutes upon arrival. Because they find no other way out of their situation, they have to comply with their captors to survive. This is sexual slavery and these should be treated differently from those that get into it willingly.
Human trafficking is the terminology for modern day slavery. Victims of sexual slavery should be excused and treated as innocent and free of the guilt of the practice.
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There is yet another hidden clique of people engaging in acts equivalent to that of prostitution. These are people that do not need to engage in the practice but just do it to derive pleasure or for self-enrichment by turning it into a business.
They have the means to support themselves and have adequate resources elsewhere, yet they choose to accrue wealth through the trade. Some turn themselves into human traffickers, to enslave others for profit. To them, it is a lucrative business. The guilt of this group of people is far greater than of the real prostitute. The Lord our God is so angered by this group of people who trade in other people that he proclaimed the death sentence on such people. In Exodus 21 verse 16, he commanded; “Whoever steals a man (or woman) whether he sells him or is found in possession of him, shall be put to death.”
Closely following the human traffickers in terms of guilt are those people who are not directly involved in the trade, but act in a way that encourages prostitution. These are groups of civil rights movements who want to justify the trade and fight to have it legalised as a profession.
While their sympathy is on the surface understandable, it is tantamount to promoting prostitution. In the third book of Moses, Leviticus, chapter 19 verse 28, the Lord spoke, “Do not profane your daughter by making her a harlot, lest the land fall into harlotry and the land becomes full of wickedness.” The efforts of the civil rights groups should rather be directed towards helping and encouraging those in the practice to find other means to support themselves.
Poverty can also force some parents to trade-in their daughters in return for essential scarce resources like food or financial gain. In some cultures, daughters are traded off in marriages to wealtheir men for the sole purpose of obtaining a benefit. While that sort of practice might be acceptable in some cultures, it is worse than slavery because the girls will not only be providing free labour, but will also be used as sex objects by those providing the needed essential commodities to the parents. God knows the existence of such a practice and He enacted a law to protect the victims — the girl-children. In Exodus 21 verse 7-11, He commanded: “When a man sells his daughter as a slave (forced marriage), she shall not go out as the male slaves do.
If she does not please her master who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed; he shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt faithlessly with her. If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, or clothing, or her marital rights. And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money”. God does not condone this practice as it is a form of prostituting daughters. Rather, He seeks the freedom of victims of forced marriages, which is akin to sexual slavery. The victims are not willing participants.
Prostitutes are not animals; they are real people who are seeking a way out of hardships, or are forced into it.
Most of them are law-abiding citizens and God-fearing too. However, for those making a living out of it, the Lord our God forbids them from making any offerings of any form from the proceeds of prostitution; neither in the form of tithes, freewill or thanksgiving offerings to the Lord. He spoke through Moses in Deuteronomy 23 verses 17-18; “There shall be no cult prostitute of the daughters among the people, neither shall there be a cult prostitute of the sons of my people. You shall not bring the hire of a harlot, or the wages of a sodomite, into the house of the Lord your God in payment for any vow; for both of these are an abomination to the Lord your God”.
Whether the proceeds come from acts of prostitution or acts of homosexuality by men, the Lord prohibits any offerings derived from such a practice. He also bans the practice altogether.
Unfortunately, prostitution brings with it unwanted pregnancies. Inadequate birth controls can result in child bearing. In the prostitution business, the fathers of the children conceived may not even be known to the mother due to the multiple partners involved. The term “bastard” is often used to described children born out of prostitution. The Lord classifies these children as proceeds of prostitution. Due to His profound hatred for prostitution, He bars such children from entering His holy places of worship.
In Deuteronomy 23 verse 2, He speaks, “No bastard shall enter the assembly of the Lord, even to the tenth generation, none of the descendants shall enter the assembly of the Lord”. God forgives those who genuinely ask for forgiveness. If the mother can repent of her sins and plead for mercy, surely the Lord our God will forgive her, provided she stops the practice. He is a God of mercy. In the absence of the mother, the child can seek guidance from the church elders or the priests, to seek ways of cleansing the sins of the mother for him/her to be accepted into the holy places of worship.
On the other hand, if a man uses his high social status or acquired wealth to solicit the attention of young vulnerable women to gain sexual benefits, then that is also a promotion of prostitution. It is a sin. If a parent seeks to make a profit by the use of a daughter, other than through her own acquired wealth, by using her as bait for financial gain or self-enrichment as that also becomes a means of promoting prostitution. It is a sin. When a daughter freely goes out of the house at any time of the day and night and parents turn a blind eye to such a practice, then that is sowing the seed for prostitution. Parents should be responsible for guiding their daughters to be of good character and morality.
Again, when parents buy clothes for their daughters that are skimpy and leave most parts of their anatomy exposed, leaving nothing to the imagination — thus luring the men — then allowing the children to wear such revealing clothes promotes prostitution. Allowing the daughters to bring home various suitors in succession and accepting any gifts from them is also equivalent to prostituting the daughter.
Prosper Tingini is a religious writer. He compiled a book titled, God’s Constitution For Mankind: The laws and commandments. His contact details are: 0771 260 195 or email: [email protected]
