Should prositution be ilegal?

[katrina1987]

I was watching This morning and thought this would be a good debate/topic to tallk about? Do you think prostitution should be ilegal?

I believe it is your body and you choose what you want to do with it, I also think if there was brothels, a safer, securer place for it to take place and I believe there would not be so many being murdered, raped and on drugs. But this does not mean I agree with it. It's certainlly not a career path for me. But also the women who do this must feel this is the only way of making money and a living.

What do you think?

 

[caz81]

I think the majority of women who are prostitutes are being exploited, and I dont agree that we should legalise it as that would be saying that exploitation is ok. Many of the women are on drugs/have debts etc and that is why they are doing it, I would be more interested in dealing with the underlying problems than just 'okaying' it.

If women were doing it because they enjoyed it then I would think it should be legalised but I dont believe that many women get into this industry because they want to, more because they feel forced to.

 

[bathbabe]

i dont agree with it BUT i do think that if they are going to do it it should be in a safe environment. In the same way that teens should be taught about safe sex. If they do it they should do it safely

 

[TattiesMum]

Great topic for a debate!!

I think that prostitution should be legalised under strict controls ...

I mean it's illegal in most places, but has that stopped it? Or decreased the exploitation of women? Obviously not in either case - all we do by keeping it illegal is to push it further underground and criminalise the women who are already being exploited, making it harder for them to get any kind of protection at all

If we were to introduce legalised brothels with regular health checks for licenced working girls then men seeking their services would be more likely to go to those than pick up an 'illegal' on the street (less health risk and no risk of arrest for kerbcrawling etc). In turn that would have a knock on effect on the 'unlicensed' girls which would remove the financial incentive for traffickers and blatant exploiters.

Working girls would be safer, healthier, less likely to be being exploited and desperate women would no longer be being pushed further and further into debt by the current ridiculous system of fining them when their only source of income to pay fines is to go straight back out on the street

Men wanting to pay for sex would be in less danger health wise (which has a knock on effect for their wives and girlfriends in a lot of cases).

Criminal organisations would find a large income source being cut off by lack of demand for their illegal girls.

Billions of pounds worth of black market money would suddenly become eligible for taxation and thousands of hours of police time would be freed up to be used in combatting serious crime - benefitting the whole country.

Prostitution isn't called the oldest profession for no reason ... it's been with us since the dawn of time and no amount of calling it illegal is ever going to stop it so why not just accept that and tackle it in a different way?

 

[xemmax]

i just think the laws need to be far clearer on this subject before any "changes" are made. prostitution is not illegal, but surrounding activities are. by legalising brothels this encourages the exploitation of women in my opinion, as they are no longer receiving the payment, but rather being pimped.

 

[special_kala]

I think it should be legal and have rules and regulations.

That way the workers could be safe as well and the clients

 

[Laura2919]

It should be illegal.

 

[aliss]

Well, I guess it depends on what kind. A lot of expensive escorts do actually use protection. Then you have your typical street walker who is too addicted to heroin to care about that, as many of them are already carrying Hep C, often HIV, etc. Then you have your darker side of prostitution which is child & other exploitation (ie sexual slavery) .. enough said about that. Prostitution itself is mostly built on explotation of drug addicts or vulnerable people. If a $5,000 per night call girl wants legality, whatever. But she`s not the one who needs help. It`s your 11 year old girl being worked out of her paren`ts basement or heroin addicted 19 year old who needs help. No, it should not be legalized for them. It should not be okay.

 

[lesleyann]

i dont agree with it what so ever however, as said before it will never stop and if we can protect people by making it legal and "clean" but not say the £2,000 a night price tag escorts come with since lets face the average man cannot afford that which is why the street ones make so much from more custom. If we made it legal where health tests where needed and protection provided at a "resonable" price it could also be taxed helping out the economy and taking money away from back street gangs/dealers ect

 

[smokey]

I think it should be made legal under certain conditions to protect the girls and keep them safe so they are not out wondering the street.
I dont realy know much about brothels but surely that has to be safer then being out on the streets (if run within stated laws).
I had a friend who turned to prostatuition and because she was limited to working streets and had no where safe to go and do it her body turned up in the thames (well the top half did) they still havnt found her killer or the rest of her 10 years later but they are pretty sure it was due to either prostitution or owing money to a pimp.

