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Should prostitution be legal?

Should prostitution be legal?

  • Yes

    Votes: 92 83.6%

  • No

    Votes: 18 16.4%
  • Total voters
    110
Gathomas88 said:
I'm just telling you what the statistics have shown. This is a very real problem that many European nations are currently facing.

It would appear that having a far larger number of prostitutes in a given nation simply makes it easier for organized crime to hide a far larger number of illegal prostitutes in bondage. :shrug:
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Does that mean you have an ideological opposition to people selling their bodies ? I thought you were "Mr. Freedom"......................
 
ChrisL said:
Lol! Those stats MUST be bogus. For one thing, you cannot even ACCOUNT for what you don't know is going on. When something is illegal, there is no way to possibly keep track. These stats are only from when it was legalized, so how they can make such a bogus comparison, I don't know.
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Again, according to the article.

foreigners make up some 70 percent of people in Germany's sex trade.
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When most of these women wouldn't even be in Europe in the first place if it were not legalized prostitution, I would imagine that it makes it quite a bit easier to get an idea of the overall number that might have been trafficked in illegally.

As I said before, it's not like this is some kind of widely debunked fringe claim. It is pretty widely acknowledged by the European community. There's actually a lot of literature on the subject.

European Union Report Details Growth Of Human Trafficking

Bonzai said:
Does that mean you have an ideological opposition to people selling their bodies ? I thought you were "Mr. Freedom"......................
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I'm fairly sure that I never claimed to be anything of the kind.

Hell, my leaning isn't even "libertarian."
 
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Gathomas88 said:
Again, according to the article.



When most of these women wouldn't even be in Europe in the first place if it were not legalized prostitution, I would imagine that it makes it quite a bit easier to get an idea of the overall number that might have been trafficked in illegally.

As I said before, it's not like this is some kind of widely debunked fringe claim. It is pretty widely acknowledged by the European community. There's actually a lot of literature on the subject.

European Union Report Details Growth Of Human Trafficking



I'm fairly sure that I never claimed to be anything of the kind.

Hell! My leaning isn't even "libertarian."
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So, you believe in "freedom" to the extent that you believe in the "freedom" of all people to do as their told....................
 
Gathomas88 said:
ChrisL said:
Lol! Those stats MUST be bogus. For one thing, you cannot even ACCOUNT for what you don't know is going on. When something is illegal, there is no way to possibly keep track. These stats are only from when it was legalized, so how they can make such a bogus comparison, I don't know.
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Again, according to the article.

When most of these women wouldn't even be in Europe in the first place if it were not legalized prostitution, I would imagine that it makes it quite a bit easier to get an idea of the overall number that might have been trafficked in illegally.

As I said before, it's not like this is some kind of widely debunked fringe claim. It is pretty widely acknowledged by the European community. There's actually a lot of literature on the subject.

European Union Report Details Growth Of Human Trafficking
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Here's the actual study, if you're curious.

Eurostat - Trafficking in Human Beings

Bonzai said:
So, you believe in "freedom" to the extent that you believe in the "freedom" of all people to do as their told....................
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Freedom is not absolute.
 
samsmart said:
I don't know about that. I see nothing wrong with having closed circuit cameras in the rooms of the brothels to monitor what happens in the rooms, and tell the customers about it.

While there may be some customers who wouldn't go to those brothels, I'm sure there will be a number who won't mind it, considering it is a legal form of prostitution and that the evidence from the monitoring will protect them just as much as it would the prostitute.
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Could be a money-maker... for an extra $40 you get a copy of the video. :2razz:
 
HumanBeing said:
Simple question.
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Yes, with the stipulation that the practice be regulated as any other business where issues of sanitation and health are a concern. Prostitution will always be around no matter how you legislate it. Legalizing and regulating prostitution will create a safer environment for the workers and their customers.

Plus, I've always kind of wanted to run a 19th century style saloon and brothel. Package deal also includes a light meal after services are rendered.
 
HumanBeing said:
Simple question.
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This is obviously an issue for you. If you can't get laid in America with a fist full of fifties legality is a minor problem. I would suggest that you are going about it all wrong.
 
samsmart said:
I don't know about that. I see nothing wrong with having closed circuit cameras in the rooms of the brothels to monitor what happens in the rooms, and tell the customers about it.

While there may be some customers who wouldn't go to those brothels, I'm sure there will be a number who won't mind it, considering it is a legal form of prostitution and that the evidence from the monitoring will protect them just as much as it would the prostitute.
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The VAST majority of escort patrons are married.

The last thing they would want is to be filmed while they commit adultery.

