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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
ChrisL said:
You DO realize that prostitution isn't anything new right? It's been around for LONG before any of us.
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And it has been legal for the vast majority of its existence. :)
 
wolfie said:
Until you have known anyone who sells their body for money...it might be better if you didn't comment on things you know nothing about...

And I guess if you did marry a man for his money..that would make you a prostitute....
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I guess we need to make trophy wives/husbands illegal too then. :)
 
Yes. It needs to be regulated and taxed.
 
I voted no since it only gave 2 choices. I think it should be a misdemeanor or to keep it off the street, away from kids and out of everyone's face.
 
Prostitution being illegal is a highly irregular innovation, dating to the nineteenth century in the Anglosphere (as do so many of the 'timeless truths' American conservatives reify as eternal). As recently as 1888, the London subdivisions of Whitechapel and Spitalfields were host to fully legal prostitutes like Mary Jane Kelly, Jack the Ripper's final victim. Pubic sex was banned, largely as a way to discourage the desperately poor from streetwalking, but those who could afford room and board, like Kelly, could pursue their trade.
 
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No it should not be legal. It's degrading to the human spirit, and its potential to spread disease makes it a public health risk.

If you have trouble getting some, I suggest hitting the gym, taking a shower, getting a job, and learning how to talk to a lady.
 
It's a tough question to answer so simply but the answer would have to be "yes" with the caveat that the prostitute has to be fully consenting of the act. Let's not forget that sex-trafficking is why these laws exist in the first place. Of course, its obvious that these laws fail at their intended purpose as there is a huge culture of sex trafficking and prostitution in the United States despite strict laws.
 
Peter Grimm said:
No it should not be legal. It's degrading to the human spirit.
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Funny. That's the same non-logic nineteenth century progressives used to foist Prohibition on the nation.
 
I don't see why not. Cheaper, cleaner, and more safe. What are the cons? Too much advertising?
 
Einzige said:
Funny. That's the same non-logic nineteenth century progressives used to foist Prohibition on the nation.
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Do you think anyone works as a prostitute because they WANT to? They do it because they are desperate and out of choices. The rate of suicides and psychological disorders among these women is staggering.

As a society, we are obligated to do whatever we can to put an end to this.

By the way, for you to insinuate that prostitution was completely legal and accepted before the 19th century is just wrong and not rooted in any actual fact or research.
 
Peter Grimm said:
Disease, psychological disorders, suicide, drug use, and a disintegration of societal values, to name few of the cons.
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Sorry, but that seems like nonsense to me. These "cons," which are not present in all cases, are already there. Making it legal wouldn't bring them to the table. One should consider the pros that would come with the legalisation, and how to lower the number of cons. I said I don't see many cons that would be brought about by the legalisation.

And the societal values... It isn't like they're immutable. And it isn't like they're the same everywhere. I would keep my values, and I would act in the same way towards others. Is it God that would be outraged at this legalisation? Because there's more serious stuff to worry about, I would say.
 
kingsbridge said:
Sorry, but that seems like nonsense to me. These "cons," which are not present in all cases, are already there. Making it legal wouldn't bring them to the table. One should consider the pros that would come with the legalisation, and how to lower the number of cons. I said I don't see many cons that would be brought about by the legalisation.

And the societal values... It isn't like they're immutable. And it isn't like they're the same everywhere. I would keep my values, and I would act in the same way towards others. Is it God that would be outraged at this legalisation? Because there's more serious stuff to worry about, I would say.
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http://www.debatepolitics.com/polls...-click-if-youre-squeamish.html#post1061952136
 
MoSurveyor said:
You're presupposing injury above and beyond any other job that a person doesn't like but you haven't shown that.
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The average age of entry into prostitution is 13 years (M.H. Silbert and A.M. Pines, 1982, "Victimization of street prostitutes, Victimology: An International Journal, 7: 122-133) or 14 years (D.Kelly Weisberg, 1985, Children of the Night: A Study of Adolescent Prostitution, Lexington, Mass, Toronto). Most of these 13 or 14 year old girls were recruited or coerced into prostitution. Others were "traditional wives" without job skills who escaped from or were abandoned by abusive husbands and went into prostitution to support themselves and their children. (Denise Gamache and Evelina Giobbe, Prostitution: Oppression Disguised as Liberation, National Coalition against Domestic Violence, 1990)

Estimates of the prevalence of incest among prostitutes range from 65% to 90%. The Council for Prostitution Alternatives, Portland, Oregon Annual Report in 1991 stated that: 85% of prostitute/clients reported history of sexual abuse in childhood; 70% reported incest. The higher percentages (80%-90%) of reports of incest and childhood sexual assaults of prostitutes come from anecdotal reports and from clinicians working with prostitutes (interviews with Nevada psychologists cited by Patricia Murphy, Making the Connections: women, work, and abuse, 1993, Paul M. Deutsch Press, Orlando, Florida; see also Rita Belton, "Prostitution as Traumatic Reenactment," 1992, International Society for Traumatic Stress Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA M.H. Silbert and A.M. Pines, 1982, "Victimization of street prostitutes," Victimology: An International Journal, 7: 122-133; C. Bagley and L Young, 1987, "Juvenile Prostitution and child sexual abuse: a controlled study," Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, Vol 6: 5-26.)

