Legalizing Prostitution : Home Run Or Strikeout?

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 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)."

Prostitution in its legal sense is defined as sexual intercourse of some kind in exchange for some kind of payment, usually money (Adriaenssens and Hendrickx 665; Perer 826).As of 2013, there are an estimated 1 million to 2 million prostitutes active in the world wide sex work industry today (Adriaenssens and Hendrickx 666). Prostitution is illegal in the United States; however, many experts think that should change. Most European and Asian countries have legalized prostitution (Agustín 74). Some believe that the legalization of prostitution could increase economic stature, decrease sexual violence, and decrease the amount of sexually transmitted diseases spread (Agustin 76; Bruckert and Hannem 43). Others believe that illicit acts such as

Looking at Nevada a state that has legal prostitution might help answer that question. It is the only state that has legal prostitution in the United States. A quick overview of history of Nevada’s prostitution history and where they are now. Nevada in the 19th century was a railroad town and in the early 20th century prostitution on the economy was beneficial and was allowed by the local government. The time the United States was active World War II the tolerance for prostitution in Nevada had changed and policies by the local government began to effect prostitution on Nevada; there was a change from 1905 where there was acceptance to 1955 where there was disparagement views on prostitution. (Rowley 2012) There have been laws passed for the

From a health standpoint, prostitution is more victimless than drug use, and also better integrated within a productive and sustainable North American economic climate. Prostitution comes in many different shapes and sizes and because of this, threatens to evade

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.

Being the oldest profession, prostitution will create employment opportunities for many workers and also be a significant source of revenue for the nation (Weitzer, 2011, p. 9). It is significant to note that until today, prostitution-associated businesses are not eligible to paying tax in the US. Legalizing prostitution will enable county authorities to have a legal platform for collecting tax from brothels among other adult entertainment businesses. Such generated revenue would help the authorities facilitate development projects. This would boost the economy and improve the quality of service delivery to all citizens.

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.

Currently most everywhere in the United States, our legal system penalizes prostitutes and their customers for what they do as consenting adults. Money is still spent on law enforcement efforts to catch prostitutes and their customers. Once caught, justice departments have to process these people through very expensive systems.

“Prostitution is one of the worlds oldest professions” (Kipling 1) and still has quiet a relevance in today’s society. However, unlike this primitive profession, a not-so-old debate is whether or not the United States should legalize prostitution. Prostitution is seen from many different viewpoints and although there is clear evidence of the damage that it puts on society, along with tarnishing the morals of Americans. Concerning America and its people, prostitution should not be legalized in any way.

Prostitution would be much safer in the United States if it were legalized. A study was done in the 1980’s that found that around 124 sex workers were murdered every year in the United States (“Atlantic City Prostitutes Taking Precautions as Death Toll Rises”). If the states would legalize prostitution within brothels only, measures could be taken to keep the prostitutes

In his essay, You Can’t Get Rid of It So You Might As Well Tax It: The Economic Impact of Nevada's Legalized Prostitution, David Goldman, an American economist and author of How Civilizations Die (and why Islam is dying too) discusses the impact legalizing prostitution would have on the United States if every state adopted a model similar to the Nevada model on prostitution. Goldman cites Barbara G. Brents, Crystal A. Jackson, and Kathryn Hausbeck’s book, The State of Sex: Tourism, Sex and Sin in the New American Heartland (Contemporary Sociological Perspectives) to argue that the because the industry is now worth upwards to $20 billion, the government needs to take action to decriminalize prostitution because he does not believe the practice shows no signs of slowing down.Taxation would allow the United States government to regulate the industry and by taxing the practice and the workers, the government earns money off of a profession that has been around since the dawn of man and shows no signs of ending anytime

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.

Lastly, another benefit of legalizing prostitution is having increased tax revenue in the United States. In the Elite Daily, it was reported that in 2007, Atlanta's sex trade was worth $290 million (Haltiwanger). Because sex work is illegal, those who engage in it pay no taxes towards the industry. If sex work was made legal in the United States, those millions of dollars could be funded towards the government, along with the taxes of the workers. Prostitution is a flexible job, where the workers can choose their hours and the prices are usually high. Because of these two factors, and include that sex work was made legal, even more people would become prostitutes. This would lead to even more money to be taxed in order to increase the tax revenue. Also, it was reported that in the years between 2005 and 2011, the average weekly income for pimps came around to $32,833

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.