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    #1

    Should prostitution be legalized?

    I used to be really for legalization, but I've been learning a lot more about human trafficking lately and I'm not sure it's really the solution now. About a year ago, a woman started following my blog. She has her own blog about her story as a former prostitute and her life after, and she's got a lot of information about resources for women trying to get out of it and for survivors of human trafficking. After reading this stuff, as well as a lot of articles I come across through the various feminist blogs I follow, I don't think legalization solves the problem. Decriminalization is really important, because women seeking help and recovery shouldn't feel afraid to go to the police, but I think a lot of the activities around prostitution are very abusive. It seems that even when women are choosing to be prostitutes, they sort of feel forced into it (through lack of money, addiction, etc)...I think rather than legalizing prostitution, these things should be dealt with (decriminalizing drug use and public funds for addiction recovery, good social support for low income people, etc).

    Anyway, I thought this FAQ was really interesting: http://www.genderberg.com/phpNuke/mo...ostitution+FAQ

    What are your thoughts on the subject?
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    #2
    Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

    That's pretty much where I'm at. People stare at me for not wanting to legalize prostitution, and then I cite these reasons and issues with human trafficking. They still seem to disagree, but understand a bit more of my perspective. I wonder what they would have done if it was for a religious reason...
    my etsy store
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    "...leave me curled up in my ball,
    surrounded by plush, downy things,
    ill prepared, but willing,
    to descend."

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      #3
      Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

      I argued for it for a long time, but after being presented with a lot of good arguments, I just can't see how prostitution doesn't exploit women....even women who are choosing to be prostitutes. I don't think they should be seen as criminals, but their pimps and madams should be, and I don't think it should be legal to buy sex (meaning, you'd get in trouble if you were caught trying to buy sex rather than for being the woman selling it).

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        #4
        Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

        I think certain ammounts of legalization could help decrease the ttrafficking issue. With legalization comes regulation, but I do agree that it will not solve the problem. The only way to stop the trafficking is to take away the market for it. Or at least the ability to profit from it. I feel like a heavily regulated legalization of it could help to do that. but it would require manpower and other things which would need to be implemented very carefully to make any sort of drastic change. It isn't as simple as the pot argument, but seems like it should be more important.
        http://catcrowsnow.blogspot.com/

        But they were doughnuts of darkness. Evil damned doughnuts, tainted by the spawn of darkness.... Which could obviously only be redeemed by passing through the fiery inferno of my digestive tract.
        ~Jim Butcher

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          #5
          Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

          One thing legalization hasn't done though is take away the profit from women's sense of desperation. When I see prostitutes here (prostitution is legal here in Germany), they're almost always from the poorer Eastern European countries. If prostitution is something some women really want to do, and not something they do out of a feeling that they can't do anything else, then why do I almost NEVER see German girls working in the brothels on Oranienburger Str.? Those girls might be there out of their own free will, but I can't help but think that it just supports an industry that they don't really want to be in, and that there should be other options for them.

          Also, I'm not convinced that legalized prostitution has eliminated trafficking here. It's been legal for 11 years, and there still seem to be a lot of cases of trafficked women working in brothels, despite tight monitoring and strict regulations. I think a lot of the time, these women are scared, or lack communication skills in German or English to help them tell the authorities that they don't want to be there.
          Last edited by DanieMarie; 21 Jan 2013, 06:43.

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            #6
            Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

            Originally posted by DanieMarie View Post
            One thing legalization hasn't done though is take away the profit from women's sense of desperation. When I see prostitutes here (prostitution is legal here in Germany), they're almost always from the poorer Eastern European countries. If prostitution is something some women really want to do, and not something they do out of a feeling that they can't do anything else, then why do I almost NEVER see German girls working in the brothels on Oranienburger Str.? Those girls might be there out of their own free will, but I can't help but think that it just supports an industry that they don't really want to be in, and that there should be other options for them.

