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Should prostitution be legalized?

Debate Information

Some pros and con's on the topic - http://prostitution.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000122

Effects of legalizing prostitution on Rhode Island - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/07/17/when-rhode-island-accidentally-legalized-prostitution-rape-and-stis-decreased-sharply/?utm_term=.ae00335869db

The nordic model - (Selling legal buying not) https://mic.com/articles/112814/here-s-what-s-happened-in-sweden-16-years-since-decriminalizing-prostitution#.PT59OZzZ1

I'm in favor of legalizing prostitution in brothels like Nevada. Feel like it lowers crime rates and diseases, but I find the nordic model an interesting spin on criminalizing it.

I do feel like it needs to be implemented with rational regulations or it's more harmful than helpful - http://www.equalitynow.org/sites/default/files/Does_Legalizing_Prostitution_Protect_Women_and_Girls_EN.pdf

Thoughts?
fedpositioknlove2debatejuretsearchSilverishGoldNova
  1. Live Poll

    Should prostitution be legalized?

    13 votes
    1. Nevada - Yes but only in brothels
      30.77%
    2. Yes across the board
      69.23%
    3. No
        0.00%
    4. Nordic model - yes for seller, no for buyer
        0.00%



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    Arguments


  • fedpositioknfedpositiokn 18 Pts   -  
    I agree with @coveny . Prostitution should become legalized but not on the governments call.

    It should be legalized on the states word. The States need to be in control of this. They can see how it works out, if it doesn't just illegalize it again. I'm not sure about the point where it would reduce disease, but get the prime aspect. If they have %#* , and one of them has an STD, that woundlt really Reduce disease, if its legal or not. Although, they person may be able to tell the truth, due to not having a fear of jail time or whatever is given like a fine. Crime would be reduced, because he people interacting with this wouldn't be committing scrims due to the legailiziation. Overall, I think that it should be legalized.
    love2debate
  • CovenyCoveny 419 Pts   -  
    It reduces disease because of condoms. (when they are required)
  • love2debatelove2debate 186 Pts   -  
    State-based decisons on this will be a good model as pointed out by @fedpositiokn ;
    meshotyoe
  • meshotyoemeshotyoe 18 Pts   -  
    I agree with @love2debate .
  • CovenyCoveny 419 Pts   -  
    In 2003 Rhode Island, accidently decriminalized prostitution. The effects of this were "caused both forcible rape offenses and gonorrhea incidence to decline for the overall population. Our synthetic control model finds 824 fewer reported rape offenses (31 percent decrease) and 1,035 fewer cases of female gonorrhea (39 percent decrease) from 2004 to 2009"
    http://www.nber.org...

    This breaks down into two argument in favor of legalized prostitution.

    1) Rape dropped by 824. The effects of which will affect the victim for the rest of their lives.
    https://mainweb-v.musc.edu...

    2) Gonorrhea dropped by 1,035. STDs are a critical health concern affecting this country.
    https://www.health.ny.gov...

    3) It is hypocrisy with prostitution being illegal, while porn is legal. Whatever argument can be for or against, one can be made for the other.
    http://www.cnn.com...

    4) No one sees any problem with massages. No one sees any problem getting their hair, nails, or feet done. In all these cases, you are paying another human being to touch you. How is sex any different?

    5) Freedom is being able to choose what you do with your body. Choosing to have sex with someone for money is no different.

    Prostitution has been said to be the oldest profession in the world, and yet it's an illegal profession. And it's a profession men and women are getting into every year.
    http://www.nytimes.com...

    Even today women from other countries come to the us to become trophy wives. How is a trophy wife who trades sex for money any different than a prostitution who does the same? No one sees this as illegal though.
    http://www.thedailybeast.com...

    Prostitution provides an outlet for those who don't have time or a desire to have relationships.
    http://www.salon.com...

    Prostitution is going to happen even if it's illegal, but if it's legal we can tax it, as well as helping the economy.
    https://www.mrc.org...

    Health impact
    I have covered how it lower rape which affects people for the rest lives. I have shown how it lowers the spread of STDs which doesn't just affect those who use prostitutes but helps to make us all safer, and healthier as well as lowering the healthcare and financial burden the diseases cause.

    Legal aspect
    I have shown it is not a fair law in that it is legal to pay for sex if it's filmed. As well as showing the analogies between prostitution, massages, and trophy wives. I have shown that it has a long history of being an accepted profession, as well as the ineffectiveness of criminalizing it. Legalizing it would generate revenue and lower taxes on the rest of us.

    Moral aspect
    The government has no right to regulate a person's freedom when it comes to selling sex that deals with mutually consenting adults. Freedom is the ability to make make decisions that others don't agree with. We are free to do any number of things to other consenting adults that are immoral. (Gluttony and sloth) I have further shown that it is used by successful people who don't want to invest the time in relationships, breaking the stereotype that only "losers" go to prostitutes.

