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. According to Jacqueline Barnhart in her book, “The Fair but Frail,” there is an increase of sex crimes in locations where prostitution was made legal. She also argues legalized prostitution promotes and contributes to …show more content…
The attempt to force a connection between prostitution and sex crimes, such as sex trafficking, does not make sense. In 2009, the Human Trafficking Prosecution Unit of the United States Department of Justice reported charging 114 people with human trafficking offenses. Out of the 114 people, there were only 43 human trafficking prosecutions. Of those 43, only 22 were for sex trafficking. In 2008, more than 50 people were charged when Phoenix, Arizona police took down a prostitution organization (Arizona Republic). Obviously, the rate of prostitution and the rate of prostitution do not correlate with each other. There are more prostitutes operating in the United States versus the number of people being brought to the United States by way of human trafficking, strictly for the purposes of working in the sex industry. 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
Prostitution flourishes in territories that have a high crime rate, along these lines, cops and courts are overburdened with these cases, having next to zero effect on prostitution. The sex workers and their clients pay their fines and are back to the boulevards right away in a rotating door process. Law enforcement is occupied with adding prostitution to the rundown of things to shield us from, the genuine violations go unchecked and unchallenged. Not with standing if prostitution were legitimate, police would have less work attempting to dispose of prostitution and additional time shielding people from far more heinous crimes. "It is estimated that if prostitution were legalized in the United States, the rape rate would decrease by roughly 25% for a decrease of approximately 25,000 rapes per year. The analysis seems to support that the rape rate could be lowered if prostitution was more readily available. This would be accomplished in most countries by its legalization (Sexual Violence Such as Rape)."
Policies and laws fail to stop prostitution, and it will not stop. It is more costly to keep prostitution illegal. Prostitutes will be more vulnerable to getting criminal records, which then makes it harder for them in society, to obtain legal jobs. Also, with prostitution being illegal the workers may not be able to protect themselves from crimes against them. As prostitution is not legal, then they have to find discreet places to work, which usually is not in a safe environment. If some kind of crime against them did happen, they may feel that, they aren’t able to go to the police for help, as their work is illegal. It actually makes it harder on the worker, in turn making it harder for the client. There are all sorts of people who turn to prostitutes. From blue collar workers to high executives of companies, business owners and more. With prostitution being illegal, the clients are facing criminal charges as well. This does not only hurt the client, but communities as well. The author believes that people around the world have changed their older views and sexual norms to adapt to a more modern society. Brents, B.A., Jackson, C.A., & Hausbeck, K. (2010) concludes that prostitution is better being legalized than being criminalized (p.233). And with this change, people should reevaluate and learn from Nevada’s policies on prostitution being legal. While the author has shown many reasons why
According to the legal dictionary prostitution is “commission by a person of any natural or unnatural sexual act, deviate sexual intercourse, or sexual contact for monetary consideration or other thing of value.” Some argue that in this case no one is being victimized and hurt and wonder why is it still illegal. Although some think there is no victim, the act of prostitution goes against the law and therefore must still be considered a crime (according to the definition.) Although this is voluntary, all acts of prostitution show male dominance of women and often comes along with rape, verbal abuse, domestic violence, sexual harassment and battering. Studies show that “73 percent reported having experienced physical assault in prostitution.” In addition, that” 92 percent stated that they wanted to escape prostitution immediately” and that “83 percent of prostitutes are victims of assault with a weapon.” Therefore, prostitution causes harm to the women who partake, although it is voluntary making it a crime with a definite
It is rather odd to think that prostitution, which is considered to be the world’s oldest profession, would be illegal and harmful in nature. The issue of legalizing prostitution has entered public conversation around the world, which is severely divided. Many, like myself, consider prostitution to be a victimless crime. Despite such opposition to legalizing prostitution, many argue that legalizing it would result in decreased morality issues, increase the economic activity in the United States, and help decrease the number of sexually transmitted diseases among both prostitutes and those who patronize them,
The reasoning for this is that since prostitution is legalized, they will be protected. Because prostitution is currently illegal, people feel the freedom to rape prostitutes, since prostitutes fear going to the police on the risk of being arrested. According to Cheryl M. Toth, author of The Definition and Facts of Prostitution, by legalizing prostitution, not only will the amount of rapes in the United States drop substantially, but the amount of rapes reported will rise, due to the fact that prostitutes no longer will fear going to the police when raped. Illegal prostitution is unsafe, with women being mistreated by pimps. Pimps, as reported by prostitutes, employing “daily physical abuse, emotional dominance, and lie about caring”. Illegal prostitutes are on average 14 years old, and the majority of them are addicted to alcohol or drugs 6. Prostitution can be safe if legalized. Prostitution, contrary to popular belief, has no victims. The fact that prostitutes consent to selling their bodies and clients paying the amount means that both parties agree to sex. It makes no sense to arrest prostitutes if it is not a victimless crime because then, they are the victims! By legalizing prostitution, prostitutes will stop being arrest for committing no harmful crimes
For women its all they can do in order to break themselves of being poverty stricken sometimes. So who are we to deprive them of their right to do whatever they want with their body? It could be the only thing that keeps them from feeding there family from a dumpster. Nevertheless, the government doesn’t care about that, all it cares about is regulating something it sees as supposedly “bad,” that is paying for sex. One of the benefits of legalizing prostitution would be that the government would actually be able to regulate it. This would make it a more supervised practice, so it wouldn’t spread AIDS and herpes and other diseases. The prostitutes could be tested just like they are tested in places where it is legal, such as Las Vegas.
