As a twelve-year-old young girl, I would beg for Teen Vogue magazines as I saw them in passing on the stands in the grocery stores until eventually, I got a monthly subscription from my family. With hindsight, I can see currently how this magazine has shaped my culture and view as a young teenage girl.
Though I certainly had many other obstacles I faced throughout my teenage life, the media also showed me how to dress, what to say, and how I should overall look. The article written by Dr. Tlaleng Mofokeng explains why she believes sex work should be fully decriminalized across the globe. No, Dr. Mofokeng, you are generalizing the term sex work, also known as prostitution. Promoting prostitution to teenage girls is not the solution to decrease the harms of prostitution, the sex trafficking of minors or sexual abuse of children; these issues should be a greater concern for Teen Vogue given their targeted audience!
Does Teen Vogue and Dr. Mofokeng understand the harms of prostitution? Both prostitution and trafficking violate human rights, monetizes violence against women, and they both prey on the vulnerable population. According to Dr. Promoting prostitution to teenage girls is not the solution to decrease the sex trafficking of minors or sexual abuse of children. Why are we teaching young girls that women are vessels for male sexual consumption?
It is extremely harmful to generalize sex work and prostitution, especially within a pre-teen culture. As a society, we are teaching young girls that prostitution is empowering when in reality, it is a violation of human rights.
This type of work is inherently violent and often fatal. Full decriminalization or legalization of the sex trade does nothing to protect those selling sex. This is hiding the truth about the harm and abuse at the heart of the global sex trade; what we normalize in a society becomes our culture, and if this becomes our culture, we are accepting violence against women instead of empowerment.
