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Essay on Legalization of Prostitution in the United States of America

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In his book Love For Sale, Nils Johan Ringdal wrote, “If nobody wants to sell sex, it is a crime to force anyone to do so. But when men or women do want to sell their bodies, they should have that full right without encountering punishment or discrimination.” Prostitution, often described as the world’s oldest profession is a legitimate criminal offence in 109 countries of the world today (“Human Trafficking Statistics”). Laws on prostitution vary considerably from country to country: in some countries it is punishable by death penalty ("Iran - Facts on Trafficking”), in some it is a crime punishable by prison sentence, while in other jurisdictions, it is a lesser administrative offense punishable only with a fine ("The Sentencing and …show more content…

In 2012, 73% of Americans identified themselves as Christians (““Nones””). In Christianity, prostitution is not only considered morally wrong, it is openly condemned. The Bible views a prostitute as a degraded human being who deserves severe punishment. Leviticus 21:9 declares, “If a priest’s daughter defiles herself by becoming a prostitute, she disgraces her father; she must be burned in the fire.” The Bible also states that the Lord refuses to accept any money earned through prostitution. Deuteronomy 23:18 states, “You must not bring the earnings of a female prostitute or of a male prostitute into the house of the LORD your God to pay any vow, because the LORD your God detests them both.” It can therefore be deduced why it might be rational for the government of a country where Christianity is the dominant religion, to criminalize prostitution.
However if the goal of criminalization is to end prostitution, it is clearly not yielding the desired results. Making the act of selling sex illegal actually causes the sex workers to go further underground, making them more vulnerable to police and poor working conditions. It creates a culture permitting violence against sex workers. In countries such as China, Cambodia and Vietnam where prostitution is also illegal, sex workers are detained in facilities for ‘rehabilitation’ or ‘re-education through labor’. The approach of these facilities is to punish sex workers for engaging in behavior that is regarded as a

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