Prostitution... Should It Be Legal?

[Queen Kanen]

So, I've been thinking about this for the past week or so, ever since I heard Dan Savage - an advice
columnist for a Chicago paper - speak about it in his podcast, Savage Love. His opinion - and mine as well - is that it should be legalized. I mean, a person's body is theirs to do with whatever they want. We shouldn't be telling people that no, you can't have sex for money. And besides, people are still doing it anyways. There are never a shortage of whores on the street.

But what about you guys? What do you think?

Just curious.

[Alice Glitterhorn]

Prostitution isn't always willing. Most of the time it's against their will - they're being threatened by their pimps, the mobs they work for; they were kidnapped and forced into it; they chose it then realized they were unable to leave that life, etc. If we legalize it then there's no help for those people. So no, I don't think it should be legalized.

[Lykaios]

Here, I think, it is legalised in certain places/circumstances, though I'm not 100% sure on that. I've seen licensed private shops in various places - there's one near my orthodontists. There are probably a lot of checks and secure-things the government does to make sure what goes on there is within whatever the law is that allows them, I really don't know though.

But there are always going to be issues with this if you're basing a law on a choice - how many women would really chose to be a prostitute if other jobs were available? Also, what about trafficking? A woman might be over the age of consent, but how can the authorities tell if she's being forced into prostitution or if it really is her choice?

Also, it is dangerous. People who go to get sex in return for money aren't always friendly loners - they can be anyone. The can be men (or women?) with serious issues - and prostitutes are more frequently murdered/attacked than women on their way to the shops or something. And also, there will always be the 'underage' issue, and STI/STDs, and pregnancies.

I honestly know very little about prostitution other than what I've seen in tv shows and stuff like the news (Ipswich murders, for example) and on Horizons/Panorama. But as a woman, I really don't think the average woman would consider prostitution unless they had very little choice in order to earn money so they could live. You never hear of a millionaire prostitute, do you? I think it's a lot more complicated than a simple choice about how you use your body. There are many people doing it regardless of the law, because they have no choice.

I dunno, I'm rambling and I don't really know/understand what I'm talking about, but I do think it's important that this is looked at closer than a 'you should be able to do what you like with your own body' argument though, because it's definitely not as simple as that.

[Queen Kanen]

Prostitution isn't always willing. Most of the time it's against their will - they're being threatened by their pimps, the mobs they work for; they were kidnapped and forced into it; they chose it then realized they were unable to leave that life, etc. If we legalize it then there's no help for those people. So no, I don't think it should be legalized.

Ah yes, somehow I forgot about the pimps. Yes, that is problematic.

The only think I can think of is for it to be government-run. But doubt that will happen. So... I don't know. hahaha, I'm not much of a debater.

[Peppermental]

If a series of restraints can be put into place that ensure it is a victim-less process, then sure it should be legalized.

[graystripe79]

If people really want to do something, they will find a way to do it. So, having said that, I think that there will always be pimps and other bad people who want to use girls and sex as a business. (ever seen the movie Taken?) and we can say that it's against the law, but what effect does that really have on the problem?

On the other hand, if someone really wants to get money through sex, then they will.
I guess to me it really doesnt matter if its legal or not. Truth is, it's gonna happen.

[Jack]

If it were legalized everywhere it could be more easily regulated by the government to ensure all transactions are willing transactions. If that happened, there's no reason why it shouldn't be legalised.

[Clarissa]

This is like the drug question. Should we legalise drugs, and become like Holland, where it's actually less of a temptation? Should we legalise prostitution and hope for a similiar effect?

If it were legal, the government would have more control, surely, and would hopefully be able to limit some of the human trafficking. Or, as usual, the government would fail miserably and nothing would really change at all. Would it be less of a base thing to do if it were legalised?

[Jack]

This is like the drug question. Should we legalise drugs, and become like Holland, where it's actually less of a temptation? Should we legalise prostitution and hope for a similiar effect?

