Finally, A Crime or Not?

Finally, A Crime or Not? / Cuban Law Association, Osvaldo Rodriguez Diaz
Posted on October 30, 2013

In Cuba prostitution is not a crime, this statement is repeated over and
over by the media and by people who are considered to have due authority
to do so.

In the special part of the Penal code on crimes, this figure does not
appear.

Thus, many ask, "How is it that there are so many who are detained for
this type of activity?".

Our society, like others, suffers from it and also considers
prostitution as a reprehensible vice, affecting morality and decency.

This "antisocial behavior," as it is named in the criminal law, can be
punished with rehabilitation measures of up to four years of detention
in certain establishments.

These security measures, which are called "pre-criminal" and whose
purpose is expressed in the law and complementary provisions and which
prevent the subject from committing a crime, are imposed on prostitutes.
So, is prostitution a crime or not?

If the objective of these security measures is to to avoid crime, then
what crime can be committed when a young girl dedicates herself to the
oldest profession?

We must look at the causes and conditions that have generated the
excessive increase of this activity, and try to eliminate them at their
source.

Despite the rigor of pre-criminal security measures, with almost the
same regulations as other punishments, although classified as protected,
many repeat their act.

In this area, a sad reality is presented in everything that revolves
around prostitution, persons accused of and punished for renting a room
to a prostitute, not for the exercise itself but as a temporary
dwelling, or the hired driver that transfers them to where they will
practice the oldest profession.

The subject presented is complex, others who are licensed in the matter
should offer their opinion in respect to this matter.

By Osvaldo Rodríguez Díaz

Translated by: Shane J. Cassidy

25 October 2013

Source: "Finally, A Crime or Not? / Cuban Law Association, Osvaldo
Rodriguez Diaz | Translating Cuba" -
http://translatingcuba.com/finally-a-crime-or-not-cuban-law-association-osvaldo-rodriguez-diaz/