    In closing prostitution would be have a positive impact on the lives of the majority of the people in the areas it's decriminalized. The benefits extend well beyond the people engaged in prostitution both in the lower cases of rape/STDs and the lower of taxes. These facts are not even in question. The only real point of contention is if it is moral, and this is hotly debated, but comes down to freedom. Either you support freedom allowing someone to do something you don't agree with morally, or you don't support freedom and prevent people from doing what they do not see it as morally wrong. Personally I would rather stand on the side of freedom
  • inc4tinc4t 186 Pts   -  
    @Coveny, that is a really comprehensive articulation of an argument.  I learned quite a bit reviewing material you provided.  Thank you.
    I guess overall I agree with your position, but my reservation as to do with debatable impact on human trafficking due to legalization. Some argue that it would increase human trafficing further.  
    For those women who go into prostitution with a free will, legalizing it will be positive.  However, for those who are essentially doing it because of threat for their life (from pimps and etc) impact of legalization is unclear and may make it even worse.
    Coveny
  • CovenyCoveny 419 Pts   -  
    @inc4t that's a valid concern. I don't think it's an issue in the US, but legalization in 3rd world countries can be abused.
    juretsearch
  • juretsearchjuretsearch 24 Pts   -  
    I believe that it can't be legalized. Showing our youth this is extremely unreasonable and also un responsible.
  • SaltyDogSaltyDog 21 Pts   -  
    yes in the sense of they both consent, but no in the fact that it normalizes degeneracy
    ale5
  • CovenyCoveny 419 Pts   -  
    Neither a business transaction nor Sex are immoral, indecent, unreasonable, or irresponsible. Why is it that combining the two changes that?
  • MayCaesarMayCaesar 5967 Pts   -   edited August 2018
    Look at it this way. Two adults consent for sex, and one adult gives another one some money willingly. What ground is there for any kind of restrictions in this regard that do not apply to regular money transfers and consensual sex - aside from the outdated notions of prostitution being "sinful"? It would be a "sin" to restrict what people can do with their bodies and what they are willing to offer for doing so, and not the other way around.

    In terms of practical benefits, there are plenty. Just to name a few:
    1. Prostitution always happens, no matter how much the government tries to restrict it - when it is strongly restricted, it merely moves to the black market. Black markets are illegal and, as such, are ridden with organized crime. By legalizing prostitution, we give the prostitutes same rights and protections as other workers enjoy, rather than leaving them at the mercy of crime lords who tend to not think much of such terms as "rights" and "protections". All these schemes of pimps controlling their employees by hooking them up on heavy drugs, threatening to go after their family or their own lives, or making the nature of their employment public to destroy their lives - would not be routinely taking place in a legal organization.
    2. Legalized prostitution becomes a viable job career-wise, meaning it will not be a stain on one's resume and will not repeatedly come up in background checks as something extremely unsavory. This means that the prostitutes have a future and potential career perspectives when they decide to change their profession, while as of now they do not have much of a future once their past has been figured out by the system.
    3. The above two points also apply to the clients. In case of a legal prostitution organization, you can go there and expect to be treated as all customers should be treated: with dignity and respect. When prostitution is outlawed, however, the client has to deal with shady/criminal characters who could blackmail them afterwards in a number of ways, or even outright physically attack them on the spot over some minor disagreement.
    4. Finally, prostitution could be a profitable economical sector. People have needs, and they do not always know how to fulfill those needs through non-commercial means, or they can just lack determination and/or time to spare. Offering them a legal way to satisfy those needs for money will contribute to the taxes they pay, as well as to the private market money circulation, which is likely to lead to a faster  economical growth than otherwise.
    I do not see any downsides to legalizing prostitution, aside from the notion of legalizing prostitution creating additional incentives for people to work in the field, as opposed to working in other, arguably more economically productive, fields. However, this notion is easily countered by the simple consideration: "Individuals make their own decisions and are responsible for them". If someone wants to work as a prostitute simply because it is, say, easier than working at the office - then let them make this decision and face the consequences. The government is supposed to guarantee the protection of people's rights and liberties; nursing them is not its job. 

    ---

    With regards to the Nordic model as described, it does not seem to make much sense to me. If selling something is legal, but buying it is not, then the law is a logical self-contradiction - it essentially legalizes a consented on crime for one of the two sides participating in it. 

    I also do not get the "gender rights" argument. A prostitute can be either a man or a woman, and the customer can be either a man or a woman; just because most prostitutes are women and most customers are men, does not mean that there is any kind of gender inequality involved in the prostitution industry itself - it is just a natural effect of societal biases. The reasoning is essentially sexist, as it advocates for a legally binding decision based on the sexes of the involved sides and not on their legal standing in the context.
  • MayCaesar said:
    Look at it this way. Two adults consent for sex, and one adult gives another one some money willingly. What ground is there for any kind of restrictions in this regard that do not apply to regular money transfers and consensual sex - aside from the outdated notions of prostitution being "sinful"? It would be a "sin" to restrict what people can do with their bodies and what they are willing to offer for doing so, and not the other way around.

    In the case of prostitution the Constitutional principle of separation is that the woman is by right also selling a possible citizenship to a nation she does not own, or have right of offering unregulated entry to, she maybe attempting to buy a citizen ship for the exchange of money with copulation fort the creation of a child, not that she is just selling herself for money.

    A male is a gigolo not prostitute. The male gigolo also shares the same burden.


    Applesauce
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