Prostitution is often been said to be one of the oldest profession. With many great and respected civilizations carrying out this practice, it seems normal that prostitution would not be harshly punished. As consenting adults, people have the freedom to choose what they do with their body. That is why the pornographic industry exists. Porn is just filming people who are being paid to have sex. But it is not. Prostitution is more like slavery while porn is more like the movies. That is, actors who are acting. Therefore, like slavery, prostitution, even though a very old practice, is now widely agreed upon as dehumanizing. Many impose that legalizing prostitution is in accordance with the first amendment, and that it will take prostitutes off …show more content…
An adult can choose to do what they want when it comes to their sexual interactions and having an agreement before hand of exchange should not be criminalized. As Teela Sanders puts it in a 2007 Independent article, “The sale of sexual services per se is not all that different from selling other services”. Prostitutes sell a human service for money, just like any other human service profession. It would seem that restriction of prostitution is restriction to the first amendment. Some point out that the government should not be exercising their power into the personal sexual lives of people. Continuously, some think that legalizing prostitution allows for prostitution to be totally the decision of the consenting adult, such as …. who articulates that “....”. Granted, the sexual activities of individuals is a personal matters that governments should not in totality be enforcing. In a way, this is the same argument that gives pornography freedom to …show more content…
It is claimed that legalization will create safer work environments in a lot of ways. Prostitutes would be treated as any other worker and would therefore receive benefits. Facilities also tend to mean cleaner working spaces and taking prostitutes off the streets. Prostitution is a sexual career that has not been solved and that has always surface, so instead of alienating the workers they need to be protected by the law. Catherine Healy, National Co-ordinator of the New Zealand Prostitutes Collective accounts that “[s]ince the change in the law, people feel they can approach the police and report violence. And it has changed the dynamics between sex workers and clients” (Healy, Catherine). Legalization gives power to prostitutes that they did not have working in the streets, out of the view of the law and under a drug lord. With the law on their, prostitutes side, the government can make regulate check ups to facilities and check for any abuses such as human trafficking and rape. Guidelines are also easily set up to have tests of sexual trasmitted diseases and proper education for prostitutes for the job that they are entering. Like marijuana legalization, legalization of brothels will allow for the service that will not go away to be safer for everybody involved, instead of it happening behind the scenes with people being too scared to complain or ask for help because then they would be prosecuted. One
Kelly’s article has raised valid points regarding safety to the prostitute within a brothel, but there is so much evidence that proves the ill effects of this experiment in other countries that the evidence cannot be ignored. Although, parts of the sex trade industry may initially see positive results for some of the workers, the majority would end up worse off than before. Due to the illegal nature of this industry and the control exuded by the pimp, the physical and psychological risk to the prostitute, the highly addictive nature of sex, and the organized crime behind the scenes orchestrating and controlling ever aspect of the industry, it is clear that decriminalizing prostitution would result in significant negative affects on society, prostitutes and those with sexual addictions.
For instance, while every industry that operates in the US has labor rights associated with it, prostitutes have no guarantees in their work. No one has to provide a prostitute with “rights like a minimum wage, freedom from discrimination, and a safe work environment” (Fuchs). With regulations in place after decriminalizing the profession, prostitutes can be better protected against STIs. This could be accomplished by requiring “sex workers to use condoms and get tested for sexually transmitted diseases” (Fuchs). They will have a greatly decreased chance of contracting disease if they turn down clearly infected clients, and make all clients, whether clean or not, wear condoms. If they were working outside of the law they would feel less incline to do this and would then be at great risk for contracting disease. Illegal prostitutes actually have motives for not using condoms since in cities like New York, “cops were actually using condoms found on women as evidence in criminal prostitution cases against them” (Fuchs). This practice provides the perfect stage for STIs to go wild and spread like fire, with HIV being in the forefront and becoming an even larger epidemic then it is. Giving them labor rights will give them the ability to unionize and fight for their rights together, transferring the power in the business to the workers instead of their bosses, like pimps and brothel owners. With regulations eliminating the pimps, one source of violence is removed from the business. Customers are the other major source of violence and, with legalization, prostitutes would be able to rely on law enforcement to protect them instead of detaining them. Studies have found that among prostitutes “82% had been assaulted and 68% had been raped while working” (Fuchs) and “they were 18 times more likely to be murdered than non-prostitutes their age and race” (Fuchs). This could be
The problem with legalizing prostitution is it promotes human trafficking, exploits women, and presents traffickers with a bigger industry. Human Trafficking is trading human beings for sex, labor, or any other force trade. Prostitution enforces human trafficking. The number of women enslaved daily is greatly increasing, because the sex industry is growing fast. This is a major problem for our generation and for generations to come.
