Decriminalizing Prostitution

Patty Kelly’s article, “Enough already, it’s time we decriminalize prostitution”, takes the reader into a fascinating behind the scene look into one of Mexico’s legalized brothels. Although it is apparent that her research and investigation into this social experiment are well defined, it is too narrow a focus to gather all the required information to support her argument. Kelly begins with a half hazard analysis of Elliot Spitzer infidelity, then continues down the path that is far too laser like to see the overall effect on these women; failing to see these prostitutes as real people with hearts and souls. Instead, she produces an impression that the prostitutes are just commodity, bought and sold on the open market, lacking feeling

“Why should it be illegal to sell something that it’s legal to give away?” is a question posed by Judge Carlos Bea in California’s 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to the state’s Attorney General. A lawyer representing the San Francisco-based Erotic Service Provider Legal, Educational, and Research Project filed a lawsuit in 2015 to change the 145-year old California law criminalizing sex work (Patch, 2017). The court is now allowing the legal challenge after a lower court threw out the case last year (Shugerman, White, 2017). In Washington D.C., there is a bill that also seeks to decriminalize prostitution as a way to help sex workers report violent crimes without fear of arrest (Mehlan-Orozco, 2017). There are those in California and throughout the country fighting the current laws with plenty of opposition.

The legalization of prostitution has been a compelling two sided argument for many years. When morals and reasoning combine, it is often hard to come to one solution. Prostitution is considered to be a serious issue in countries around the world. The amount of prostitution has been increasing tremendously every year and it seems to be getting more serious than the past centuries. The government has legalized prostitution in a few countries and people are wondering if this will become an all over the world thing. There are two very different views to legalizing prostitution that I would like to explore.

In the United States, with the exception of Nevada, prostitution and sex work is illegal. If taxed and regulated, it can bring more benefits not only to the economy but to smaller aspects as well, such as health care and crime rates as opposed to keeping it illegal and penalizing it. Therefore, prostitution and sex work should be legalized in the United States. Prostitution is viewed as bad thing within society, morally; yet the many benefits are often not spoken of, which are that prostitution would lower sexually transmitted diseases and crime rate all while improving health care and the economy. Prostitution is legal within 61 countries, 22 out of the 25 safest countries to live in prostitution is legal according to Procon.org and worldatlas.com.

The fine line between human and object is most observed through the treatment of sex workers. Their very livelihood depends on the selling of their own body in return for basic necessities such as a safe place to sleep for a night and a dinner. The negative view of sex workers has manifested itself into the very laws that govern our nation, removing this line between human and object, preventing these poor souls from receiving medical care and a fair trial. The Human Rights Watch, a major non-profit multinational human rights group, studied the daily life of a sex worker in New York. They found the ill treatment of prostitutes by the police, clients, and pimps, specifically studying the laws that regulate the possession of condoms. In states

imagine that you're ripped away off the street, never to see your family again, no more freedom, no more anything. You're kept under control by your new "owner" by the use of threats and violence and often under the need for drugs. This is something that many women across the world go through every year. they are mostly distributed within the sex trade. The leaders of all nations that are capable of ending this horrendous crime should do so by creating a task force to rescue victims, classes about the signs of human trafficking could be given in schools worldwide, and more work could be put into ending this. We could also come together as a community at help donate to organizations that help end this.

The first policy would be to implement the legalization of prostitution and allowing brothels to carry out businesses around the country. To start, all the states would have to allow consented prostitution in brothels. This will result in ending some of the human trafficking exchange. This is on account of it will bring on pimps losing cash, so it enables them to create a business out of it without the need to fear the law. It calls for prostitution to rise up out of the underground business and to advance worker and pay rates for these sex laborers. An emergence of business for adultery would be exponentially key to boosting our economy, which can turn prostitution into a perfectly legal and vastly profitable market, leading to more jobs overall.

As accepting societal beliefs advance, America fails to recognize the drawbacks that legalizing prostitution will cause; prostitution consensual or not, objectifies individuals and defines their worth based on their bodies rather than their abilities. America should not endorse a profession that threatens the basic human rights of safety and in more serious situations consent. Promoting decriminalization of prostitution ultimately objectifies and disrespects all genders while simultaneously putting children and adults alike in more danger of sex trafficking.

