Poll: Prostitution should it be legal?
- Thread starter Veldel
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Lol prostitution IS..legal..here at least. Im in New Zealand btw. I was actually surprised when I heard that it was illegal in the states, I never knew. Was legalized 19 years ago here.
Sadly there's going to be objectification and abuse of other people (towards both men and women, it' not a one sided thing) for as long as anyone still cares enough to give the issue attention, also, prostitution isn't going to disappear or go anywhere either (if it's illegal then there will be people who make their livings breaking the law to supply the demand, see pimps, human traffickers and other people like this for examples of how simply making prostitution illegal doesn't really help the matter much).blizard0am0i said:
If you regulate it then not only does it help ensure the safety of the men and women involved in the trade but it also prevents activities such as pimping and people being immigrated for the sex trade since it means there's much less profit to be made out of it, in short, everyone wins except for the bad guys.
Opposing objectification and negetive gender roles is a noble cause and all but sometimes you have to look at the greater good that can be done.
Out of curiosity why? Here its a perfectly legitimate occupation, and its going to happen in the states or anywhere, regardless of its legality. By making it legal you increase the safety of the workers and they get a job recognized by the government and the benefits of that.RiouChan said:
Not everyone who voted yes did so because they personally want to go hire a prostitute. There are other considerations, which have been pointed out already.RiouChan said:
This. I think prostitution should be perfectly fine, as long as it is regulated enough due to the inherent risks and abuse of it that can happen.Hobo Steve said:
Prostitution is going to happen whether it is legal or not. However, if the government simply regulates it instead there is much less chance for abuse. Making prostitution illegal does more harm than good.
There are more considerations on prostitution that most everyone here is missing that need to be taken into account.
Prostitution is semi-legal in most places across the world. The local law enforcement definitely keeps them around and lets them do their thing. Of course, you try to keep street hookers out of the rich districts and they will sweep local rings every once in a while. But for the most part, they're ignored. There's a reason for that, that I'll get to in a sec. But as far as I know, this is the same practice in the US and UK, even though it's technically legal in the UK and technically illegal in the US.
The second consideration is drugs. Where there's prostitutes, there's drugs. You've got the street hookers, they've got the street drugs. You got the brothels, you got the party drugs. The two simply go hand-in-hand. Allowing prostitution while trying to keep drugs illegal is nigh impossible - the girls might use, the guys mostly use. This is one of the reasons the US has kept prostitution officially illegal, but informally semi-legal.
The third consideration is that prostitution is one of the few low-level crimes left. The police keep prostitutes around, especially in crime riddled neighbourhoods, because they're usually poor, young people who can't afford to spend time in jail. They can serve two uses. The first is that they know the neighbourhood they work in really well, and they hear a lot of things. The second is the probability that prostitutes may be open to the actual criminal underworld itself, and they're easy to push. If the police want to know the street rumor, or if they want to make a push on a local drug dealer, the first people they go to are prostitutes, because they know a lot.
Think about what would happen if you legalized prostitution in America. Gave them sanctioned brothels, gave them contracts and put them on a tight leash. The first thing you would see, is poor neighbourhoods starting to become slightly richer by the increased activity presented by these sanctioned sex hubs, at the cost of their reputation. The other thing you would see is a decrease in arrests. Not of prostitutes, mind you, but of murderers, drug dealers, thieves, etc; the people we want to catch, because the police don't have eyes and ears anymore.
Prostitution is a necessary evil, and we need to keep it evil for the greater good.
EDIT - I wouldn't mind a policy of having health checkups, though. Maybe informally. I'd imagine that if said prostitution is organized, that their handler/pimp/organizer already requires them to be healthy, but some will invariably be unhealthy, and keeping them healthy should be a goal. It's a side note that's independent of the question of legality, and I can't see a good reason to oppose health checkups.
Prostitution is semi-legal in most places across the world. The local law enforcement definitely keeps them around and lets them do their thing. Of course, you try to keep street hookers out of the rich districts and they will sweep local rings every once in a while. But for the most part, they're ignored. There's a reason for that, that I'll get to in a sec. But as far as I know, this is the same practice in the US and UK, even though it's technically legal in the UK and technically illegal in the US.
The second consideration is drugs. Where there's prostitutes, there's drugs. You've got the street hookers, they've got the street drugs. You got the brothels, you got the party drugs. The two simply go hand-in-hand. Allowing prostitution while trying to keep drugs illegal is nigh impossible - the girls might use, the guys mostly use. This is one of the reasons the US has kept prostitution officially illegal, but informally semi-legal.
The third consideration is that prostitution is one of the few low-level crimes left. The police keep prostitutes around, especially in crime riddled neighbourhoods, because they're usually poor, young people who can't afford to spend time in jail. They can serve two uses. The first is that they know the neighbourhood they work in really well, and they hear a lot of things. The second is the probability that prostitutes may be open to the actual criminal underworld itself, and they're easy to push. If the police want to know the street rumor, or if they want to make a push on a local drug dealer, the first people they go to are prostitutes, because they know a lot.
Think about what would happen if you legalized prostitution in America. Gave them sanctioned brothels, gave them contracts and put them on a tight leash. The first thing you would see, is poor neighbourhoods starting to become slightly richer by the increased activity presented by these sanctioned sex hubs, at the cost of their reputation. The other thing you would see is a decrease in arrests. Not of prostitutes, mind you, but of murderers, drug dealers, thieves, etc; the people we want to catch, because the police don't have eyes and ears anymore.
Prostitution is a necessary evil, and we need to keep it evil for the greater good.
EDIT - I wouldn't mind a policy of having health checkups, though. Maybe informally. I'd imagine that if said prostitution is organized, that their handler/pimp/organizer already requires them to be healthy, but some will invariably be unhealthy, and keeping them healthy should be a goal. It's a side note that's independent of the question of legality, and I can't see a good reason to oppose health checkups.
In an ideal world, I'd say it should be illegal. But in an ideal world (well, my ideal world) no one would want to see or need/want to be a prostitute.
The fact is though, it's going to happen and with legalisation comes added security for the women involved and, of course, the chance to tax it. The problem is finding any political will to have a grown up conversation about what form that would take.
The fact is though, it's going to happen and with legalisation comes added security for the women involved and, of course, the chance to tax it. The problem is finding any political will to have a grown up conversation about what form that would take.
Yes, making it illegal dosen't prevent people getting desperate for money, so if they are going to do it we may as well protect them.
My opinion is that one argument in favor of its' legality is that prostitution its' self is the individuals parogative, so if they wish to do so, then so be it. However the issue I see is that if it is to be legal, it makes it a lot easier for syndicates and 'pimps' to operate. These could result in people being forced into a life of prostitution, abuse and potentially enforced drug addiction. I know this stuff happens anyway, but the way I see it, if it was legal, it would make it all to easy for this to happen, so the number of people being abused would increase.
Bit of a double edged sword really. Maybe if it had strict licencing?
Bit of a double edged sword really. Maybe if it had strict licencing?