Poll Should Prostitution be legal?

[summer2007]

I thought this would be a good poll also to compare results with the one in marijuana.

There are many countries that have legal prostitution or at least decriminalized it and they have MUCH lower violent crime rates than the U.S.

Think of the tax revenue and the savings from not wasting millions busting the D.C. madam!

This topic seems to make the news a lot and is even voted on in some states but it never happens.


Jim

 

[Walt34]

Sure, legalize it. If there's a willing buyer and a willing seller, the transaction is going to happen anyway.

However, it should be regulated/inspected to make sure the seller is in fact a willing seller and is not also a Typhoid Mary. The funds to accomplish that would come from the "hooker tax".

 

[Martha]

Personally I find this a very tough question. Generally, women do not become prostitutes because they like the work, they do it because they need money for drugs or have other serious personal issues. When I have volunteered with the local homeless teens, many of the young women got money or drugs or protection for sex. Sex was part of the ugliness in their lives and often started way too young. Witnessing the touch of violence in the sex roles is very unpleasant to me. Some of the young girls hardly realized that their relationship with a "boyfriend" was really a pimp-whore relationship. She shoplifts and sells sex. He sells drugs and he sells her.


This isn't the world of fancy brothels and regular health checks.

So how does legalization help this problem? I don't see it. But then again, criminalization doesn't help the problem either. The problem is that that young women are victimized yet are not treated as victims.

 

[Midpack]

Personally I find this a very tough question. Generally, women do not become prostitutes because they like the work, they do it because they need money for drugs or have other serious personal issues. When I have volunteered with the local homeless teens, many of the young women got money or drugs or protection for sex. Sex was part of the ugliness in their lives and often started way too young. Witnessing the touch of violence in the sex roles is very unpleasant to me. Some of the young girls hardly realized that their relationship with a "boyfriend" was really a pimp-whore relationship. She shoplifts and sells sex. He sells drugs and he sells her.


This isn't the world of fancy brothels and regular health checks.

So how does legalization help this problem? I don't see it. But then again, criminalization doesn't help the problem either. The problem is that that young women are victimized yet are not treated as victims.

That's why I voted NO. If it was simply willing parties, I'd probably vote yes. But from what I've read, it seems it's not entirely voluntary for the prostitutes and there are some real sicko customers. But I don't have first hand info...

 

[Nords]

Personally I find this a very tough question. Generally, women do not become prostitutes because they like the work, they do it because they need money for drugs or have other serious personal issues.
This isn't the world of fancy brothels and regular health checks.
So how does legalization help this problem? I don't see it. But then again, criminalization doesn't help the problem either. The problem is that that young women are victimized yet are not treated as victims.

Seems like parts of Nevada have already decriminalized prostitution, just like other parts of the country have decriminalized marijuana and alcohol. And yet the "Nevada model" somehow hasn't spread across the land.

I think sunshine (and tax revenue) solves a lot of problems, but will never eliminate crime. I just don't see how any politician could take up the cause of legalizing prostitution. Where's the lobbying and the political will?

I'm still undecided on legalizing gambling in Hawaii. I know Nevada would pay big bucks to keep gambling illegal in Hawaii, too...

 

[bbbamI]

I think a woman/man has the right to do whatever she/he wants with her/his body and not have to go to jail.

However it doesn't give me the warm fuzzies to think of Mom and Pop brothels "popping" up all over town....

 

[Nords]

However it doesn't give me the warm fuzzies to think of Mom and Pop brothels "popping" up all over town....

Entertaining "hardened" criminals, so to speak?

 

[bbbamI]

Entertaining "hardened" criminals, so to speak?

Yep.

There would probably be a lot of husbands saying to the wife..."so, do you need anything from the store..huh, huh?" A wife probably would never have to run an errand again.

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

I think a woman/man has the right to do whatever she/he wants with her/his body and not have to go to jail.

However it doesn't give me the warm fuzzies to think of Mom and Pop brothels "popping" up all over town....

I have heard of mom and daughter being hot acts, but mom and pop? No, thanks.

 

[haha]

Since prostitution will never go away, and anything short of a full police state (beyond our current partial police state) will even reduce it, I think the sex workers will likely do better in a legalized and perhaps somewhat regulated environment. It would be safer for customers and providers alike.

