Why should prostitution be legalised?

Question

Everyone must be worried about young girls on the streets at the moment with whats going on in Ipswich.

But how would legalising prostitution solve the problem, I have no doubt that girls would STILL walk the streets and STILL be in danger.

And please tell me that the govenment would not be raking in tax from this. I really don't want my country ran on tax taken from te money that seedy little men pay to get their rocks off. It's a bit sick.

Help me understand this issue please, and help me to think of some possible solutions.

The thing is though people, even if it is legalised, this would mean paying taxes, having interview for a job in a brothel, working specific times, girls wouldnt do it, (well some would) but there would still be girls who have drug problems, who will still walk the streets and be in danger. Don't you think that the problem has a deeper route, i.e. the men who feel the need to pay for sex.

Answer 1

I don't think prostitution should ever be legalised because then we would be sending out the message that it is acceptable which it is not. It corrupts all those who are part of it. There are many aspects to it such as the prostitute whose pimp gets her addicted to drugs to provide him with a regular income both from the drugs and her 'activities'. Then we have girls smuggled into the country who are used as sex slaves by evil and unscrupulous men.This is a harder one to solve because the police only have so much manpower. Then there are the girls who do it just for the money alone because it can provide a high income.
So it is a difficult one to solve. I would think that the girls addicted to drugs will be given help if they ask for it but there are no easy answers.
There is a lady called Jackie Pullinger who did some marvellous work in Shanghai I think it was. She is a truly committed Christian who put her whole life into helping drug addicts there. She got a little group going with God's help and eventually many people were healed by the power of God through prayer. She(with God's help) eventually got the whole of the town closed down as it was so poverty stricken and rife with every type of corruption. If you look her up on the internet you will be able to read the whole fascinating story. Where sicknesses/addictions like these are concerned they can only be overcome with our Creator's help.

Answer 2

What people have said here about it is right. So many people do it across the whole of the country, that yes I think they should make it legal. At least the brothels would be regulated, tests would be done on the girls, and quite frankly they wouldnt be getting killed.
I live but 10 minutes drive from Ipswich, and to think these girls are dying on your doorstep is frightening to say the least.
Why shouldn't prostitution be legalised. Its just like porn but you're not getting filmed!
And about tax. You'd more than likely moan about the situation that they're not paying tax when they're out on the streets and now you're moaning about tax being paid. In that situation you cannot win.
At the end of the day, if it stopped all these prostitutes getting killed, then how can you even consider tax money? Forget tax money in fact, girls are getting KILLED. Are people really so shallow minded these days to worry about the tax man in this sort of situation?
Yes they're putting themselves in danger, but they don't deserve this.
Ok, I'm not denying that there would still be an edge of danger to it, as there is with any job. And if people have such an issue with seeing these girls walking the street, then yes, legalise it, and it would ''clean up'' the streets as some people would put it.

Answer 3

I live in Northern Nevada, where prostitution is actually legal. When prostitution is legal, it is actually safer for the girls that work as prostitutes. The stigma attached to prostitution is lessened quite a bit when the girls are part of the community.
I personally would never use the services of a prostitute, but many men do. Frankly, like in Nevada, it is much safer because there are regulations in place. It is taxed and health screenings are mandatory.
Men will always pay for sex. This is a fact; otherwise prostitution would not even be an issue. I used to live in San Francisco, where there is a thriving business in prostitution, but it is illegal. This means that any person, male or female, can go in the streets and sell their bodies. If it was legal, these prostitutes would be subject to regulations, which include screenings for STDs.
As far as the taxation goes, yes, the government would make money off of seedy little men paying for sex; yet while illegal, men still do this. Prostitution will always be a part of human nature. In the brutal civil war in the Congo, UN Peacekeepers are paying for sexual favors from young African girls for nothing more than basic foodstuffs, vital to these young womens' survival.
As long as the government can keep tabs on what's going on, people will be much safer. Medical screening of prostitutes will keep men from carrying diseases home to their partners. The underground economy from these acts will cease to exist. Prostitutes will be able to have basic rights, instead of being at the mercy of some pimp, who may kill them, because, at this point, these women have no rights.

Answer 4

The very simple short solution is this...protection!Most of the women in this profession are already on the margins of society and legalization would give most of them some protection from the law and at least take them off the streets where they may have some protection from violence.They will also be quicker to go to the police if they need to.There is also a public health issue,which is the spread of aids.This could be better addressed if prostitution was legalized.While I realize that this is not a total solution,it would go a long way to help poor and marginalized women,who at the moment are totally victimized by both society and the law! Have some Christian charity and do the right thing! I do realize that this is not a total solution and will require responsible policing,even if it is legal.The real criminals are the pimps who live off these immoral earnings. I just think that we must help these marginalized women and men(let's not forget rent boys!)Finally I must add that I think there's no "perfect" solution so let's be more charitable and help who we can,as we cannot change the attitude of the men who use prostitutes.

Answer 5

As I have already mentioned in another similar question, what annoys me about the whole situation is that prostitution is the oldest job in the game, women have been selling their bodies for centuries yet no-one wants to stand up and acknowledge this.

Instead of making prostitution illegal and forcing the practice deeper into darkness and away from the protection of the public and the police, why not legalise it so these women can work in clean, safe environments and then maybe we won't have these scenarios where women are getting killed just for trying to put food on the table the only way they think they can.