            When prostitution was first legalized (and therefore legitimized), there was a famous case where a woman almost lost her welfare support because she turned down a job at a brothel (you lose your benefits if you turn down work). I don't think this happens anymore, but there's still some problems here. Technically, by law, it can still happen, and sometimes the lines between bars, strip clubs, and brothels are rather blurry: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...benefits.html#
            And thats why I am big on very heavy regulation. There are ways to make it so that this is not a job for everyone, and it should not be, it shouldn't be a popular one, and it shouldn't be thought of as a nessecity, to be able to afford or be able to patronize one. I do agree that no one should ever not recieve benefits because they are un willing to be a prostitute. That is bogus. That said , I am not vocal on legalization, and I don't think that at this time it is a good idea. I think there are other things that need to be done to make legalization a sensible option. I believe it is possible, but I don't believe it is likely to be truly given the attention it needs for it to work. I think helping the girls who are currently trapped is a much better option.
            http://catcrowsnow.blogspot.com/

            But they were doughnuts of darkness. Evil damned doughnuts, tainted by the spawn of darkness.... Which could obviously only be redeemed by passing through the fiery inferno of my digestive tract.
            ~Jim Butcher

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              #7
              Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

              I'm sort of iffy. As it stands, I don't mind legalization with heavy restrictions. In the interest of hitting the slave market's wallet, any use of an unlicensed prostitution service is presumed to be taking advantage of slave labor by law and punished accordingly with massive fines and possible jail time. Running an unlicensed prostitution business is treated as enslavement, it nets jail time first offense and to be an ***, I'll copy drug laws, ALL assets gained from running an illegal prostitution ring now belong to the state or federal government.

              Individual unlicensed prostitutes, shift the act from a criminal offense to an administrative one that runs less than the cost of a speeding ticket and that the court has the freedom to waive based upon circumstances.

              Convincing the Johns that going outside the law for sex is a one way trip to bankruptcy should have an impact on slave trade. I don't want to completely remove the penalty for unlicensed prostitution in case a condition should pop up where it is not a sex-slave issue but I do want the penalty small enough and easy enough for a court to waive that there's very little for a prostitute to worry about if she goes to the police for help.
              life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.

              Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

              "But those men who know anything at all about the Light also know that there is a fierceness to its power, like the bare sword of the law, or the white burning of the sun." Suddenly his voice sounded to Will very strong, and very Welsh. "At the very heart, that is. Other things, like humanity, and mercy, and charity, that most good men hold more precious than all else, they do not come first for the Light. Oh, sometimes they are there; often, indeed. But in the very long run the concern of you people is with the absolute good, ahead of all else..."

              John Rowlands, The Grey King by Susan Cooper

              "You come from the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve", said Aslan. "And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth; be content."

              Aslan, Prince Caspian by CS Lewis


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                #8
                Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

                Originally posted by Maria de Luna View Post
                And thats why I am big on very heavy regulation. There are ways to make it so that this is not a job for everyone, and it should not be, it shouldn't be a popular one, and it shouldn't be thought of as a nessecity, to be able to afford or be able to patronize one. I do agree that no one should ever not recieve benefits because they are un willing to be a prostitute. That is bogus. That said , I am not vocal on legalization, and I don't think that at this time it is a good idea. I think there are other things that need to be done to make legalization a sensible option. I believe it is possible, but I don't believe it is likely to be truly given the attention it needs for it to work. I think helping the girls who are currently trapped is a much better option.
                I actually removed that part of my post, because while it was huge in the English press at the time, I actually realized I'd never heard anything in the German press about it. Apparently it came from a story in a Berlin paper that was heavily misunderstood. All it had said that it was technically possible under the law. It seems though that it's never been applied, and that if women are offered sex work, they can turn it down.