And how could they be sure that these brothels would not blackmail those that are married with these videos.


No, CCT would never fly in a brothel.
 
Gathomas88 said:
Again, according to the article.



When most of these women wouldn't even be in Europe in the first place if it were not legalized prostitution, I would imagine that it makes it quite a bit easier to get an idea of the overall number that might have been trafficked in illegally.

As I said before, it's not like this is some kind of widely debunked fringe claim. It is pretty widely acknowledged by the European community. There's actually a lot of literature on the subject.
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Exactly, because it's been legalized, it is EASIER to track, which in turn makes it easier to investigate and perhaps even get a prosecution. I am of the opinion that legalization along with regulation would help put these traffickers out of business, or at least put a large dent in their business.
 
ChrisL said:
Exactly, because it's been legalized, it is EASIER to track, which in turn makes it easier to investigate and perhaps even get a prosecution. I am of the opinion that legalization along with regulation would help put these traffickers out of business, or at least put a large dent in their business.
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I completely agree that regulated prostitution can improve the lives of existing sex workers.

However, as Europe's current situation highlights, legalized prostitution can have a tendency to be something of a double-edged sword. Legalizing the sex industry results in increased demand for sex workers, which makes the overall industry larger than it would've been before legalization. In Europe at least, this increased demand has often been met by human trafficking put in place by organized crime families, who take their workers from more poverty stricken regions of the world like Eastern Europe and Africa.

It can also be extremely difficult for authorities to shut these operations down once they are in place, as it is nearly impossible to prove beyond a doubt which sex workers have been trafficked and which have not after the fact.

The same could conceivably happen over here. The last thing we want is to legalize prostitution in order to improve the lives of street walkers just to open the door for drug cartels to set up shop and open their own line of brothels stocked with latin american workers that may, or may not, happen to be trafficked sex slaves.
 
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Gathomas88 said:
I completely agree that regulated prostitution can improve the lives of existing sex workers.

However, as Europe's current situation highlights, legalized prostitution can have a tendency to be something of a double-edged sword. Legalizing the sex industry results in increased demand for sex workers, which makes the overall industry larger than it would've been before legalization. In Europe at least, this increased demand has often been met by human trafficking put in place by organized crime families, who take their workers from the more poverty stricken regions of the world like Eastern Europe and Africa.

The same could conceivably happen over here. The last thing we want is to legalize prostitution in order to improve the lives of street walkers just to open the door for drug cartels to set up shop and open their own line of brothels stocked with latin american workers that may, or may not, happen to be trafficked sex slaves.
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That is what happens NOW because it is illegal though!
 
ChrisL said:
That is what happens NOW because it is illegal though!
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But it's really not. That's the whole issue.

Illegal industries have to remain covert on at least some level. This requires that they keep their operation small. Police also have the ability to more or less shut any brothel they find down on sight because prostitution is illegal.

Once you make prostitution legal, none of this still applies. You wind up with a state of affairs more similar to how Vegas was run for most of the latter half of the 20th Century (i.e. think about the movie Casino). The mob is free to run their business with impunity, and the cops can't interfere unless they have probable cause to do so.

Again, it can be incredibly difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a given sex worker is working against their will.
 
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ChrisL said:
I don't know. What do they do in Nevada where there are legal brothels? I would hope they would use protection and for the most part that wouldn't be an issue. I'm quite sure if prostitution was a legal and regulated industry that condoms would probably be mandatory for them.
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I'm willing to bet that most of the girls, if not all, voluntarily go on birth control if they don't have some clause in their employment contract that says they need to be on birth control to work there. A pregnant prostitute is not likely to get nearly as much business as one that isn't pregnant. At the very least, a pregnancy would require a good amount of time out of the bedroom when the baby comes, which would not be good for business. I don't know exactly how that would work but I highly doubt it is a major problem.
 
wolfie said:
I can't believe this crap..do you think women enjoy being a prostitute??

They may enjoy the financial wealth it may bring them..(all overseen by men)

But ENJOY..nah!!
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I bet some do, such as "escorts". They probably have no issue doing what they do because the businesses are normally run like a legitimate business and they pull in major amounts of money.
 
roguenuke said:
I'm willing to bet that most of the girls, if not all, voluntarily go on birth control if they don't have some clause in their employment contract that says they need to be on birth control to work there. A pregnant prostitute is not likely to get nearly as much business as one that isn't pregnant. At the very least, a pregnancy would require a good amount of time out of the bedroom when the baby comes, which would not be good for business. I don't know exactly how that would work but I highly doubt it is a major problem.
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I would think that in order for it to become legalized that condoms would be mandatory simply because of STDs. Of course, that's just a theory. But gosh, I think any guy would visit a prostitute and not wear one voluntarily himself is just foolish.

