Pub Date : 2021-03-01DOI: 10.23860/DIGNITY.2021.06.02.02
L. Corradi
From their first use in the late 1970s until the mid-1990s, Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) gave rise to serious concerns by feminists internationally. Their questions ranged from asking about health risks to ethical and political problems inherent in these technologies. However, over the last 25 years, interest in women’s health which used to be central to feminist theory and politics, progressively decreased and with it concerns about ART. Today, while the medical literature about health risks in ART is increasing, the topic of women’s health in relation to reproductive technologies remains marginal in feminist discourse, social sciences, and the mainstream media. On the basis of recent medical studies, published in peer reviewed scientific journals, this article aims to begin filling this gap. The author discusses adverse effects of ART for three groups of people from a feminist perspective: egg providers; surrogate mothers; and children who are born through in vitro fertilization (IVF), heterologous embryo transfer (HET), and surrogacy. Among the numerous health problems are ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome (OHSS), birth defects, tumours in children, chromosomal damage, and cardiac and metabolic diseases. Serious questions arise about the long-term health of women who undergo repeated hormonal stimulations, sell their egg cells, or “rent” their wombs as surrogate mothers—a process entailing the exploitation of economically vulnerable women. It also addresses some of the ethical issues arising, such as the importance of risk disclosure to potential IVF users, egg providers, surrogate mothers and intended parents; children’s right to access all details regarding their genetic origins and their birth mother; and relevant psychosocial problems related to the use of ART. This paper calls for renewed critiques of women’s experiences with reproductive technologies so that they can become, yet again, an important part of the feminist movement.
{"title":"Assisted Reproductive Technologies and Health-Related Issues Among Women and Children: A Research Review","authors":"L. Corradi","doi":"10.23860/DIGNITY.2021.06.02.02","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23860/DIGNITY.2021.06.02.02","url":null,"abstract":"From their first use in the late 1970s until the mid-1990s, Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) gave rise to serious concerns by feminists internationally. Their questions ranged from asking about health risks to ethical and political problems inherent in these technologies. However, over the last 25 years, interest in women’s health which used to be central to feminist theory and politics, progressively decreased and with it concerns about ART. Today, while the medical literature about health risks in ART is increasing, the topic of women’s health in relation to reproductive technologies remains marginal in feminist discourse, social sciences, and the mainstream media. On the basis of recent medical studies, published in peer reviewed scientific journals, this article aims to begin filling this gap. The author discusses adverse effects of ART for three groups of people from a feminist perspective: egg providers; surrogate mothers; and children who are born through in vitro fertilization (IVF), heterologous embryo transfer (HET), and surrogacy. Among the numerous health problems are ovarian hyper-stimulation syndrome (OHSS), birth defects, tumours in children, chromosomal damage, and cardiac and metabolic diseases. Serious questions arise about the long-term health of women who undergo repeated hormonal stimulations, sell their egg cells, or “rent” their wombs as surrogate mothers—a process entailing the exploitation of economically vulnerable women. It also addresses some of the ethical issues arising, such as the importance of risk disclosure to potential IVF users, egg providers, surrogate mothers and intended parents; children’s right to access all details regarding their genetic origins and their birth mother; and relevant psychosocial problems related to the use of ART. This paper calls for renewed critiques of women’s experiences with reproductive technologies so that they can become, yet again, an important part of the feminist movement.","PeriodicalId":347932,"journal":{"name":"Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence","volume":"63 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122485637","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2021-03-01DOI: 10.23860/DIGNITY.2021.06.02.01
Jody Raphael
Recently, legislative campaigns to totally decriminalize the sex trade industry in a handful of U.S. states and the District of Columbia failed, but a look at campaign supporters and their arguments demonstrates that libertarian principles are mainly guiding their efforts. This article explores how libertarianism principles, when applied to the sex trade, could bring about severe and lasting harm to others, including sellers of sex, potential victims of sex trafficking to meet the new demand, and the general community. Philosophic principles of liberty have been incorporated by courts, which find that liberty is never absolute and requires a balancing test in order to create a "decent society."
{"title":"Prostitution Decriminalization Campaigns in the United States: Libertarianism or a \"Decent Society\"?","authors":"Jody Raphael","doi":"10.23860/DIGNITY.2021.06.02.01","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23860/DIGNITY.2021.06.02.01","url":null,"abstract":"Recently, legislative campaigns to totally decriminalize the sex trade industry in a handful of U.S. states and the District of Columbia failed, but a look at campaign supporters and their arguments demonstrates that libertarian principles are mainly guiding their efforts. This article explores how libertarianism principles, when applied to the sex trade, could bring about severe and lasting harm to others, including sellers of sex, potential victims of sex trafficking to meet the new demand, and the general community. Philosophic principles of liberty have been incorporated by courts, which find that liberty is never absolute and requires a balancing test in order to create a \"decent society.\"","PeriodicalId":347932,"journal":{"name":"Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133189615","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2020-02-01DOI: 10.23860/dignity.2019.04.04.07
Jody Raphael
This article discusses four survivor accounts of survivors being sold for sexual exploitation by their parents for monetary gain. These narratives, supplemented by other accounts from 100 newspaper stories between 2012 and 2018, reveal the fact that many survivors were sold as very young children, and the abuse continued through their teen years, blurring distinctions between pedophilia and the sex trade industry. In their accounts, survivors described the motivations of their parents as well as the buyers, who used excessive force and violence. Some researchers are beginning to document the existence of parental pimping and its prevalence, which ranges from 3% to 44% among survivors. Some researchers continue to resist labeling parents as pimps and refuse to view the phenomenon as part of the sex trade industry. The findings from this study raise important questions about what cultural factors encourage parents to believe that this activity is acceptable.