The US will never be Holland, but it could be better than it is now. Legalization would also reduce one source of police graft, and reduce the pimps take and the pimps enthusiasm to get "his" girls hooked on heroin or whatever.

In the past at least there were whole middle class looking sections of some South American cities that were mostly occupied by brothels. It kept a a lot of street walking down, and I believe it also led to a better life for the girls, just as the workers at legal Nevada brothels keep more of the money they bring in, don't get beat up, etc.

Ha

 

[RunningBum]

I don't see the relationship from legalized prostitution to a MUCH lower violent crime rate, except for maybe the girls. Maybe I'm reading the original post wrong, but it sounds like it's inferring a lower violent crime rate overall.

 

[vicente solano]

I voted "not sure". Maybe living in a Catholic nation with all the prejudices has something to do with it. Sex is still the TABOO between us in Spain for people my age.

 

[Orchidflower]

Playing Devil's advocate here, but Mexico/Central & South America are also a Catholic countries. If you look at the listing of sex offenders sought by the FBI today, you will see the vast majority of offenders are of Hispanic descent in the U.S. So, is there a connection between a repressive religious upbringing and the later incidence of sexual violence? I wonder....and certainly welcome opinions on this subject.
Martha, wouldn't legalization bring brothels where the ladies are checked by medical professionals on a regular basis a la Holland?
Personally, I'd like to second HaHa's comments. I voted yes. Makes sense to me.

 

[Gone4Good]

As George Carlin once said . . .

"Selling is legal."
"F$&@ing is legal"
"So why isn't selling f$&@ing legal?"

 

[Leonidas]

Prostitution is not just another form of business that a woman can be involved in. Most women involved in prostitution are not there because they want to be, and way too many of them are forced to be prostitutes.

Many of the countries that have legalized, or decriminalized, prostitution are realizing they made a mistake and are making moves to curtail prostitution. Most because they realized that even legalized prostitution does not stop pimping, human trafficking, and corruption of government officials.

Even in Amsterdam they have realized that it's difficult to keep criminality away from legalized prostitution.

“We’ve realized this is no longer about small-scale entrepreneurs, but that big crime organizations are involved here in trafficking women, drugs, killings and other criminal activities,” said Job Cohen, the mayor (of Amsterdam). “We’re not banning prostitution, but we are cutting back on the whole circuit: the gambling halls, the pimps, the money laundering.”...a report prepared for the mayor’s office last year said that in the past 20 years, power had shifted from madams to Dutch and Eastern European pimps. Tourism, the spread of pornography and changing mores also worked to turn the old center into a vast, lewd bazaar...In some ways, city officials concede they are having to deal with problems created by the Netherlands’ own lenient policies. A parliamentary inquiry, criminologists and prostitutes’ support groups have warned in recent years that prostitution and the permissive marijuana trade were increasingly a magnet for international organized crime.

 

[Shawn]

Personally I find this a very tough question. Generally, women do not become prostitutes because they like the work, they do it because they need money for drugs or have other serious personal issues.

Effectively, there are three types of (women) prostitutes. There are the "high class call girls," the "drug addicted street walkers," and the "girls next door." The vast majority of prostitutes are the latter, which includes middle class women working in Nevada brothels (many with husbands and children).

Most occupations are either boring or physically/mentally stressful. People work because they need the money to support themselves and their families, not because they like their jobs (early retiree's and ER wannabe's should understand this). Not liking one's job is no reason to make it illegal. That said, prostitutes are more likely to enjoy what they do than other individuals. There is freedom and flexibility. And prostitutes have the potential to make a lot of money. A vote against prostitution is a vote against the woman-owned business.

Appropriate regulation of the sex industry would greatly minimize the small amount of exploitation that goes on with prostitution. That is, it would reduce the number of drug addicted street walkers and increase the number of middle class women entrepreneurs. The free enterprise system at work.

 

[Khan]

First we have to define prostitution.

An evening on the town and flowers the next morning?

A big expensive engagement ring?

A friend with benefits who brings over extra groceries?

Is a women 'guilty' of prostitution whenever her SO does yardwork or auto maintenance, or pays for her apartment?

And this only includes male 'payments' to a female.

