被禁止的性行為與性暴力

賣淫: 有關的法律方面 2

1949年聯合國公約

該公約描述了抗擊以賣淫為目的的國際交易的步驟。同時，該公約已經得到許多國家的批准，但是一些國家拒絕加入該公約（欲知詳情，請點擊圖示）

早在1949年，聯合國會員大會（the United Nations General Assembly）通過了一個旨在終止以賣淫為目的的個人剝削的公約。這個文件其中要求所有簽字國懲罰皮條客和妓院老闆，並且廢止妓女註冊登記。不過，顯然一些條款要求並未普遍獲得正式批准。一些國家拒絕簽字，並保留了尋求自己政策的權利，即採取非常不同的政策的權利。甚至在1979年，當聯合國通過一個《消除對婦女一切形式歧視公約》的時候，就似乎暗中支持賣淫的祛罪化了。

例如，在荷蘭，賣淫是一種合法職業。妓女通常為自主獨立經營和繳納所得稅。她們並不註冊登記，也不進行常規衛生保健檢查。賣淫的最小年齡為18歲，其主顧的最小年齡是16歲。

其它數個國家並未超越荷蘭的這條政策底線，不過也採用了頗為寬鬆的政策，從祛罪化管理到各種各樣形式的制度化管理。這裏就是一些舉例：德國、瑞士、西班牙、法國、義大利、愛爾蘭、丹麥、比利時、希臘、保加利亞、土耳其、加拿大、哥斯達黎加、巴西、新西蘭和澳大利亞的一些州，日本只是禁止某種形式的賣淫。美國的內華達州採取了制度化管理。

這個國別名錄既不完全也不能為我們提供一個精確的描述。首先，甚至在賣淫同樣合法的國家，圍繞賣淫的許多活動也許未必都合法（廣告、“勾引”、“街頭拉客”、拉皮條、經營妓院，等等。）而且，各國各自制定的法律精確措詞彼此相差很大，並且就什麼是合法的、什麼是不合法的，常常存在爭議。最後，在法律強制方面也存在巨大差異。

Prohibited Sexual Behavior and Sexual Violence

Prostitution: Legal Aspects 2

As early as 1949, the United Nations General Assembly passed a convention aimed at ending the exploitation of persons for the purpose of prostitution. This document requires, among other things, that all signatory nations punish pimps and brothel owners and abolish the registration of prostitutes. Apparently, however, some of these demands did not meet with universal approval. Some countries refused to sign and reserved the right to pursue their own, very different policies. Indeed, in 1979, the UN implicitly seemed to support the decriminalization of prostitution when it passed a Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.
In the Netherlands, for example, prostitution is a legal profession. Prostitutes are usually self-employed and pay income tax. They are not registered and are not required to undergo regular health checks. The minimum age for prostitutes is 18, that for their customers 16.
Several other countries have not gone that far, but have also adopted rather liberal policies ranging from decriminalization to various forms of regulation. Here are a few examples: Germany, Switzerland, Spain, France, Italy, Ireland, Denmark, Belgium, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Canada, Costa Rica, Brazil, New Zealand, and some states of Australia. Japan prohibits only some forms of prostitution. Regulation has been adopted in the US state of Nevada.
This list is neither complete nor can it provide an accurate picture. First of all, even where prostitution as such is legal, many activities surrounding it may not be (advertising, “solicitation”, “streetwalking”, pimping, running a brothel etc.) Moreover, the exact wording of the respective laws varies from one country to another, and there are often disputes about what is legal or not. Finally, there are also great differences in the enforcement of the laws.