What is your opinion on prostitution?

DA60 said:

It's none of the state's business what two or more sane, consenting adults do with each other

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the GOP platform certainly doesn't have that point of view; the GOP wants a sex police with a BIBLE in hand, in everyone's bedroom if you are not hetero .........

but then multiple (hetero) marriages (fornication) is OK

gotta love the mind set of the GOP when it comes to their attempts of selective 'social engineering'

jamesrage said:

There should also be wage/pay protections to ensure that the prostitute gets to keep the huge majority of her pay earned from her services so that she is not taken taken advantage of by a pimp,'employment' agency, brothel, cat house or some other employer.

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Why? Does an electrician get to keep the majority of the fee for a job, when he works for a company? Does an accountant get to keep a majority of the tax prep fee when employed by a company? So why should a sex worker necessarily get to keep a majority of the fee charged by the business? Especially since the business is providing health benefits, a location for work, advertising, accounting for pay and taxes (payroll), etc. As an over the road truck driver I certainly never saw a majority of the fee for hauling the load, even though I did most of the work.

cuban smokes said:

but then multiple (hetero) marriages (fornication) is OK

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This sentence could mean several different things. Could you be more specific on what is going through your head?

maquiscat said:

This sentence could mean several different things. Could you be more specific on what is going through your head?

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sorry for the confusion; I will try to edit to clarify & hopefully won't make it even more confusing

but then multiple (hetero) marriages (which according to the Bible they claim to adhere to would be fornication) is OK for the GOP

hopefully I clarified that instead of creating even more confusion

I am in the 80% ... for those who think that our nation is going ''downhill'', consider the same poll during the 1950s ..back then , no polls, of course , but I'd hazard a guess that 20 to 50 % would want to have prostitution remain illegal !

_Sal said:

actually it does make some sense

if a girl is victimized by a john at least she is less afraid to report it as her part in it is not against the law

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But the woman was much less afraid to report it before because prior to the ridiculous Conservative law - when prostitution was generally legal in Canada. A woman could advertise her services/prices and have sex with a client for a fee. She would have no fear whatsoever of reporting the crime - nor the 'John' either if he were victimized. That is not the case now.

What was illegal was brothels, pimps and public sex (like in cars or on street corners) as no one was allowed to profit from the sex trade except the actual sex worker.

It was flawed but it was miles better than the convoluted nonsense that it is today.

cuban smokes said:

the GOP platform certainly doesn't have that point of view; the GOP wants a sex police with a BIBLE in hand, in everyone's bedroom if you are not hetero .........

but then multiple (hetero) marriages (fornication) is OK

gotta love the mind set of the GOP when it comes to their attempts of selective 'social engineering'

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IMO, not the true republicans , but the conservatives who have infiltrated the party .

jamesrage said:

It should be legal but regulated to ensure the health of the prostitute and and customer are protected and for the financial protection of the prostitute. Frequent checks for STDs, no unprotected sex by both the prostitute and customer,and frequent health inspections of the place of business regardless if that business is prostitute's private home, cat house or some other facility where the prostitute regularly works.There should also be wage/pay protections to ensure that the prostitute gets to keep the huge majority of her pay earned from her services so that she is not taken taken advantage of by a pimp,'employment' agency, brothel, cat house or some other employer.Those wage protections should also ban employers from nickle and diming the prostitutes.

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I agree 99% . When man becomes fully civilized, prostitution will fade away .. I think that by having it legal and aboveboard, the process will be quicker .

DA60 said:

But the woman was much less afraid to report it before because prior to the ridiculous Conservative law - when prostitution was generally legal in Canada. A woman could advertise her services/prices and have sex with a client for a fee. She would have no fear whatsoever of reporting the crime - nor the 'John' either if he were victimized. That is not the case now.

What was illegal was brothels, pimps and public sex (like in cars or on street corners) as no one was allowed to profit from the sex trade except the actual sex worker.

It was flawed but it was miles better than the convoluted nonsense that it is today.

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I don't have a problem with legalizing prostitution. Currently prostitution is heavily tied to gangs and the drug trade which enslaves the girls. While our current stance is not the ideal, my point was it does give women some protection.

Northern Light said:

It's not dumb. It's an intermediary stage where the balance of power is given 100% to the sex workers, in order to help those trafficked escape, and to give complete agency to those who want to do the work. The current law was crafted by sex workers and their activists.

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There were TONS of demonstrations by sex workers who were against the new laws.
It was NOT crafted by sex workers. It was drafted by the Conservative government who said it was drafted by sex workers (which was mostly bull****). And remember, the original law they put forward was more restrictive and the Conservatives were forced to lighten them up.
FAr and away most Canadian sex workers do NOT like the new law compared to the one before Harper came to power.