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                  #9
                  Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

                  Originally posted by DanieMarie View Post
                  I actually removed that part of my post, because while it was huge in the English press at the time, I actually realized I'd never heard anything in the German press about it. Apparently it came from a story in a Berlin paper that was heavily misunderstood. All it had said that it was technically possible under the law. It seems though that it's never been applied, and that if women are offered sex work, they can turn it down.
                  That is good, sorry I reposted your post before you fixed it :P
                  http://catcrowsnow.blogspot.com/

                  But they were doughnuts of darkness. Evil damned doughnuts, tainted by the spawn of darkness.... Which could obviously only be redeemed by passing through the fiery inferno of my digestive tract.
                  ~Jim Butcher

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

                    No.

                    But you can't expect people not to go down that road if poverty still prevails in high numbers. Government should give alternatives to women (or men, in some cases) that have to do this out of need.
                    [4:82]

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                      #11
                      Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

                      I think if it was legal, less impoverished people might look to it as a valuable means of income. I'm completely okay with higher-class prostitution, but I think there needs to be rules in place. (ie: no dirty pimps, letting their clients sleep with people in dirty alleyways)

                      And for those people who want out, there should be safe, legal ways to do so.


                      Mostly art.

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                        #12
                        Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

                        If someone desires a certain profession, and it does not harm someone else, I say let them have a go at it. I'm fairly certain that the majority of those involved in human trafficking didn't exactly desire that particular profession, so they have no business being in it- not that they can help it. Stricter laws and customs centered around countering human trafficking and ease up on the women who do it out of their own choice, either for financial reasons or more... Personal ones.

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                          #13
                          Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

                          Well, yes. First because everyone should be free to do whatever they want, if its by their choice and not being forced. Second, and related to the first, it should be legalized because it would be regulated with laws and then prostitutes would be more protected than they are now without regulation, where many people can take advantage of it as in human traffic etc etc.
                          "I was born from a Spark and Fire I became"

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                            #14
                            Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

                            Originally posted by Dumuzi View Post
                            No.

                            But you can't expect people not to go down that road if poverty still prevails in high numbers. Government should give alternatives to women (or men, in some cases) that have to do this out of need.
                            It's not straight economic hardship alone that's a problem. I don't particularly care to see an upswing in prostitution legal or otherwise. However, a rather large number of prostitutes are victims of severely unpleasant people and I want the heads of their victimizers on pikes as examples of bad judgement to humanity. It's difficult to identify and convict said individuals if their victims aren't willing to talk to the police. If getting access to human traffickers and some others requires lightening the laws on prostitutes themselves then someone show me a place to sign.
                            life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.

                            Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

                            "But those men who know anything at all about the Light also know that there is a fierceness to its power, like the bare sword of the law, or the white burning of the sun." Suddenly his voice sounded to Will very strong, and very Welsh. "At the very heart, that is. Other things, like humanity, and mercy, and charity, that most good men hold more precious than all else, they do not come first for the Light. Oh, sometimes they are there; often, indeed. But in the very long run the concern of you people is with the absolute good, ahead of all else..."

                            John Rowlands, The Grey King by Susan Cooper

                            "You come from the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve", said Aslan. "And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth; be content."

                            Aslan, Prince Caspian by CS Lewis


                            Comment

                              #15
                              Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

                              I've been reading the posts and some people seem to imagine a peaceful transaction between a man and a woman, and that's it.
                              They don't realize the doors it opens for the level of abuse a lot of these women would experience.
                              This is basically selling yourself for the night. If that's not a form of slavery, I don't know what is.

                              Then there's many people saying "Oh, you need a choice in case you have to". Do you know the kind of people that would sell their body often because "they had to" (instead of getting 2 jobs)? They would most likely be addicted to some substance and desperate. And, yes, I can imagine some women have kids and they need money~ which brings me back to my first point. When the woman comes home bruised and battered, does she just tell her kids she was earning a little money? Show her daughters that's okay?

                              It's just a can of worms.
                              I just don't imagine some well-lit, safe place for women to just gain money this way.

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