discrimination

“The National and Moral Borders of the 2016 French Law on Sex Work: An Analysis of the ‘Prostitution Exit Programme.’” by Giametta, Calogero, and HÉLÈNE Le Bail

Isabel Dela Cruz

Giametta, Calogero, and HÉLÈNE Le Bail. “The National and Moral Borders of the 2016 French Law on Sex Work: An Analysis of the

‘Prostitution Exit Programme.’” Critical Social Policy, 2022, p. 26101832211011., https://doi.org/10.1177/02610183221101167. 

This article analyzes what France’s prostitution exit programme fails to do for women in the industry and points out the flaws and damage these laws create. Following Sweden’s approach to regulating prostitution, France’s ultimate goal is to abolish sex work by punishing clients rather than the workers and utilizing an exit programme to encourage and support women only if they leave sex work entirely. This article includes interviews with sex workers between 2016 and 2018 where they discuss their thoughts on the exit programme. They believe that it connects back to the conventional idea that women in sex work are victims that need help from the law in order to stop prostituting themselves. It also fails to properly protect and support the rights of working women; it encourages the thought of sex work being immoral and disregards the autonomy and rights of these women as long as they choose to stay in sex work. This programme also has evidently refused immigrant and Nigerian women’s applications due to restrictive immigrant policy and racism. I can use this article to prove that simply legalizing sex work isn’t enough and emphasize the flaws that France specifically creates in their attempt to abolish prostitution. Aside from the racist and misogynistic issues rooted in France’s exit programme, I will also point out the true usefulness of it and if it really does benefit sex workers and those who are trafficked. Calogero Giametta, a professor in criminology, utilizes his Ph.D. in Sociology to specifically research anti-human trafficking policies and how they affect sex workers. Hélène Le Bail has a doctorate in political science and focuses her research on female routes of migration (marriage, sex work, etc.). Both authors are well-educated in sociology and political science and their research focusing on sex work make their article reliable.

  1. “By analysing the exit programme through the prism of sexual humanitarianism reveals how such mechanism can contribute to crystallise gendered narratives of sexual predation and victimisation and deny sex workers’ diversity and agency.”
  2. “By instituting a distinction between the deserving and non-deserving sex workers, the government’s plan to eliminate sex work strengthens the stigma around those who have decided to do this work.”

On The Basis of Suffering: The Legal and Ethical Reasons Why Persons with Unbearable Suffering from Psychiatric Illness Should Be Eligible for Assisted Dying Under the End-of-Life Choice Act 2019 by Kieran Courtney Berry

Raneem Baalbaki

Berry, Kieran Courtney. “On The Basis of Suffering: The Legal and Ethical Reasons Why Persons with Unbearable Suffering from Psychiatric Illness Should Be Eligible for Assisted Dying Under the End-of-Life Choice Act 2019” The University of Auckland, 2021.

In this academic article the main idea is revolved around the end-of-life choice act (EOLCA). Courtney Kieran Berry, a Master of Law graduate who works as a legal and research counsel for the office of the chief coroner in New Zealand, explains how assisted dying is permissible if: a competent person requests it, they already have a terminal illness likely to end their life within six months, and they experience unbearable pain. She then goes on to explain that EOLCA unlawfully discriminates against people who have psychiatric illnesses because there is no reason to turn someone suffering from mental disorder away if they are suffering just as much. This academic article will be helpful for me in my paper because Berry exhibits how there is no legal or ethical reason to prohibit people with unbearable suffering from mental disorders from assisted suicide.

– “If the primary justification for assisted dying is to relieve suffering, then there is no justification for Parliament to exclude people with unbearable suffering from a psychiatric illness” (Berry).

– “Consequently, persons suffering unbearably from a grievous and irremediable psychiatric illness cannot access assisted dying to end their suffering. The exclusion occurs, not just by application of the eligibility criteria but, is also Parliament’s express intention” (Berry).

Gay Rights vs. Religious Liberty? by Andrew Koppelman

Christopher Morabito

Koppelman, Andrew. Gay Rights vs. Religious Liberty?: The Unnecessary Conflict. Oxford University Press, 2020.

In his new book published by Oxford University Press, Koppelman provides a compromise to the conflict he references in the title. Koppelman provides an overview of the argument on both sides. He then explains that the best way to solve this conflict is to “exempt only those who post warnings about their religious objections, so that no customer would have the experience of being turned away” (Koppelman 11). Koppelman claims that by having businesses that wish to refuse service based on their religious beliefs advertise this fact to customers before they even walk through the door, people will not go through the experience of being discriminated against directly. While Koppelman claims to be in favor of both sides, I intend to use his argument as my counter-thesis because I do not feel like the solution he offers will fix anything, but it is something that many people believe and therefore needs to be addressed.