Legal Aspects 6

被禁止的性行为与性暴力

卖淫: 法律方面 6

不仅非法卖淫,而且合法卖淫也可能与各式各样的犯罪活动相联系,从逃税到拉皮条,从吸毒到人身暴力等等。这些犯罪活动在同样准许卖淫的地方就不那么频繁和不那么严重,不过,尽管那样,犯罪活动也不会必然而然地消失。

尽管如此,卖淫常常被称为无受害人的犯罪这何以能够证明?并且,首先要弄清楚,什么是无受害人的犯罪

无受害人的犯罪是一种在法律上有允诺能力的人之间的商品或服务的不合法的自主交换。这种交换符合他们相互的利益,并且只要这种交换没有直接或间接地影响到他人,就是无受害人的交换。但是,这种交换会限定有东西想要交换的直接参与者,也限定法律试图阻止参与者交换的东西。因此,参与者对遵守强制性的法律不感兴趣。他们既不会起诉法律当局也不会向法律当局提出什么证据。

正如该定义说清楚了的那样,执行反对无受害人的犯罪的法律是困难的。甚至,执行这种法律容易涉及值得怀疑的各种法律手段,譬如,有针对性的侦查和窃听、秘密监视、密探布防、诱捕等等。继而,这可能产生新的犯罪,譬如行贿和警察腐败等等。

虽然,无受害人的犯罪的概念在理论上足够明晰,这个概念的实际运用可能会有争议。一些犯罪行为仅仅乍一看是无受害人的,但是实际上会牺牲第三方的利益。例如,私自雇佣非法移民做女佣从而会欺骗收税员。一些毒品的消费无论合法还是不合法,都可能不仅通过损害吸毒者的判断力而伤害到他/她本人,而且如果吸毒成瘾也间接伤害到他/她的家人。如果吸毒导致了交通事故,甚至会伤害到无辜的陌生人。因而,尽管使用毒品同样可能是私人事务,它也可能损害公共利益。其它有一些案例则比较模糊不清:按照上述定义的概念,协助自杀可能是无受害人的行为,但是,它会违背许多社会所珍视的道德准则。随着时间的推移,反复进行严肃的讨论也许会以各种途径解决如此复杂的问题。(协助自杀在一定权限范围之内现在已经合法了。)与之类似的是,如果深入地研讨研讨,人们可能会重新定义法定强奸(罪)。(在一些国家,为了应对变换不定的公众意见,个人同意发生性行为的允诺年龄已经被降低或被提高了。

那么,卖淫是不是无受害人的犯罪呢?

Prohibited Sexual Behavior and Sexual Violence

Prostitution: Legal Aspects 6

Not only illegal, but also legal prostitution may be connected with various forms of criminality, from tax evasion to pimping, drug use and physical violence. These crimes are less frequent and less serious where prostitution as such is permitted, but even then they do not necessarily disappear.
In spite of this,
prostitution has often been called a “victimless crime”. How can this be justified? And what is a victimless crime to begin with?                                                      

A victimless crime is an illegal voluntary exchange of goods or services between people who are legally capable of consent. This exchange serves their mutual interest, and it is victimless as long as it does not affect others either directly or indirectly. However, it provides the immediate participants with something they desire and which the law tries to deny them. Therefore, they have no interest in seeing the law enforced. They will neither initiate prosecution nor give evidence to the authorities.

As this definition makes clear, enforcing the laws against victimless crimes is difficult. Indeed, it tends to involve questionable methods, such as systematic spying and snooping, secret surveillance, the use of undercover agents, enticement and entrapment. This, in turn, can breed new crimes such as bribery and police corruption.
While the theoretical concept of a victimless crime is clear enough, its application in practice can be controversial. Some crimes are victimless only a first glance, but actually victimize uninvolved third parties. For example, someone who privately employs an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper thereby cheats the tax collector. The consumption of certain drugs, whether legal or illegal (alcohol, marijuana, cocaine etc.), may harm not only the user by impairing his judgment, but indirectly also his family if it turns into a self-destructive addiction. It may even harm total strangers if it leads to a traffic accident. Thus, while the drug use as such may be a private affair, it may also have public consequences. Other cases are less clear: Assisted suicide may be victimless in the sense of the above definition, but it violates a moral principle that many societies hold dear. Serious discussions may, over time, resolve such a complex issue in one direction or the other. (Assisted suicide has now been legalized in a few jurisdictions.) Similarly, statutory rape may be redefined following an intensive debate. (In some countries the “age of consent” has been lowered or raised in response to shifting public opinion.)
Now, what about prostitution?

[Course 6] [Description] [How to use it] [Introduction] [Development] [Basic Types] [Variations] [Prohibited Behavior] [Sex with Children] [Prostitution] [Sexual Violence] [Additional Reading] [Examination]