If it were legal, the government would have more control, surely, and would hopefully be able to limit some of the human trafficking. Or, as usual, the government would fail miserably and nothing would really change at all. Would it be less of a base thing to do if it were legalised?

This is my dilemma. Everyone knows that when the government tries to do ANYTHING it ends up done in a half-arsed fashion. I'd just like a limited amount of regulation to make sure, as Cay said, it's a victimless process. I don't want it to become a government operation, that would become fucking shocking very quickly.

[Spacepirate]

So, I've been thinking about this for the past week or so, ever since I heard Dan Savage - an advice
columnist for a Chicago paper - speak about it in his podcast, Savage Love. His opinion - and mine as well - is that it should be legalized. I mean, a person's body is theirs to do with whatever they want. We shouldn't be telling people that no, you can't have sex for money. And besides, people are still doing it anyways. There are never a shortage of whores on the street.

But what about you guys? What do you think?

Just curious.

Do you really think that a large majority of prostitutes would choose to give up their body for sex? As people have said, it's a cruel business that many people are forced to do. Given free reign, I really don't think these woman would do it out of choice.

Not to mention by your logic if enough people started murdering other people then we should legalise murder.

I don't think prostitution should be legalised because if it were, there would be so many rules and regulations enforced by the government that the dodgier prostitute businesses would just make yet another illegal black-market. I mean the problem isn't "selling yourself for sex". The problem is the lack of choice, the corruption, the underage girls, the trafficking from other countries and those aren't easily dealt with by just legalising prostitution.

tldr: It'll do nothing. It won't help the people who need the help most (i.e. the underage girls etc...)

[Syn]

I think it definitely should. I mean if pornography is legal, for crying out loud, so should be prostitution.
If you think about it from social perspective, it's much more private and socially more acceptable. And I know it's not the same, but the bottom line is it's sex for money, one way or the other.
As for the willingness thing... Well then it would be a job almost like any other. If a person is so bad off that he/she chooses to go into prostitution this way, if it were legal, at least there could be more safety and health benefits and protection.
However, it's never that simple so there should be a rule (amongst plenty of others) that it cannot be forced upon a person if they find it morally objectionable.
I've heard of a story, don't know if it's true or not, but it's still a valid story to learn from if this ever really came to be discussed by governments, that a woman (I think it was said that it was in Germany, but I'm not sure. anyway), it was said that she was on welfare, or whatever they call it there. She had no job so she got some small government money to survive. Then they legalized prostitution in that country and the government offered her a job as a prostitute. She said no to that, and since she said no to a job she could have worked, she lost her welfare thingy.
Like I said, I don't know if it's true or not, but depending on how incompetent a government is, this COULD happen.
So while I think that it should be legal, it should also be PROPERLY legalized and not halfassedly.

[jordanisonfire]

Either way, it'll happen, anyways. Its basically as futile as the War on Drugs.

[Julian]

Ehem, really I think this should be legal.

For those who think that pimps will gain advantage from this, WHY and HOW? I mean, aren't pimps abusing their position as PROSTITUTION IS ALREADY ILLEGAL? They can maltreat their prostitutes all they want as they already know they're doing something illegal. This statement is as flawed as me trying to sing...

Now, if prostitution becomes legal, a new economy will be born, which is always good. The job/occupation will be legalized and a tax system will be implemented upon it. Also, prostitutes will gain more rights considering their new-found visibility. Those who have been forced or made into sex slaves can alert the police more easily than before as the job slowly becomes more known. They can also get salary gains as it can become negotiable.

As for the dangerous aspect of the job as a counter-argument against its legalization; well, it's already illegal so how more dangerous can it get? More people may want to pursue prostitution when it becomes legalized but... It's their fault. Rules and laws exist to maintain the order and safety of a maximum amount of people, not those who goes into an occupation without really fully evaluating its different aspects.

This is the reason why I think it should become legal.