 

[Martha]

Effectively, there are three types of (women) prostitutes. There are the "high class call girls," the "drug addicted street walkers," and the "girls next door." The vast majority of prostitutes are the latter, which includes middle class women working in Nevada brothels (many with husbands and children).

Did you just make this up or read it somewhere?

 

[Leonidas]

First we have to define prostitution.

An evening on the town and flowers the next morning?

A big expensive engagement ring?

A friend with benefits who brings over extra groceries?

Is a women 'guilty' of prostitution whenever her SO does yardwork or auto maintenance, or pays for her apartment?

And this only includes male 'payments' to a female.

No, we're talking promiscuous sex with strangers for money.

 

[Khan]

No, we're talking promiscuous sex with strangers for money.

Define promiscuous.

One a day, week, month?

What is a stranger?

Money, drugs, diamonds, dinner and a movie?

 

[Shawn]

Did you just make this up or read it somewhere?

This is a broad definition. A 4th type is what Khan mentions, although it was not included since it has a different implication.

The point is that most prostitutes in the United States are middle class women who are out to make a quick buck. They are independent businesswomen. They advertise themselves as escorts, entertainers, and massage therapists in phone books and on the web. They don't walk the streets.

Personally, I've known only one prostitute in my life (I've probably been acquainted with more without knowing what they do). This woman owned an upscale home in the Oakland-Berkeley hills. She drove a Lexus. She regularly went to the gym. She was intelligent. She was very much an average 30-year old woman (the "girl next door"). This is typical.

Most prostitutes are not street walkers controlled by pimps nor are they women subject to human trafficking. This may make for a good show on the Lifetime channel but it is not the norm. This doesn't mean that people can't be exploited in this way but the numbers are relatively small. When the World Cup was held in Germany in 2006, advocates claimed that 40,000 women would be trafficked into the country as prostitutes. Ironically, one group of people who were most concerned about this were German prostitutes. They didn't want "illegals" coming into the country and taking away their clients. But their fears were unfounded. In reality, German police encountered only a few cases of forced prostitution (I believe 5).

Back to Khan's comment. Women sell their body's for sex all the time. Most often, it is done in the boundaries of a relationship, including marriage. You're not going to tell me that a 25 year-old woman is with a 70-year old man because "she loves him," and it is just a coincidence that he is a multimillionaire. This is simply a legal form of prostitution.

Mentally competent adults have a right to make their own decisions even if others don't approve of their actions.

 

[haha]

First we have to define prostitution.

An evening on the town and flowers the next morning?

A big expensive engagement ring?

A friend with benefits who brings over extra groceries?

Is a women 'guilty' of prostitution whenever her SO does yardwork or auto maintenance, or pays for her apartment?

And this only includes male 'payments' to a female.

Very well said. Split some woman's wood and she is pretty likely to look upon some beddy-bye with you more favorably. If not, no more wood.

And really, why not? The guys likes this role, it saves the woman from doing onerous or dangerous work, it is a relatively low bs arrangement, and if she doesn't like him a at least a little she can always get someone else to split wood for her.

Ha

 

[FinanceDude]

First we have to define prostitution.

An evening on the town and flowers the next morning?

A big expensive engagement ring?

A friend with benefits who brings over extra groceries?

Is a women 'guilty' of prostitution whenever her SO does yardwork or auto maintenance, or pays for her apartment?

And this only includes male 'payments' to a female.

Awesome!!

Prostitution comes (no pun intended) in many forms.........

 

[FinanceDude]

Back to Khan's comment. Women sell their body's for sex all the time. Most often, it is done in the boundaries of a relationship, including marriage. You're not going to tell me that a 25 year-old woman is with a 70-year old man because "she loves him," and it is just a coincidence that he is a multimillionaire. This is simply a legal form of prostitution.

You mean Anna Nicole Smith didn't love that billionaire in a wheelchair? Say it ain't so, Sam............

 

[bbbamI]

Very well said. Split some woman's wood and she is pretty likely to look upon some beddy-bye with you more favorably. If not, no more wood.

And really, why not? The guys likes this role, it saves the woman from doing onerous or dangerous work, it is a relatively low bs arrangement, and if she doesn't like him a at least a little she can always get someone else to split wood for her.

Ha

I split my own wood.