売春と性病の危険
もちろん,性病は,罪に対する正当な罰だ見なされないのであれば,現在よりもずっと効果的に対処することができるであろう。性病にかかる可能性を大きく減らせる予防措置を前もって講じることができるが,そういう知識は罪を増進しかねないという根拠で、そういった予防措置の性質を広く知らせることは望ましくないと考えられている。 さらに,性病にかかった人びとは,恥ずかしさから,(また)この種の病気はいかなるものも不名誉なものと考えられているので,治療を先送りする(延期する)者が多い。。この点に関する社会の態度は,疑いなく,以前よりもましになっているので,さらに改善されるなら,その結果は,性病のいちじるしい減少をもたらすかもしれない(可能性がある)。にもかかわらず,売春が存続するかぎり,他のいかなるものよりも(売春は)危険な病気を広める手段を提供することは,明らかである。 |
Chapter XI: Prostitution, n.5The danger to health is the most important of these three. It is, of course, mainly through prostitutes that venereal disease is spread. The attempts to cope with this problem by registration of prostitutes and State inspection have not been found very successful from a purely medical point of view, and are liable to unpleasant abuses because of the hold which they give to the police over prostitutes, and even on occasion over women who had no intention of becoming professional prostitutes, but have found themselves unintentionally included within the legal definition. Venereal disease could, of course, be coped with much more effectively than it is, if it were not regarded as a just punishment for sin. It is possible to take precautions in advance which much diminish the likelihood of it, but it is thought undesirable to make the nature of these precautions widely known, on the ground that such knowledge might promote sin. And those who acquire a venereal disease often postpone treatment because they are ashamed, any disease of this sort being considered disgraceful. The attitude of the community in these respects is undoubtedly better than it used to be, and if it improves still farther, the result may be a very considerable diminution of venereal disease. Nevertheless, it is obvious that prostitution, so long as it exists, will afford a means of spreading disease more dangerous than any other. |