Also, I can't see pregnancy being any more of an issue than it probably is now.
 
Gathomas88 said:
I completely agree that regulated prostitution can improve the lives of existing sex workers.

However, as Europe's current situation highlights, legalized prostitution can have a tendency to be something of a double-edged sword. Legalizing the sex industry results in increased demand for sex workers, which makes the overall industry larger than it would've been before legalization. In Europe at least, this increased demand has often been met by human trafficking put in place by organized crime families, who take their workers from more poverty stricken regions of the world like Eastern Europe and Africa.

It can also be extremely difficult for authorities to shut these operations down once they are in place, as it is nearly impossible to prove beyond a doubt which sex workers have been trafficked and which have not after the fact.

The same could conceivably happen over here. The last thing we want is to legalize prostitution in order to improve the lives of street walkers just to open the door for drug cartels to set up shop and open their own line of brothels stocked with latin american workers that may, or may not, happen to be trafficked sex slaves.
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I wanted to say that I can understand what you mean by the demand perhaps increasing the supply, but I think that regulation would be helpful in tracking these people, and getting the girls (or boys) some help. There would be paper work and paper trails. The way it is now, there is none of that, so it's like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
 
Gathomas88 said:
Again, according to the article.



When most of these women wouldn't even be in Europe in the first place if it were not legalized prostitution, I would imagine that it makes it quite a bit easier to get an idea of the overall number that might have been trafficked in illegally.

As I said before, it's not like this is some kind of widely debunked fringe claim. It is pretty widely acknowledged by the European community. There's actually a lot of literature on the subject.

European Union Report Details Growth Of Human Trafficking



I'm fairly sure that I never claimed to be anything of the kind.

Hell, my leaning isn't even "libertarian."
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And we have foreign women who are trafficked to the US for prostitution as well. Many are. And it is illegal here. So saying that most of them are foreigners in no way proves anything because you don't know how many would have been there if prostitution was still illegal.
 
ChrisL said:
I would think that in order for it to become legalized that condoms would be mandatory simply because of STDs. Of course, that's just a theory. But gosh, I think any guy would visit a prostitute and not wear one voluntarily himself is just foolish.

Also, I can't see pregnancy being any more of an issue than it probably is now.
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I absolutely agree about the condoms, I'm just saying that it seems to me that many of the girls would not want to get pregnant and use multiple methods of protection if they can.
 
In countries that have legalized prostitution that is regulated for safety still have illegal prostitution as well. Primarily women who either cannot or do not want to meet the minimum safety and/or health requirements. Fewer in numbers, proportionately, but still there.
 
Prostitution should be legal and regulated. However, I believe if prostitution becomes legal divorce rates would increase greatly in the U.S because of accessability and the lack of fear from legal retribution.
 
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Hypersonic said:
Prostitution should be legal and regulated. However, I believe if prostitution becomes legal divorce rates would increase greatly in the U.S because of accessability and the lack of fear from legal retribution.
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I don't agree. I think first that if a married man or woman would be willing to pay for sex that they would also have no issue with going to a bar to pick up a stranger to have sex with. Second, I think there are couples out there that have no issue with their spouse going to a prostitute.

Every time this argument comes up, all I can think about is "The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas". Especially the part where they are interviewing the townpeople on the news, and the old lady says that she considered it a blessing for her husband, when he was alive, to go there. It gave her a break. I know its just a movie, but I can definitely see some people feeling this way.
 
Redress said:
It is not a simple question. Trying to simply things which are not creates wrong impressions. Some things you did not specify in your question, but need to be known to answer accurately.

  • Are you referring to all prostitution? Street walking, brothels, escorts all included? The arguments are different for each
  • Completely legal or with regulations?
  • On a federal, state or local level?

To illustrate just with the first question: Escorts are largely unprosecuted for a variety of reasons(the biggest being it is virtually impossibly to catch them in the act so to speak) and have little to no effect on any one outside of their customers. Brothels on the other hand create an issue of where exactly do you want to let them set up(the NIMBY effect). Street walkers have that same NIMBY effect, but even moreso. Most people do not want prostitutes out walking by their house and businesses, and for legitimate reasons.
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I think it is a simple question. Anything that is legal is regulated in one way or another, and I worded it as I did because I'm not interested in debating different types of prostitution, I simply wanted to know whether sex is something you think people should be allowed to buy or sell.

It's like asking if weed should be legal. You can over complicate the question by asking about all the different scenarios in which it could be legal, but the basic question is still valid.
 
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