We may not agree with it but surely they should be able to be safe and protected? Its their choice what they do with their bodies not anyone elses. They still deserve respect, they are still normal women and society needs to get a grip of what is going on in front of them instead of pretending as if nothing's going on.

I have the greatest sympathy for the families of these women but just hope they are not ashamed of their daughters for trying to make some sort of a living, no matter how they did it.

I'm not sure about it being treated as a proper job with interviews etc but I don't see why it is illegal.

You say you don't want the country ran by taxes taken from seedy little men but I'm sure that's done everyday by the seedy little men that buy the porn magazines and have to pay VAT, same thing really.

If I was a mother and I had a daughter, of course I wouldn't want her to be a prostitute but some women feel they have no choice. The sad truth is there are many women out there who sell their bodies and it would be nice to think they knew they could come to someone for help if they needed it rather than being ignored by society.

Answer 6

Men will always pay for easy, unsentimental sex as long as they are men. You will NOT change them, so dont try.

If prostitution is legalized, and everyone knew where to go to get it, there would be no NEED for any young girl to walk the street anymore. It would be licensed and structured like any other retail business. Prostitutes would have to have regular health exams to renew the licenses, brothels would have security to protect the practitioners from violence/abuse, the women (or men) would be able to make their own rules, be safe, and have the protection of the law like any other professional.

There would NOT be illegal street prostitution anymore, because the street girls would simply not be able to compete with the clean, healthy, attractive professionals that were legal. It would end a lot of the danger and degradation of doing something against the law and continuously being punished for it. Pimps would disappear too, because there would be no need for them and they would have no power over their 'ho's' anymore. They would cease to exist.

Lastly, why is it the governments business to legislate what anyone does with their own body? Are they our government, or our parents?

Answer 7

I agree that it should be legalised. Control = safety. You only have to look around the red light district of amsterdam to see how much safer it is for the women, who are not actually on the street, and instead are in designated houses and don't leave there.

In response to your extra note - yes there will always be girls on the street - but there would be an awful lot less (If a guy can go to a legal brothel then why would he be going to the street?). You cant protect all of the people all of the time - you can just do your best.

Prostetution will always exist, as it always has, irrespective of legislation. And i think with the recent murders this will be come a big public debate for the legalisation.

Great Q.

Answer 8

First of all, morality in America is regulated through law much of the time. This country, be it good or bad, was founded by European Christians, and those values have saturated most of our society.

Secondly, in most patriarchal societies such as ours, women have been oppressed and disempowered. This includes the sexuality of women.

Third, having spoken of the oppressed sexuality of women, it must be noted that even though there are male and transgendered prostitutes, female prostitutes most likely make up the majority of these people.

Each point having been made, it can be concluded that societal mores, the morality of the dominant culture and what is the traditional oppression of women in this country are the reasons prostitution is illegal. Personally, I feel that prostitution should be legalized. It is something that will not go away. In the majority of cases in the U.S. all parties involved are consenting adults. Prostitues are just selling a physical service involving their body just as a massage therapist sells the services of their hands, an orator his or her mouth, an assistant his or her body but just not in a sexual manner. Not everyone sees sex as a sacred act between only a man and a woman and only in marriages. Laws against prostitution are not in place to serve as protection of one's person and property. It is legislated morality.

Answer 9

Well, I'd like it to be legalized, but I also worry about the conditions under which it would be legalized. What if a woman doesn't want to work for a brothel or an agency? Those places ask for a lot of money. What if they are required to be "registered"? A lot of women really wouldn't want that.
I feel a lot of people have an image of prostitution as some sort of seedy glamour filled with drugs and pimps and dark nights on corners and dirty sex-crazed men. That scenario may be true for some girls, but for a lot of women, it involves a lot of sitting in front of a computer to advertise online, scheduling appointments, primping, and helping nervous lonely guys feel okay about themselves. It's just a job.

Answer 10

Hi Helen I think that prostitution needs to be legalised to bring it in off the streets. this would then make the girls safer than just being left at the mercy of freaks, like the one in Ipswich at the moment. It would also make the girls cleaner so less dodgy diseases would be spread around the country,also it would kick pimps into touch & maybe they would have to sell their own a**es to make some drug money, talking of which if the girls were cleaner & maybe doing the job just because they enjoyed the se*, they probably would'nt need the drugs, usually supplied by the pimps in the first place. Just to echo the thought of some other answers, yes there are lonely, shy, people in the world who do use prostitutes for comfort, dont you think it would help them to know they were safe as well. A VERY THOUGHT PROVOKING QUESTION WELL DONE...........................

Answer 11

Well, it is misunderstanding or this solution is only a half way correct. In theory, you might think that legalizing prost will eliminate prostitutes since there is no more incentive for prost due to high supply. And, people might think that there is no reason for men to buy sex since the enjoyment could be much less and loses its meaning.
In reality, legalizing it would create new lawful industry that is unethical. Men will still have their needs and they will have more access to it and supply will never affect the new found market since men will still be paying countless money.
I believe prost do pay taxes. Like it or not, this country is running partially(small portion) on these money.
There is no really solution since incentive is big and law can only do so much. It would be unethical to sentence prost to life time or death penalty. The government can arrest pimps and men who are using these services and punish them harshly. That is the only way, but you have to understand that prostitution has been around since who know. So, it won't go anywhere. We can only hope to stop minors from taking this step.