BREAK THE CHAINS OF OPPRESION AND THE YOKE OF ...

EXPLoita Tion
who are involved in it, instead emphasising
their inalienable, God-given dignity.
Prostitution does not correspond to the
principle of Christian living which asks
what the will of God is. The command to
love our neighbour makes it self-evident
that the weak and exploited are to be protected
and those who misuse others are to
be vigorously opposed. The prostituted
are exposed to exploitation, largely without
protection. Social condescension towards
the exercise of prostitution contributes
to their status as having no rights,
as if the women were alone in this exercise
without partners – clients or consumers
of their so-called services. This negative
valuation allows the customers and others
involved in prostitution their own advantages
while further consolidating the status of the prostitutes as one without protection
and without rights. Stigmatising the prostitutes means restricting their
possibilities of building a decent life. This denies them the chance of finding
community, protection and solidarity. 9
According to the will of God the Creator women and men are of absolutely
equal value and called in the same way to responsibility for each other. Effective
prevention of human trafficking therefore requires that men too become aware
of their responsibility. � Men � play �different but decisive � �roles
in the sex business: as
users of prostitution their demand determines the supply and the market. As
pimps or managers they organise and control the business. The profits flow to
them. Here there exists an unspoken male alliance between criminally operating
human traffickers, pimps and the others enjoying the benefits of prostitution.
The commercialisation of sexuality creates a global criminal branch of the economy
with immense margins of profit. It is thus no accident that this business is
often bound up with violence. Here the state has the task of guaranteeing the le-
9 For the Bible’s judgment on prostitution see e.g. Lev 19:29; 1.Cor 6:18; 1.Thess 4: 3.
How highly nevertheless the worth of the person was valued is shown by the account of
the whore Rahab (Joshua 2): Her prostitution has a heathen background at the beginning,
but she shows compassion to the Israelites and saves them from their pursuers.
She herself is then saved and becomes a member of Jesus’ family tree (Joshua 2 und
Matt 1: 5). She wins back her dignity and is given a honoured place in God’s act of salvation.
So too it is then Jesus who does not condemn, but in a special way promises the
love of God and the way to a new life (Joh 8:11).
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– IN THE MIDDLE OF EUROPE – 137