Decriminalizing prostitution tolerates an industry that destroys and abuses people, particularly women. Keeping prostitution illegal in America has created an environment in which sex workers are subjected to violence, illness, mockery, and discrimination. Prostitutes are people and they have lives too. Banning prostitution will continue the allowance of hard-working citizens to be cheated out of their money his/her money through taxes. Just because some people are uncomfortable with prostitution does not mean that they have to partake in it. Today it’s illegal to prostitute, tomorrow it may be illegal to sell your own ideas and inventions. It’s time to stand up and stop letting the government control us
There are many reasons why prostitution is illegal some do make sense on why it is illegal. That still doesn’t mean that the government can tell us what to do with our life choices. A reason why it is illegal is because of homicide. How this works is by the customer promising a big load of cash. Then when they are done he or she does not pay and then kills the prostitute. Unfortunately, sometimes it could be the customer that gets killed just like what Aileen Wuornos did. Aileen Wuornos was a former prostitute that found a way to make easy money without having sex. Instead of having sex with the customer she would kill them and take their money. From her crime that she committed I can understand why it is illegal. The only problem with that not everyone wants to have sexual intercourse with a prostitute. It is basically like doing drugs or drinking underage or not there are people who want to do it then there are people who chose not to do it. I am not saying doing drugs and drinking is not a proud thing to do, but it is a human right
Those against sex work say the rate of HIV and STIs will increase; that is not true. Prostitutes will avoid being checked for STIs or reporting abuse for fear of being arrested this leave. It just so happened that in one court case, police officers were using condoms found on women as evidence of prostitution (Fuchs 4). This not only persuades female sex workers to not be safe but also encourages average women who are not sex workers to be unsafe as well. With STIs endanger the entire population, this is not a risk we should take. With the legalization of prostitution, law enforcement will be able to devote more time to pressing issues (Harvard Law 27). We have more pressing issues such that the law enforcement could effect such as rape and sex
Prostitution is an issue that has been around for centuries. Many have tried to legalize prostitution, not only for themselves, but for the country. Back in 2004, Berkeley, California tried to legalize prostitution, but didn't have much of a success with only 36 percent of the votes.
As prostitution is criminalized, this profession is driven underground which undermines the safety of prostitutes. Legalizing prostitution would provide sex workers with regulatory protection and allow this form of work to be recognized as legitimate. As the author of “Think Again: Prostitution” states, “evidence shows, that criminalization of sale or purchase (or both) makes sex workers-many of whom come from marginalized social groups like women, minorities, and the poor-more vulnerable to violence and discrimination committed by law enforcement. Also, criminalization can dissuade sex workers from seeking help from authorities if they are raped, trafficked, or otherwise abused.” Therefore, sex workers are subjected to unfair treatment that could be prevented if this work was legalized and safe conditions were enforced. The author of "Counterpoint: Prostitution Should Be Legalized” states, “prostitution is legalized and regulated in a variety of developed nations throughout ...
Prostitution has been as issue in many societies around the world for almost all of recorded history. There has been evidence of brothels and prostitution dating far back into human history. Many different societies have different views, ideals, and reservation about the matter. Some cultures around the world view it as a necessary evil for people who need to support themselves and their families. Others view it as morally evil and socially destructive; helping to rot our society from the inside out. Even still there are cultures who don’t view it as evil at all and even a normal part of life. A person’s view on the act is formed largely based on the culture they are living in. Even sub cultures inside of larger one can have different view on the matter, such as religious groups that denounce it, to some groups in the same culture that say it is okay. Even the gauge of how industrialized a country can determine how that culture views prostitution, with many third world countries being more lenient on the matter, and many first world countries being much more strict on the matter, such as the some of the countries in Europe and also the United States.
Prostitution is looked down on as an immoral activity. Some people do not even consider it to be a profession. It is indeed morally wrong but maybe it is considered so because of social norms. Women who participate in this profession are seen as harlots and tramps and a disgraceful member of society. Some of these women are addicted to drugs, they have no other choice but to be involved in the profession while others have been coerced into it. Most of their backgrounds involve terrible role models while others have parents that forced them into doing these acts.
By criminalizing prostitution will force the workers to make the job an underground operation. Which in turn will make it harder for these “working women and men” to receive appropriate aid, leaving them in the shadows of uncertainty and potentially abuse.
The legalization of prostitution seems to be the best decision in this case. In my opinion there are a large amount of pros and with those a small amount of cons. Almost every con could be countered effectively with one of the pros listed above. But it would seem that in most people’s eyes the cons out-weigh the pros. Most likely the near future would not have legal prostitution.
The oldest occupation in history, prostitution is one of the only occupations in which those who practice it are not protected by law in many first world countries. That however, sets the stage for disaster; women can get beaten and raped but will not report it out of fear of getting arrested themselves. To protect prostitutes and their patrons, voluntary prostitution of those over the age of eighteen in inevitable and must be legalized.
In many cases society has tried to tell you that prostitution is bad, weather it is through movies, books, religious text and many other influential aspects of society, due to the nature of the people who they portray in the act. I believe if people were properly educated into the science of sex, having sex for money would not be considered such a bad thing. When I attended prep school, I met many other kids from Europe, and let’s sat they were a little more comfortable with their sexuality, and in a few of their countries prostitution was even legal.
According to ProCon.org, prostitution was a profession that dated back to 2400 B.C. Though many things since then have changed, the practice of selling sex has been more or less the same. What has changed is the way that people now view the practice. Throughout the years the debate has been whether prostitution should become legal or illegal. Organizations like Amnesty International want to push forward the idea of legalizing consensual “sex work” between two adults who are willingly participating because it would help keep those in that line of work safer than they are now. While on the other side of the issue there are