Legalizing Prostitution

By keeping prostitution illegal, it keeps the doors open for a victimless crime to have many victims. Many prostitutes are people looking for a way to get out of a certain situation they are in, but do not have the skill set for what society considers a better quality job. These people then turn to prostitution in hopes of making money, earning a living and getting an education (Reynolds, 13). Prostitutes could become victims of their own career choice. Prostitutes who are beaten or abused by clients are often scared to report the crime to the police in fear they will be charged with a crime instead. As Reynolds points out, there are no real laws

To assume that it can be removed from society is harmful and a waste of our resources. Offering a safe environment for prostitution makes the most sense by allowing the “profession” to continue legally minimizing the dangers that are currently attached. Knowing that legalization offers prostitutes equal access to health care, protection by law enforcement, and decreased risks of human sex trafficking make the argument of legalization clear. As humans we should all want to help make life better for each other regardless of our choice of profession. We can do this by making prostitution legal in

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.

Prostitution does not directly harm anybody in the society. This is because the people at higher risk of the consequences of prostitution are the prostitutes themselves. Since they are the victims, it makes little sense to arrest the “victim” for their own violation. In fact, legalizing prostitution will boost sex workers’ confidence in their duties hence ensure that they protect their clients in the best way possible. For example, sex workers would take the fact of using condoms and also get tested for sexually transmitted diseases on a routine basis. Such efforts would make both women and the society

Whether or not the United States should legalize prostitution is a highly debated social, political, ethical, and cultural issue. Prostitution by definition is to engage in sexual activity with someone for payment. Although many countries and even some rural counties in the U.S. have legalized prostitution, it still has dire effects on the women involved and is an immoral and exploitative act. Prostitution is an unethical and immoral act of exploitative, degrading, and abusive work that the United States should not tolerate. The abolition of prostitution is a legal approach with proven positive results that could dramatically reduce the amount of illegal prostitution and human trafficking taking place in the United States.

The most common argument against the legalization of prostitution is that it establishes sexual immorality. The prostitute,

In recent articles and news reports in the United States, many people are debating if Prostitution should be legalized or remain illegal. A lot of women are driven to prostitution to support their family or to satisfy their sex drive. There are a lot of comments made about prostitution on whether prostitution is considered a job or an sex offense to women. Many people don’t agree with Prostitution being considered a job because it is disrespectful to women, or some people see it as a way of support especially when they are the only family provider. But some people don’t understand that if Prostitution is Legalized that gives the sex industry a gateway to expand. In addition The United States Government should not legalize prostitution because

Because proponents of anti-prostitution rhetoric try to misconstrue what is meant by the term prostitution, it is important to clearly specify the definition of the word, when discussing whether it should be decriminalized. The term prostitution refers to the voluntary act of engaging in sexual activities for the purpose of material gain. Often times, prostitution is falsely characterized as sex trafficking; however, these are tremendously different

It is noted, that arrests and fines are not much of a deterrent, since prostitutes quickly return to the streets to sell sex. (Ivie, 2013). By and large, during the 1980’s several of the larger cities in the United states spent more money on enforcing prostitution laws, than on education, public welfare, health care and hospitals (Raymond, 2013). This should be deemed as unacceptable in such a modern day society. Prostitution, whether done in the alleyways of downtown Columbia, or bedroom of a five star hotel, it is not going anywhere. Those who have no emotional or spiritual connection to sex, will never view it the same way as people who do. Criminalizing prostitution has failed to diminish or eradicate its existence.

The former Surgeon General, Dr. Joycelyn Elders (a notable advocate for the decriminalization of prostitution), has criticized how many police departments confiscate unused condoms as evidence for prostitution arrests. In fact, a report by Human Rights Watch found that police harassment in New Orleans is common with prostitutes who are carrying condoms. Wow, that is such a disastrous finding considering that Louisiana has an AIDS death rate that is more than twice the national

The criminalization of sex work in the United States is an important problem that needs to be addressed by the U.S. government. Many sex workers experience discrimination and have been denied their rights as a citizen due to the criminalization of their work. This includes not only the denial of parental rights and unjust housing evictions but also a lack of access to healthcare, which increases the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, notably HIV/AIDs. It is important to create an effective policy on sex work that will help protect the workers and their rights.

Sure, in theory, there are pros to legalizing prostitution. Seeing as how it was done before in the Netherlands, we can also see how those “pros” don’t always add up. There is no solution to the problems associated with prostitution and sex trafficking. Legalizing prostitution only increases the growing problems in the sex industry. In conclusion, I can see the theoretical pros of legalization, but I cannot overlook the negative outcome it produces. I will stand firm in my belief that any form of sex for money is wrong, and that we need to work towards a future where it is

Of the six themes in the ethnography of prostitution presented by Sterk in the article, I believe that the impact of the AIDS epidemic on the women’s lives are most important. Society does not accept prostitutes and believe that they are open to the fact of having unprotected sex with numerous partners. This is not the case at all. These women are very careful and force their partners to use protection at all times. These women are sometimes forced into having unprotected sex by their partner. The costumers think that because they are paying for sex, they can do whatever they want. The men become violent and force certain acts upon these women. Although the prostitutes know the risks of their job, some do not take HIV tests because of the fear of it being positive. They’d rather not know.

Thank you Jose, There is a big controversy about decriminalization prostitution, but what about the women in a forced abusive relationship, marriage without any support and concubinage. Those are also viewed as prostitution. For instance, marriage is sometimes compared to prostitution as women who get married offer their sexual favors in exchange of economic and social position supplied by men (Davis, 1937). We have seen this in lots of uneducated, lower income, immigrants and forced marriage women. Therefore if prostitution is give legalization we have better control over these kinds of crimes as you mention (mainly referring to the pimps, and voluntary prostitutes).

With only the purchase of sex being illegal, johns can be rightfully punished by the law and the sex industry wouldn’t go underground. While people think that sex workers, because they create the opportunity, should be punished, it is often the men who initiate sex with prostitutes. It is the johns who pay sex workers to “to submit to his sexual demands as a condition of 'employment'" (Jeffreys 260). Yet despite this, most police officers focus the attention on prostitutes, rather than the johns and as a result of that, citizens mimic the attitudes of the law enforcers. An unfair balance is created between the number of sex workers arrested versus the number of johns who are arrested. While one could say that both are deserving of the