Im sure that if she had gone about it a differant much safer way and there had been laws to protect her she would still be alive

 

[Annunakian]

What a woman does with her body should be her decision. BUT.. I agree that if that is what she wants to do for a living there should be more opportunity for the girls to be able to work in places like say a brothel were they are taken care of and made sure they are healthy. They get paid their fair share and they obviously agree on the money terms before accepting employment. Keeping it illegal is just keeping the black market thriving for disease, pain and abuse.

 

[TattiesMum]

i dont agree with it what so ever however, as said before it will never stop and if we can protect people by making it legal and "clean" but not say the £2,000 a night price tag escorts come with since lets face the average man cannot afford that which is why the street ones make so much from more custom. If we made it legal where health tests where needed and protection provided at a "resonable" price it could also be taxed helping out the economy and taking money away from back street gangs/dealers ect

Exactly Lesleyann - that was the point I was trying to make - if prostitutes were provided with a legal way to ply their trade, with set working conditions and at an affordable rate for normal men then that would dramatically reduce the demand for street walkers.

If there was no demand for street walkers or illegal brothels then that would make it not worth while for criminal gangs to run sex slaves - either by imprisoning illegal immigrants or by getting girls hooked onto drugs as a way of controlling them ....

It's simple supply and demand - there will ALWAYS be a demand for prostitutes but if the demand was being met legally, with the working girls' interests being protected, then the demand for the really dark side would fall and no-one would bother supplying it

Lets face it - aside from any moral arguments - having prostitution as being largely illegal just doesn't stop it so the misery just goes on .... surely it's time to take a fresh look at it?

 

[redpoppy]

excellent topic for debate.

I'm very confused on this one. Ultimately I just want women and children not to be trafficked or exploited and for rape and abuse and exploitation to not be a norm in any area of life like most people. I don't know if legalisation will bring that.

Although I have personal issues which mean I'm against the idea of sex in exchange for money I think that's more a social preference rather than a workable goal. I also have personal issues with many other things in society but I wouldn't think it realistic to make them illegal.

Also, I suppose high class prostitutes are not what people worry about. I'm more worried about young (or indeed older) girls who are addicted to substances who are prostituting themselves to feed their habit or girls who are brought in from all over the world to work for brothels.

I read somewhere than Holland still has issues with trafficking and so I don't know what that means for legalisation.

I don't think locking up women for the oldest profession is productive but I think men who use prostitutes need to be a little more conscientious which seems like an impossible task.

Apparently in surveys the vast majority of men think it's impossible to rape a prostitute. The fact that many intelligent men can not understand that rape can be a factor despite any agreement or exchange of money is a huge issue.

 

[bky]

It's legal here and I like the difference in attitude it seems to bring. For instance there was a girl (who happened to be a prostitute) murdered here 2 years ago and the news coverage barely focussed on her profession. I felt like she got treated more like a 'normal' murder victim (what an odd sentence, but hopefully YKWIM) and less like it was her fault as she was walking the streets. Put it this way, NZ is so small pretty much everything makes the news (local is national!) and I hardly ever hear of violence against prostitutes. Sometimes a note like.." a man was unruly at a (brothel)club and police escorted him from the premises."
There do seem to be less women out alone at night (working) because there is the option of working somewhere more regulated. I'm sure that a fair few do it to support drug habits (meth is a problem here), there are illegal workers doing it (mainly from Asia, though they will be deported if caught so maybe not as much?) and there is outcry from people who don't want brothels in their neighborhoods, but overall I feel it reduces some of the issues illegal prostitution can cause. In additon, brothels seem to motivate workers to NOT be strung out, working out of parking lots. Mainly as appearance is a factor when you aren't an independent operator, eg they can be fired.
I feel like overall the workers are safer as likely they would be doing it anyhow and at least with it legal they have recourse to go to the police when dealing with violent clients.
When I was in University I lived with some sex workers (exotic dancers/sex shows etc). I've met some that like the work, and some that like the money. Even though the ones I lived with didn't have drug issues, they found themselves trapped in the profession because they became accustomed to the money. One of them tried to have a regular job working at a corner shop and quit after a month because the money wasn't as good and she found the work harder.

