Should Prostitution be Legalized in the United States?

Prostitution is the provision of sexual services for negotiated payments between consenting adults. So defined, prostitution is a service industry like any other in which people exchange skills for money or other rewards. Johnson has defined prostitution as “the act of offering oneself for hire to engage in sexual relations” (Johnson 717). In addition, according to Ariza Ahmed, "Prostitution may be the world's oldest profession" (Ariza 1). Prostitution occurs in a variety of forms, two examples are street prostitution where it is more common to see, and also in escort prostitution where the act may take place at the client's residence, hotel room or private clubs. Although, generally the majority of prostitutes usually are female with male clients, but also there are gay male prostitutes, lesbian prostitutes, and heterosexual male prostitutes. One example of this service is sex tourism, which refers to traveling to engage in sexual relations with prostitutes. Since long before human beings were fully human, due to the fact that males have in general wanted more sex than females. And the basic laws of economics will inevitably meet any demand met by someone willing to supply, if the price is right. Also, as chimpanzees trade food for sex, human society ever recorded has a certain fraction of women who, for a fee, will provide sex to men outside of formal relationships such as marriage. In addition, in pre-industrial times between 1750-1850, Miller explains that sex work was one of the few ways a woman could make a good living for herself, and it is estimated that in the nineteenth century about 5.5% of the female population of the typical European or North American city was thus employed (Miller A16). For years later, sex work cont...

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Barry, Kathleen. "Prostitution". Boston: Houghton Mifflin, (1998). General OneFile. Miami Dade College. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

Johnson, Ben. Violence against prostitutes. (2013): 716-718. General OneFile. Miami Dade College. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

Miller, Joyce. Prostitution. 2nd ed. Alabama: McGraw, 1985: A16-A22. Print.

Sanger, William W. ‘’The History of Prostitution’’. New York Times 23 Sept. 2008, New England ed.: D1. Print.

Seidenberg, Steven. "A law with bite: new approach is tougher on human trafficking and more supportive of victims." Seattle: ABA Journal, (Dec. 2013). General OneFile. Miami Dade College. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.

Ottman, Tod M. Prostitution. New York: Encyclopedia of New York State (2013). General OneFile. Miami Dade College. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.