80% of prostitution survivors at the WHISPER Oral History Project reported that their customers showed them pornography to illustrate the kinds of sexual activities in which they wanted to engage. 52% of the women stated that pornography played a significant role in teaching them what was expected of them as prostitutes. 30% reported that their pimps regularly exposed them to pornography in order to indoctrinate them into an acceptance of the practices depicted. (A facilitator's guide to Prostitution: a matter of violence against women, 1990, WHISPER - Women Hurt in Systems of Prostitution Engaged in Revolt Minneapolis, MN)

90% of prostituted women interviewed by WHISPER had pimps while in prostitution (Evelina Giobbe, 1987, WHISPER Oral History Project, Minneapolis, Minnesota).

"About 80% of women in prostitution have been the victim of a rape. It's hard to talk about this because..the experience of prostitution is just like rape. Prostitutes are raped, on the average, eight to ten times per year. They are the most raped class of women in the history of our planet. " (Susan Kay Hunter and K.C. Reed, July, 1990 "Taking the side of bought and sold rape," speech at National Coalition against Sexual Assault, Washington, D.C. ) Other studies report 68% to 70% of women in prostitution being raped (M Silbert, "Compounding factors in the rape of street prostitutes," in A.W. Burgess, ed., Rape and Sexual Assault II, Garland Publishing, 1988; Melissa Farley and Howard Barkan, "Prostitution, Violence, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder," 1998, Women & Health.)

78% of 55 women who sought help from the Council for Prostitution Alternatives in 1991 reported being raped an average of 16 times a year by pimps, and were raped 33 times a year by johns. (Susan Kay Hunter, Council for Prostitution Alternatives Annual Report, 1991, Portland, Oregon) 85% of prostitutes are raped by pimps. (Council on Prostitution Alternatives, Portland, 1994)

Prostitution is an act of violence against women which is intrinsically traumatizing. In a study of 475 people in prostitution (including women, men, and the transgendered) from five countries (South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, USA, and Zambia):

62% reported having been raped in prostitution. 73% reported having experienced physical assault in prostitution. 72% were currently or formerly homeless. 92% stated that they wanted to escape prostitution immediately. (Melissa Farley, Isin Baral, Merab Kiremire, Ufuk Sezgin, "Prostitution in Five Countries: Violence and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder" (1998) Feminism & Psychology 8 (4): 405-426)

A Canadian Report on Prostitution and Pornography concluded that girls and women in prostitution have a mortality rate 40 times higher than the national average. ( Special Committee on Pornography and Prostitution, 1985, Pornography and Prostitution in Canada 350.) In one study, 75% of women in escort prostitution had attempted suicide. Prostituted women comprised 15% of all completed suicides reported by hospitals. (Letter from Susan Kay Hunter, Council for Prostitution Alternatives, Jan 6, 1993, cited by Phyllis Chesler in "A Woman's Right to Self-Defense: the case of Aileen Carol Wuornos," in Patriarchy: Notes of an Expert Witness, 1994, Common Courage Press, Monroe, Maine.)
 
Peter Grimm said:
The average age of entry into prostitution is 13 years (M.H. Silbert and A.M. Pines, 1982, "Victimization of street prostitutes, Victimology: An International Journal, 7: 122-133) or 14 years (D.Kelly Weisberg, 1985, Children of the Night: A Study of Adolescent Prostitution, Lexington, Mass, Toronto). Most of these 13 or 14 year old girls were recruited or coerced into prostitution. Others were "traditional wives" without job skills who escaped from or were abandoned by abusive husbands and went into prostitution to support themselves and their children. (Denise Gamache and Evelina Giobbe, Prostitution: Oppression Disguised as Liberation, National Coalition against Domestic Violence, 1990)

Estimates of the prevalence of incest among prostitutes range from 65% to 90%. The Council for Prostitution Alternatives, Portland, Oregon Annual Report in 1991 stated that: 85% of prostitute/clients reported history of sexual abuse in childhood; 70% reported incest. The higher percentages (80%-90%) of reports of incest and childhood sexual assaults of prostitutes come from anecdotal reports and from clinicians working with prostitutes (interviews with Nevada psychologists cited by Patricia Murphy, Making the Connections: women, work, and abuse, 1993, Paul M. Deutsch Press, Orlando, Florida; see also Rita Belton, "Prostitution as Traumatic Reenactment," 1992, International Society for Traumatic Stress Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, CA M.H. Silbert and A.M. Pines, 1982, "Victimization of street prostitutes," Victimology: An International Journal, 7: 122-133; C. Bagley and L Young, 1987, "Juvenile Prostitution and child sexual abuse: a controlled study," Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, Vol 6: 5-26.)

