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Do you think prostitution should be legal?

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by Andrew99, Aug 13, 2018.

?

Should prostitution be legal?

Poll closed Sep 12, 2018.
  1. Yes

    57.4%
  2. No

    8.5%
  3. I have mixed feelings on it

    34.0%
  1. Kyrielles

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    Also. I want to add that I don't agree with punishing prostitutes in the criminal system, I think there should be reform programs targeted toward prostitutes. Ya know, a safe place to be in more comfortable than jail that offers mental health, and education/training for decent jobs. I know that in some cases it pays good money and I know in some cases the people doing it are 100% okay with it, but I fear that more so people do it because they lack the skills/education to get a good job, therefore it's easy money. And sometimes these people have mental health issues, usually stemming from sexual assault/violence. And of course a lot of the times prostitution involves drugs in some way. Either the prostitute is paid in drugs or doing it for money to acquire drugs, because they are addicted to drugs. Again I'm not saying this applies to all prostitutes, but I'm afraid in the bigger percentages it does. And honestly it's sad if you think about it.
     
  2. alwaysforever

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    Prostitution should be legal for a very simple reason. Much like alcohol prohibition or the war on drugs, people will continue to use the service whether it's legal or not. As such, regulation is really the only real answer. The sad thing is that laws forbidding prostitution make it more profitable as a black market enterprise, and it puts more people's lives at risk due to not addressing things such as spread of sexually transmitted disease, drug addiction and other problems.
     
    #22 alwaysforever, Aug 15, 2018
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2018
  3. Justinian20

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    Okay so as an Australian I am pretty much biased because in almost every Australian state prostitution is legal and regulated as a business, yes each state has different laws regarding what consists of prostitution and what is legal in terms of prostitution. But it certainly works better than banning prostitution. I'm not 100% knowledgeable on statistics but I definitely voted Yes in this poll. Because if prostitution is regulated, workers are protected and that means less STD's and more rights for the women and men working there.
     
  4. Aussie792

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    Bringing sex work out of the shadows can increase regulation, access to workplace protections and willingness to rely on criminal law. When you no longer have a threat of violence from a pimp for exposing his dirty work to the authorities, and when reporting the circumstances in which a client has inflicted violence upon you no longer risks you being charged with unlawful prostitution, you have more capacity to rely on legal protection. That not only gives recourse for the examples you give of sexual assault, murder and robbery but also increases the perceived risk of legal sanction for unscrupulous and abusive clients who thrive on the shadowy nature of sex work where it's illegal. Where you know the person you're abusing can't go to the authorities, you have an area of impunity. Criminalising any area of sex work creates leeway for wrongdoers.

    The social ramifications for sex work don't actually fundamentally change. Your parents will probably not like it in any world. The well-adjusted children of healthy families will be less likely to go into sex work - that remains true in jurisdictions where it is lawful and where it is unlawful. But when those on the margins of society will go into sex work either way, increasing legal protections is an important way to minimise the entrenchment of their dispossession.

    What is also does is that, in circumstances where a person decides to go into sex work not as a result of marginalisation but by free choice, there is actually a decently regulated market with workplace protection. These look like agreed-upon work hours, a right to enforce contracts related to sex work, access to wage bargaining, an ability to honestly report income for tax purposes, clean and safe facilities and other such ordinary components of providing a service for profit. If that incentivises more people to enter the sex industry, then I'm fine with that.

    That's why I think it's important to make sex work an industry with low barriers to entry and no criminalisation of sex workers, clients and assisting staff (accountants, business managers etc.), so that nobody has an incentive to stay in the legal shadows and drag others there with them.
     
    #24 Aussie792, Aug 16, 2018
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2018
  5. PatrickUK

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    I think there is strength in arguments for and against legalisation and that's why I have mixed feelings. In theory, legalisation would afford greater protections to sex workers and I'm very much in favour of that, but it's my understanding that legalisation doesn't always deliver the theoretical benefits and criminality remains a pervasive influence. It's been argued that legalisation actually fosters demand and provides a legitimate front for serious organised crime and people trafficking, at the same time as reducing police oversight.

    I remember watching a documentary program on UK Television a few years ago that investigated the arguments for and against the legalisation of prostitution, with interviews with various interested parties and it moved me from my previously held view that it should be legalised (or decriminalised) to a less certain position, where I now have mixed feelings. When the arguments in support of legalisation were subject to greater scrutiny, it just seemed much less certain to me.
     
  6. dano218

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    I don't personally care for it but between two consenting adults there should be nothing wrong with it. Just a waste of money to jail those involved and even though there are risks to the job obviously the simple career of being a prostitute should not be criminalized.
     
  7. AwesomGaytheist

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    The biggest problem with prostitution is human trafficking, addiction, and the other ugly realities of what prostitution funds. If they were truly doing it of their own volition, then that’s one thing. But a good number, if not most, are being pimped and trafficked, and that’s what the money is going to.
     
  8. BMC77

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    Well, for me, there is one selling point of legalizing prostitution. Legal prostitution may be the only hope I have of ever having sex before I drop dead...
     
    #28 BMC77, Aug 18, 2018
    Last edited: Aug 18, 2018
  9. Destin

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    If it's really that important to you it wouldn't be hard to find an illegal one right now you know. Not advocating breaking the law in general, but if it's harming your self-esteem as much as it appears to be it could be helpful to you.
     
  10. Denial

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    I have mixed feelings but think it may be a good idea to legalize it and charge tax.
     
  11. Andrew99

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    I think prostitution should be legal. I feel like then we wouldn’t have to worry about cracking down so much on someone paying for sex and focus more on other crimes that are much more damaging to society.
     
  12. Morse Code

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    Yes, it should be legal. I guess one thing I worry about is that it might make it harder to prosecute human trafficking cases.
     
    #32 Morse Code, Aug 21, 2018
    Last edited: Aug 21, 2018
  13. BadassFrost

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    I don't know honestly… prostitution is actually legal here (except for organized one, like brothels), and I'm not sure if it's any good for my country. I've heard that there are still problems with it. Our government is too lazy to do something useful like register prostitutes and set some clean rules for them. But who knows, maybe one day they will do something.
    Also supposedly because of it being legal, prostitution is flourishing here. It gives a bad name to some parts of my country. On the other hand, if prostitutes need some help they can get it, there are some organizations that specialize in helping them. So I don't know... maybe it would be a good thing that it is legal, but our government has to act and control it more.