Individual autonomy is highly regarded in society as one of the values that each human being is intrinsically entitled to. Despite this, when social issues come in to conflict with morality, government intervention and legislation challenge these ideals of privacy. Society is then left with the dilemma of deciding how to address the commitment to autonomy when it is paralleled with concepts that contest the social norm. For example, debates on the legality of prostitution and the sale of human capacities in Canada and other parts of the world have led to both the belief that prostitution should either remain illegal, or decriminalized and regulated by the government. In this paper, I will argue that decriminalization of prostitution in a country such as Canada is feasible; however, it must be done so carefully and with extensive and thorough government regulation. Furthermore, I will make the assertion that in light of individual autonomy, the process of decriminalization and regulation will promote gender equality and right of choice without causing concern or harm to the majority of third parties. I will focus on the quintessential debate around human rights and self-sufficiency with regards to sex work by explaining the notion of personal liberties and integrities, examining ideas of individual autonomy and equality, the implications of prostitution on third parties, the benefits of regulation and decriminalization and, lastly, I will also recognize the shortcomings and

Prostitution, is an old occupation, where women are employed in selling sex for money. Money, can be a key component and motivator to why women become prostitutes. Most of the prostitutes come from low-income backgrounds. Prostitution is a well-paying occupation for women. Prostitution provides increasing income for all prostitutes varying from one another. Many places in United States, except Nevada, banned prostitution. In the late 1800s, women solicited sex from men for money to earn profits, which has proceeded over the years. Lower-class prostitutes look to sell sex for money to supplement their income. Some start at a young age to come up with ways to pay for books and tuitions, without realizing the consequences or danger involved. Prostitution is illegal and most are not eager to be studied.

If you were told you had to be a teacher with no say in your potential career interests, I’m almost positive you’d be upset. Well, this is how thousands of women feel when told their career choice isn’t suitable in the public’s eyes and should be accustomed to social norms. Sex work is an occupation that many women voluntarily choose. For American legislators to deny that prostitution is work not only infringes on women’s right to choose their own careers, but also on that of men, transgender and gender-diverse individuals who chose to make their bodies commodities for profit.

Nevada is the only state in America that has legalized prostitution, however, in the 19th century there were no laws against selling your body for sex. (Grant). Laws against prostitution are new, only about a hundred years old. Many of the first women that settled into the New World sold their bodies as a source of income. In order to regulate and control prostitution there were places called Red-Light Districts. There were many red-light districts across America, in which commercialized “sex is isolated, encouraged, or both” (Grant). This led to landlords and the police enforcing and gaining profit from the segregation of prostitution in certain neighborhoods. The houses of prostitution in these districts

There are opponents that are against the criminalization of prostitution that argue that the act of prostitution is the matter of free choice. Often, critics claim that if a sex worker chooses to trade in sex, the government should not restrict workers with punitive laws. A prime example of this opponent is Amnesty International, a human rights organization, that stated, “Sex work means that sex workers who are engaging in commercial sex have consented to do so.” However, this argument ignores the tragic reality that overshadows individuals involved in the fraudulent sex industry. The acts may be consensual, but prostitution is not a vocational choice for many sex workers. According to Toronto non-profit organization, SexTrade101, 97 percent

Prostitution has been a part of our world's culture since the beginning of time, and is the world's oldest profession. Prostitution is defined by the Webster dictionary as “the act or practice of engaging in promiscuous sexual relations especially for money.” If prostitution were legalized, there would a reduction in sex crimes, American citizens would have the freedom to choose any profession within the sex industry and it would provide economic benefits for the local and federal governments, as well as the population.

Prostitution has been around as long as human beings have engaged in sexual activities, and it is even touted as the world’s oldest profession. Despite these proclamations, the subject of prostitution continues to spark controversy in the United States in moderns times as it is a hot debate topic. Off and on, throughout the years, various states around the country have proposed that the practice should be decriminalized; however, it remains illegal nationwide, except for a few counties in Nevada. The reasons for this stem from both sides of the argument, as anti-prostitution advocates claim decriminalization of prostitution is immoral and sexually exploitative, while pro-prostitution advocates want to keep the government out of the bedrooms of consenting adults. No matter the stance for or against prostitution, the current legal construction surrounding it is undeniably harmful. Regardless of the arguments against prostitutes, it is time to decriminalize the laws against this practice to protect the rights of sex workers.