Should prostitution be legalized?

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What do you guys think? I'd like to see the debate here.

I don't see any rational reason why not. It would get loads of women out of prison, it would demystify sex, and it would repeal an ages old morality law. I'd like to see some figures on how Nevada's doing with that, and Amsterdam. With respect for health standards, I think it would be a great thing. And awesome for those of us with zero interest in relationships but a healthy sex drive.

As long as those working in the industry pay taxes on their earnings, I'm all for it.

Hate to spoil your fun and angst, but in a lot of places in the world it already is legal.

Cheers

Dont we already have an intermindably long thread on this subject only a page or two back?

Fact, I thought someone had brought it back from the dead until I saw only three replies showing that this was a "new" thread.

A majority of PPR users are not from those countries.

Sure, make it legal, license it for fixed locations only (not the workers themselves), and tax it just like any other business.

Yes it should be legal for reasons already stated.

Also, it seems that it would lower the occurrence of STDs if "harems" had their prostitutes regularly screened (and the customers as well). Do we have any evidence of this where prostitution IS legal? I'm curious!

It IS the oldest profession around and if anyone thinks that making illegal is going to stop it, they are insane. It's an example of one person forcing their morals on another.

"People who cheat in relationships" is a COMPLETELY different topic and unrelated to whether or not prostitution is legal. Cheaters will cheat regardless and it would be better to NOT bring an STD home to their partner. Yes, people shouldn't cheat, but again, different topic. Just throwing that in there b/c it's one of the first arguments people make against legal prostitution.

Our ancestors traded fruit and tasty tidbits for it,why not.The fact that it's illegal hasn't stopped it.They should have a union also,that would take care of those greedy pimps.

True, but it does go to show that nothing terrible happens to those places, it won't be the end of civilisation as we know it.

It can also mean that people with disabilities can have access to sexual pleasure without the additional problems of legality.

It certainly should be legal. It harms nobody and is strictly a moral issue. People who believe it's wrong or a sin are perfectly free not to patronize hookers and to make their beliefs known by protesting. It's legal to have sex with a total stranger, it's legal to take money from a total stranger, it should be legal to combine those two. I do think that if it's legal and there are brothels, there should also be some for women, with hot, built guys. Nobody ever brings that up. It's always "It's demeaning to women", "It's a sin, the Bible says so", or "My husband/boyfriend will cheat on me!"

1. It's not demeaning to women, it's empowering. We have a choice about what to do with our bodies, and while we aren't "selling our body" we would simply be performing a service with it in exchange for cash. What is demeaning to women is to arrest them over and over for having sex for money. What's demeaning to women is their having to turn over their earnings to their pimp because he's got the local cops in his pocket. What's demeaning to women is having to throw a beat cop a freebie in the back of the squad car in exchange for not arresting her.

2. Whether or not it's a sin isn't part of it because that's a matter of personal belief. If we are going to legislate sexual practices based on what some religions see as sinful then we need to make sex between everyone except a married man and woman illegal. They should have restrictions too. It should be illegal to masturbate, to have anal or oral sex, to use birth control, to pull out, to use sex toys, and to have sex simply for pleasure rather than to procreate. I don't see that happening though so why not let prostitution be legal? I could do it legally if I asked for, say, an ipad instead of cash. If a guy asked me to have sex and I said "Sure, if you will let me have your ipad", that's the same thing, he's just giving me merchandise rather than cash.

3. Anybody who wants to cheat will cheat. The type of cheating that is least threatening to a relationship is cheating for pure sex. Hookers aren't going to be dating the guy or having a relationship on the side with him, and the chance of him falling in love and leaving the wife/gf are pretty small. If you are with a cheater who makes a habit of it, they will always cheat. That's the type who has cheated from the early part of the marriage and also during dating. That type will always cheat and hookers or no, they will find somebody. The type of cheater who does so for emotional reasons because their partner won't give them any emotional support or affection, etc won't be going to the hooker, the hooker doesn't have what they want. That's the easiest type of cheater to keep at home and the partner bears a large part of the burden for causing the situation. That type of cheating is easily preventable while the first type of cheating, the partner has absolutely no responsibility for. Hookers don't change any of that. Those who say hookers cause cheating are probably the same ones who think that strippers want their boyfriends or husbands - which they so do not.

It's been legal here in New Zealand for a few years now. There are certain rules though, like you are not allowed to have a brothel within a couple of hundred metres of a school.

I don't know the statistics on it sorry kouzoku.

To me, as long as the prostitutes are there voluntarily, then I don't see the problem. Surely it is better for the police to be concentrating on crimes, rather than a business transaction between two consenting parties.

Prostitution is legal in the UK, but most of the ways of doing it are not.

Why not?

I'm from a place where it's legal, too, and I don't see any problem about it.
Yes, prostitutes are there and they're pretty easy to find if you want to.
But that doesn't mean everybody uses their services. In fact, I don't personally know anybody who has done so (OK, most people probably wouldn't admit).

Just looking at statistics for the UK.

At least 80,000 women working as prostitutes.

Figures of around >70% of these started as children,
continue due to poverty,
have spent time in care,
have been physically assaulted when at work and at home.

Around half have been sexually abused by family when young and a similar number have been raped on the job.

Up to 95% have drug issues and 90% would like to leave the profession.

Personally I can't agree that this doesn't cause harm to those involved.

Jo, a former prostituted woman who started at the age of 13 says: "When was the last time you enjoyed being penetrated by twenty lairy, half-pissed blokes who spit all over you, call you a variety of names, and demand you act as though you are really getting off on it in an evening, every evening?".

http://www.object.org.uk/the-prostitution-facts

This marginalized group should not be prosecuted and be given any help possible.

Ah - OBJECT, the anti-prostitution puritan wing of feminism. They can go to hell.

Groups like this have no wish to take on board the experiences of sex workers who are actually quite happy in their job and have lots of fun doing it. They have a singular goal in mind, which is to make prostitution illegal.