יחסי מין בתמורה: האם ניתן להצדיק את התערבות המשפט הפלילי בעולם הזנות?

In this article, we argue that offenses specific to prostitution,including those that criminalise clients (Prohibition on Prostitution Consumption Law – 2019) lack theoretical justification. Justifying criminal intervention in prostitution requires identifying a component that makes acts of prostitution wrongful. At the very least, one must establish that a world without prostitution is preferable to one with prostitution. Furthermore, the identified component must establish prostitution’s wrongfulness without going so far as to place it in the category of rape. Otherwise, an offense specific to prostitution would impose an unjustifiably lenient sanction on rapists. The component must also be unique to prostitution. If not, the justification would also apply to sexual relations that should not be criminalised. This article presents a spectrum of cases in which some consideration, either monetary or in-kind,was necessary for the sexual relations to take place, from street prostitution to marriage based on financial interests, but does not justify criminalisation. We analyse a number of variables found in cases of prostitution but absent from other cases and claim that their absence does not impinge on the normative flaw that existing theories attribute to prostitution. We conclude that, even if existing theories can justify the criminalisation of prostitution, they are grossly over-inclusive because they are also applicable to various forms of sexual relations that demonstrably should not be criminalised.