80% of prostitution survivors at the WHISPER Oral History Project reported that their customers showed them pornography to illustrate the kinds of sexual activities in which they wanted to engage. 52% of the women stated that pornography played a significant role in teaching them what was expected of them as prostitutes. 30% reported that their pimps regularly exposed them to pornography in order to indoctrinate them into an acceptance of the practices depicted. (A facilitator's guide to Prostitution: a matter of violence against women, 1990, WHISPER - Women Hurt in Systems of Prostitution Engaged in Revolt Minneapolis, MN)

90% of prostituted women interviewed by WHISPER had pimps while in prostitution (Evelina Giobbe, 1987, WHISPER Oral History Project, Minneapolis, Minnesota).

"About 80% of women in prostitution have been the victim of a rape. It's hard to talk about this because..the experience of prostitution is just like rape. Prostitutes are raped, on the average, eight to ten times per year. They are the most raped class of women in the history of our planet. " (Susan Kay Hunter and K.C. Reed, July, 1990 "Taking the side of bought and sold rape," speech at National Coalition against Sexual Assault, Washington, D.C. ) Other studies report 68% to 70% of women in prostitution being raped (M Silbert, "Compounding factors in the rape of street prostitutes," in A.W. Burgess, ed., Rape and Sexual Assault II, Garland Publishing, 1988; Melissa Farley and Howard Barkan, "Prostitution, Violence, and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder," 1998, Women & Health.)

78% of 55 women who sought help from the Council for Prostitution Alternatives in 1991 reported being raped an average of 16 times a year by pimps, and were raped 33 times a year by johns. (Susan Kay Hunter, Council for Prostitution Alternatives Annual Report, 1991, Portland, Oregon) 85% of prostitutes are raped by pimps. (Council on Prostitution Alternatives, Portland, 1994)

Prostitution is an act of violence against women which is intrinsically traumatizing. In a study of 475 people in prostitution (including women, men, and the transgendered) from five countries (South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, USA, and Zambia):

62% reported having been raped in prostitution. 73% reported having experienced physical assault in prostitution. 72% were currently or formerly homeless. 92% stated that they wanted to escape prostitution immediately. (Melissa Farley, Isin Baral, Merab Kiremire, Ufuk Sezgin, "Prostitution in Five Countries: Violence and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder" (1998) Feminism & Psychology 8 (4): 405-426)

A Canadian Report on Prostitution and Pornography concluded that girls and women in prostitution have a mortality rate 40 times higher than the national average. ( Special Committee on Pornography and Prostitution, 1985, Pornography and Prostitution in Canada 350.) In one study, 75% of women in escort prostitution had attempted suicide. Prostituted women comprised 15% of all completed suicides reported by hospitals. (Letter from Susan Kay Hunter, Council for Prostitution Alternatives, Jan 6, 1993, cited by Phyllis Chesler in "A Woman's Right to Self-Defense: the case of Aileen Carol Wuornos," in Patriarchy: Notes of an Expert Witness, 1994, Common Courage Press, Monroe, Maine.)
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Do you really think you can compare legal to illegal prostitution?
 
Peter Grimm said:
Do you really think anyone would choose to be a prostitute? I think you guys watch way too much porn.
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Absolutely! Do you know how many choose to strip in order to earn college tuition?
 
It already is.

Just film it, and call it porn.
 
AlabamaPaul said:
Absolutely! Do you know how many choose to strip in order to earn college tuition?
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Big difference between being a stripper and being a hooker. That said, strippers are pretty messed up individuals too, just not nearly as bad.
 
Well, Grimm, if you're absolutely sure no man or woman would ever choose to engage in sexual intercourse with people (that they could very well have the possibility of accepting or rejecting) in exchange for a good quantity of money, instead of pointing their noses up and searching for more dignified and classy jobs, then never mind all I said.

But, I warn you, no one would ever choose to clean toilets. Yet, it is done, because people are willing to do it for a certain amount of money. That's how the economy works, and that's how legal and illegal prostitution works.
 
Peter Grimm said:
Big difference between being a stripper and being a hooker. That said, strippers are pretty messed up individuals too, just not nearly as bad.
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It really depends on where one works and for what reasons. A job is a job, and when one enters a profession, the goal can either be success along with a goal or to just make some money...
 
kingsbridge said:
Well, Grimm, if you're absolutely sure no man or woman would ever choose to engage in sexual intercourse with people (that they could very well have the possibility of accepting or rejecting) in exchange for a good quantity of money, instead of pointing their noses up and searching for more dignified and classy jobs, then never mind all I said.

But, I warn you, no one would ever choose to clean toilets. Yet, it is done, because people are willing to do it for a certain amount of money. That's how the economy works, and that's how legal and illegal prostitution works.
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The difference, kingsbridge, is that toilet cleaners don't kill themselves at a rate 40 times higher than the national average. 75% of women who clean toilets haven't attempted suicide.
 
Furthermore, there are places where prostitution is legal, and many women actually CHOOSE to do it and even like it. It's not porn, no. It's just a different part of the world. I don't personally know any of them, but I don't think I'd be too far off if I said that some of them may find your comments towards their profession to be slightly offensive.
 
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