 

[PeanutBean]

My black and white response is prostitution should be legal for the woman and illegal for any pimps; anyone making money except the woman in question; and the clients.

Outside of the black and white, well things aren't that simple. I do believe in a freedom of occupational choice, particularly where one's own body is concerned, but I don't believe that any woman would choose to do it if there were a better occupational alternative. I'm confused around creating a safe and legal way to do it because of this. I would rather investment were made to offer alternatives.

 

[Scamp]

I don't think it should be illegal.
I do think there should be strict laws with it. I understand plenty of women feel they need to do it to pay to live, but I do think standing on street corners looking for men should be illegal, it is far too dangerous.
With some of the escort companies that sell sex, they have regular check ups, free condoms and a safer way to work.
Anyone interested there are two really good books by someone called Miss S called confessions of a working girls and extra confessions of a working girl.
x

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I really don't know to be honest.

 

[Blue_bumpkin]

Great topic for a debate!!

I think that prostitution should be legalised under strict controls ...

I mean it's illegal in most places, but has that stopped it? Or decreased the exploitation of women? Obviously not in either case - all we do by keeping it illegal is to push it further underground and criminalise the women who are already being exploited, making it harder for them to get any kind of protection at all

If we were to introduce legalised brothels with regular health checks for licenced working girls then men seeking their services would be more likely to go to those than pick up an 'illegal' on the street (less health risk and no risk of arrest for kerbcrawling etc). In turn that would have a knock on effect on the 'unlicensed' girls which would remove the financial incentive for traffickers and blatant exploiters.

Working girls would be safer, healthier, less likely to be being exploited and desperate women would no longer be being pushed further and further into debt by the current ridiculous system of fining them when their only source of income to pay fines is to go straight back out on the street

Men wanting to pay for sex would be in less danger health wise (which has a knock on effect for their wives and girlfriends in a lot of cases).

Criminal organisations would find a large income source being cut off by lack of demand for their illegal girls.

Billions of pounds worth of black market money would suddenly become eligible for taxation and thousands of hours of police time would be freed up to be used in combatting serious crime - benefitting the whole country.

Prostitution isn't called the oldest profession for no reason ... it's been with us since the dawn of time and no amount of calling it illegal is ever going to stop it so why not just accept that and tackle it in a different way?

All of the above!

 

[SKATERBUN]

In an ideal world I would like to see an end of women feeling the need to sell their bodies, whether they like it or not I think its wrong, and to legalise something is saying its ok to do. I dont think it will protect them as even if a brothel was legal there would still probably be girls who think this is all they are suited for in life and do not want to strive towards anything else. there will no doubt also be 'someone in charge' who could exploit those they had 'employed' in their establishments. Doubt there would be a HR dept to complain too

 

[Hayley90]

I dont agree with it in the slightest, but i realise its a path some women choose out of desperation, or some women (or even girls!) are forced into.


I am along the 'legalise it with heavy controls' line of thought...

There would need to be regular checks though, maybe a ID card or something, a license. It would need such strict controls i dont actually think it could work...

My reasons -

- Minimum wage. Each girl would have to earn her minimum wage per hour, or get a salary that conforms to the law for however many hours she works. Her time would have to be checked so she doesnt work more or less than she should... which is pretty difficult to do when measuring street time.

- Health and safety. They dont give out driving licenses to the blind, they shouldn't let unhealthy prostitutes spread illness. I know if i was gonna go and hire a prostitute lol id want her to be free of all the STIs and diseases before i even THOUGHT of hiring her (or him, i guess!)

- Tax - Id love to be the accountant of a self-employed licensed street worker who gets tips, bonuses and pay rises every single day.... can you imagine the sheer amount of cash that would be written off, and not declared!!


Im sure there are more... but if you were going to make it a profession, a proper job, all of that and more would need to be taken into account!!

Eek! x