{"title":"Parents As Pimps: Survivor Accounts of Trafficking of Children in the United States","authors":"Jody Raphael","doi":"10.23860/dignity.2019.04.04.07","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23860/dignity.2019.04.04.07","url":null,"abstract":"This article discusses four survivor accounts of survivors being sold for sexual exploitation by their parents for monetary gain. These narratives, supplemented by other accounts from 100 newspaper stories between 2012 and 2018, reveal the fact that many survivors were sold as very young children, and the abuse continued through their teen years, blurring distinctions between pedophilia and the sex trade industry. In their accounts, survivors described the motivations of their parents as well as the buyers, who used excessive force and violence. Some researchers are beginning to document the existence of parental pimping and its prevalence, which ranges from 3% to 44% among survivors. Some researchers continue to resist labeling parents as pimps and refuse to view the phenomenon as part of the sex trade industry. The findings from this study raise important questions about what cultural factors encourage parents to believe that this activity is acceptable.","PeriodicalId":347932,"journal":{"name":"Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence","volume":"11 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129002837","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 1900-01-01DOI: 10.23860/dignity.2023.08.01.06
Chima Agazue
Ritually motivated pedicide is among contemporary Africa’s most severe crimes against children. Most of these crimes involve brutal acts of violence or mutilation of the victim. While men are most often the perpetrators of violent crimes, ritually motivated pedicide and mutilation equally attract women. The role of women in these crimes is not restricted to the less violent aspects of the crimes; instead, they also extend to the most brutal elements, often involving mutilation, decapitation or outright murder of the victim. This article explored the involvement of women in these crimes that target children for mutilation and pedicide. The article draws on case examples of incidents involving brutality and murder of children by women selected from academic reports and reports by media and non-governmental organisations to demonstrate the nature of involvement in these crimes. The article demonstrates that women also engage in the most serious roles with or without the company of men in ritually motivated pedicide and mutilation. These include mutilation and violent murder of children who are used for rituals. The author argues that the high degree of violence in ritually motivated mutilation and pedicide means that these crimes against children deviate from the established female patterns of aggression that are typically less violent.
{"title":"Female Perpetrators of Ritually Motivated Pedicide and Mutilation of Children","authors":"Chima Agazue","doi":"10.23860/dignity.2023.08.01.06","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23860/dignity.2023.08.01.06","url":null,"abstract":"Ritually motivated pedicide is among contemporary Africa’s most severe crimes against children. Most of these crimes involve brutal acts of violence or mutilation of the victim. While men are most often the perpetrators of violent crimes, ritually motivated pedicide and mutilation equally attract women. The role of women in these crimes is not restricted to the less violent aspects of the crimes; instead, they also extend to the most brutal elements, often involving mutilation, decapitation or outright murder of the victim. This article explored the involvement of women in these crimes that target children for mutilation and pedicide. The article draws on case examples of incidents involving brutality and murder of children by women selected from academic reports and reports by media and non-governmental organisations to demonstrate the nature of involvement in these crimes. The article demonstrates that women also engage in the most serious roles with or without the company of men in ritually motivated pedicide and mutilation. These include mutilation and violent murder of children who are used for rituals. The author argues that the high degree of violence in ritually motivated mutilation and pedicide means that these crimes against children deviate from the established female patterns of aggression that are typically less violent.","PeriodicalId":347932,"journal":{"name":"Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence","volume":"43 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129184344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 1900-01-01DOI: 10.23860/dignity.2022.07.01.06
Youngbee Dale
This study describes tax evasion or fraud in the United States sex market. Prior to this study, scholars have recognized the problem of tax evasion in the commercial sex market as an obstacle to national revenue collection. Tax violation and fraud investigations also are ways to combat the illegal commercial sex industry. However, no studies have focused on the problem in the United States sex market. Hence, this study aims to describe tax evasion or fraud methods used by the criminals operating in the United States sex market. This study relies on both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the problem. This study documents and describes U.S. federal and local cases of tax evasion and prostitution-related activities. This study argues that many victims and survivors of commercial sexual exploitation do not receive restitution even after their perpetrators’ prosecution. Therefore, this study recommends that law enforcement proactively investigates all criminals committing tax evasion or fraud in the U.S. sex market. It also recommends that law enforcement seizes all criminals’ illicit assets and uses them for anti-trafficking efforts and resources for survivors and victims.
{"title":"Tax Evasion and Fraud in the United States Sex Market","authors":"Youngbee Dale","doi":"10.23860/dignity.2022.07.01.06","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.23860/dignity.2022.07.01.06","url":null,"abstract":"This study describes tax evasion or fraud in the United States sex market. Prior to this study, scholars have recognized the problem of tax evasion in the commercial sex market as an obstacle to national revenue collection. Tax violation and fraud investigations also are ways to combat the illegal commercial sex industry. However, no studies have focused on the problem in the United States sex market. Hence, this study aims to describe tax evasion or fraud methods used by the criminals operating in the United States sex market. This study relies on both quantitative and qualitative methods to examine the problem. This study documents and describes U.S. federal and local cases of tax evasion and prostitution-related activities. This study argues that many victims and survivors of commercial sexual exploitation do not receive restitution even after their perpetrators’ prosecution. Therefore, this study recommends that law enforcement proactively investigates all criminals committing tax evasion or fraud in the U.S. sex market. It also recommends that law enforcement seizes all criminals’ illicit assets and uses them for anti-trafficking efforts and resources for survivors and victims.","PeriodicalId":347932,"journal":{"name":"Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1900-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129226764","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}