Weitzer explains that legalization of prostitution would require some regulation such as, “vetting and licensing business owners, registering workers, zoning street prostitution, mandatory medical exams, special business taxes, or officials’ periodic site visits and inspections of legal establishments” (22). If prostitution was legalized it could create numerous jobs such as doctors, nurses, and inspectors. It could also raise money by businesses purchasing licenses and paying taxes.
Another major consequence of legalizing prostitution becomes apparent when the legitimization of sex markets strengthen the criminal-enterprise of organized pimping (Poulin par. 19). Such bolstering, accompanied by a significant increase in sexual solicitation activities and human trafficking, brings with it the deterioration of these enslaved women (Poulin par. 19). Decriminalizing prostitution presents one of the root causes of sex-trafficking, to the extent that human trafficking promotes the delivery of people into slavery—a crime equally as old as civilization (Raymond par. 9). “Around the world, for those in desperate poverty, the false promise of a better life often draws victims into the control of criminals who then traffic and enslave them” (Bales par. 1). “Many victims of trafficking of persons begin their journey by consenting to be smuggled from one country to another. Because of this, the crimes ‘smuggling’ and ‘trafficking’ are often confused. Smuggling and trafficking both involve moving
This approach makes prostitution an illegal offence for both the client and sex worker, and in so doing seeks to reduce or eliminate the sex
One of the oldest legal debates comes from one of the world's oldest profession, prostitution, there is no denying that the sex industry has taken international dimensions and is recognized as an economic motor for many countries. As countries around the world debate the merits of legalizing or at least decriminalizing prostitution. The following questions should be addressed. Would legalization reduce some of the inequalities and abuse suffered by the women involved? On the other hand, by legitimizing prostitution, would society reverse decades of work to promote human rights and improve the status of women? On the surface, this looks like a rehashing of a timeless debate. However, it is not. The question is no longer about
Prostitution has frequently been touted as the world's oldest profession, for the simple fact that it has been prevalent in society for quite some time. In order to properly discuss the many social ramifications of this particular crime and possible ways for dealing with them, it is first necessary to define prostitution and to explore the reason why it is a crime. Prostitution is the exchange of money or monetary assets for sexual favors and pleasure. It is the paying for sex in all of its myriad facets, from conventional coitus to a number of lewd and arcane acts from which people derive pleasure. Prostitution is part of the sex industry, which includes legal business such as strip clubs (Weitzer 7). There are a couple of different reasons as to why exchanging money for sex is deemed illegal. One principle reason is that if it were legalized, it would be exceedingly difficult for the government to tax and to capitalize off it, which is one of the reasons in which marijuana is widely considered illegal. More importantly, however, prostitution is illegal because it promotes the objectification of women and their bodies, and inherently reduces the degree of parity between men and women in which the latter are viewed as things simply for the fulfillment of men's sexual desires. Additionally, there are a variety of noxious activities that accompany prostitution such as trafficking in which the will of another is subjected to someone else's.
Prostitution being illegal causes a rapid increase in rape and assault which causes trauma and domestic violence issues. Legalizing prostitution would help make the sex workers feel safer and more secure. Studies show legalizing sex work in America would decrease rape and assault roughly about 25%. Sex workers in licensed brothels can have someone to back up the violence if it was to occur. (Kirby
Legalization sees prostitution as a victimless crime and should be made completely legal so that it is no longer an underground activity, allowing the normal checks and balances of society and existing laws to apply.
Today, human trafficking has been at an all time high. Research on the topic is scarce, but increasing. The more we research and find out about this, the more apparent the situation becomes. 3,287 people are sold into sex slavery every year. 3,287 people are becoming sex slaves every year. To have legalized prostitution means that prostitutes must prove that they willingly chose to
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