Sex workers fear new prostitution laws will compromise safety - Canada - CBC News

Sex workers say new anti-prostitution law still puts them in danger - The Globe and Mail

https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/canadas-new-sex-work-laws-are-taking-a-big-step-backwards

If it's legal to purchase then that still permits pimps to operate as intermediaries because legalization would not eliminate their control of the market overnight. Traditionally, pimps create and approve of the work places, the kinds of clientele a sex worker can see, etc.

If a john is already committing an illegal act by default then he's far less likely to do something harmful to the sex worker, especially if that sex worker can report him without getting in trouble.

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You are missing the point.

This law restricts how the escorts can advertise. Plus, with purchasing sex almost always being illegal - this will DEFINITELY force the sex trade even farther underground than it was. Customers will insist on privacy and will not tolerate background checks or safety checks for fear of being found out.
Before the Conservatives got their hands on the laws - prostitution was legal in Canada...for both the sex worker and the customer. All that was illegal were brothels and pimps and public sex (in cars and on streets/in parks)...though there were large gray areas for these.
But if a woman - who did not work for an agency, but on her own - advertised her sexual services in a newspaper and then went to a hotel and had sex with a man for money...that entire transaction was generally legal. Now, much of it is not.

THis law is terrible and it will force prostitution FAR more underground than it was 20 years ago....and that is bad for everyone.

earthworm said:

When man becomes fully civilized, prostitution will fade away.

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that's an interesting opinion

could you please explain further: what does fully civilized have to do with the desire to sell one's body for profit?

cuban smokes said:

sorry for the confusion; I will try to edit to clarify & hopefully won't make it even more confusing

but then multiple (hetero) marriages (which according to the Bible they claim to adhere to would be fornication) is OK for the GOP

hopefully I clarified that instead of creating even more confusion

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Actually, no. Are you talking serial marriage where one marries, divorces, marries, divorces, etc? Did you mean polygamy? Any other possible variations?

_Sal said:

I don't have a problem with legalizing prostitution. Currently prostitution is heavily tied to gangs and the drug trade which enslaves the girls. While our current stance is not the ideal, my point was it does give women some protection.

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It gives them some.

But the old law - before Harper came to power - gave them far more.

And since it was legal (generally) for men to pay for sex, it kept everything above ground (again generally).

But now, men will force it underground because they will not want to be caught. ANd since the men are paying the money - the women will have to go where the money is.

The law is better than the first Conservative version. But it is, imo, FAR worse than it was before the Conservatives got hold of it at all - when prostitution was generally legal in Canada.

DA60 said:

It gives them some.

But the old law - before Harper came to power - gave them far more.

And since it was legal (generally) for men to pay for sex, it kept everything above ground (again generally).

But now, men will force it underground because they will not want to be caught. ANd since the men are paying the money - the women will have to go where the money is.

The law is better than the first Conservative version. But it is, imo, FAR worse than it was before the Conservatives got hold of it at all - when prostitution was generally legal in Canada.

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yes, I completely agree with you

I also like what you have said here:

But now, men will force it underground because they will not want to be caught. ANd since the men are paying the money - the women will have to go where the money is.

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as it speaks to balance of power once again...she may have the desired product but it's the money that steers the transaction

_Sal said:

yes, I completely agree with you

I also like what you have said here:

as it speaks to balance of power once again...she may have the desired product but it's the money that steers the transaction

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That's a good point that I had not thought of in quite that way.

When it was generally legal - the women had the power.

Now, they have lost much of it because if it is a choice between worrying about getting caught by police or paying for sex - most men will probably choose the former.
Prostitution is not like drug addiction. Junkies need their fix. 'John's' can live without paid sex.
Junkies will risk jail to get their fix. I don't think most 'John's' will.
So the women will have to go out of their way to assure men - and that is what you seem to be saying.
Before, they could demand a lot from men. References, health assurances, etc.. Now the men will just say - 'forget it - I am not doing all that and risk getting caught. Either we do it quietly or I will just go home and whack off to porn/have sex with the wife/hire a sexatary'.

DA60 said:

That's a good point that I had not thought of in quite that way.

When it was generally legal - the women had the power.

Now, they have lost much of it because if it is a choice between worrying about getting caught by police or paying for sex - most men will probably choose the former.

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yes I think it would be safe to say no one wants to get caught

Prostitution is not like drug addiction. Junkies need their fix. 'John's' can live without paid sex.

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this piece could be a grey area though no? there is such a thing as sexual addiction

Junkies will risk jail to get their fix. I don't think most 'John's' will.

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well they are taking numerous "risks" when they hire a prostitute such as STDs and prosecution

So the women will have to go out of their way to assure men - and that is what you seem to be saying.
Before, they could demand a lot from men. References, health assurances, etc.. Now the men will just say - 'forget it - I am not doing all that and risk getting caught. Either we do it quietly or I will just go home and whack off to porn/have sex with the wife/hire a sexatary'.

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I think prostitution has flourished in every society since the beginning of time, not much has changed

we seem to need to judge and control it....regardless of what we impose I doubt if it will ever go away