Investigating the status and performance of structures responsible for intervening in the phenomenon of prostitution مقالة

خلاصة:

Currently, in issues related to female sex workers, depending on the type of intervention, many responsible agencies including the Law Enforcement Force, the State Welfare Organization, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Ministry of Interior, the Judiciary, etc., intervene directly or indirectly. In fact, depending on the type of intervention—including prevention, collection and arrest, judicial processes, prison, health (treatment of diseases, AIDS, etc.)—different organizations and agencies are responsible for the intervention. None of these diverse activities have ever been under a single management, and like many other social problems, there is no single management system responsible for central coordination in this field. Consequently, responsible agencies intervene in this area like independent islands, and in some cases, their approaches, policies, and programs are in conflict with one another. To resolve the existing conflict, it is essential to note that prostitution is a multidimensional phenomenon, and any intervention in controlling, reducing, or preventing its adverse effects requires attention to all these dimensions. Currently, there are many inconsistencies and inefficiencies in prostitution intervention programs, both structurally and functionally. At various levels of policymaking, planning, implementation, and evaluation, even the minimum necessary coordination is not visible. For example, while the Law Enforcement Force is compelled by its legal duties to deal with visible cases of prostitution at the neighborhood and street levels, the Ministry of Health, emphasizing harm reduction policies, seeks to reduce the consequences and results of high-risk behaviors by persuading female sex workers to use necessary tools or receive sufficient education. In such circumstances, the activities of the Law Enforcement Force lead to prostitution becoming more hidden, while the Ministry of Health needs greater access to this group of women. Reforming the current situation could lead to increased necessary coordination and increased efficiency of the relevant agencies. In this research, the main question is whether the intervening organizations and bodies in preventing and fighting the phenomenon of prostitution have been able to act effectively in controlling this phenomenon? We must admit that, to some extent, the intervening bodies have acted effectively in controlling this phenomenon; therefore, given the mentioned cases, we aim to examine different aspects of the present subject using a library-based method.