Along the lines of Mark's recent legalization post, another question of legalization: prostitution?
I tend to think it should be legal for a few reasons:
1) Consent issues aside, the government does not belong in the bedroom. In fact, nobody really ought to be judging the sexual habits of others. They are personal choices on the level of scale...with lifestyle choices such as no sexual contact before marriage, no sexual intercourse before marriage, monogamy, promiscuity...and who cares? Truthfully, I worry more about a choice to abstain sex before marriage than promiscuity, seeing as it may stupidly push a young couple into marriage. Sure, prostitution is something different in that in many cases it involves sex not necessarily for pleasure (though there are "female empowerment" advocates who believe that stripping and prostitution can be empowering), and for other reasons that nobody seems to be able to put into words for me (a clear sign of blind beliefs without logic), but who are we to judge, much less the government?
2) Would I rather have my law enforcement agency spending time and tax dollars on preventing violent crimes or prostitution?
3) The main motivation, in my opinion, is for the well being of the prostitutes and clients. Let's face it, prostitution is going to happen no matter what. Some say that it's the oldest profession. I'm sure we've all read some Bible stories, it wss definitely around . Why not have unions to protect the rights of prostitutes? Why not regulate the trade for things like STD's? And perhaps most importantly, why should a prostitute be afraid to call the police when s/he is in danger?
So, agree or disagree/why or why not? I'd be curious to hear opionions from everybody...so, if you're a quiet lurker, or have stumbled upon this, please comment. I'm hoping to slightly recover from my shock after arguing about this with a kid at work today, and after talking about safety, hearing him say "who cares if they're killed? They're prostitutes." But, if that's a common opinion, I'd be interested to find out.
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Pimps and associated crime exist because it is illegal. The bottom line is empowerment. As with any other trade, the workers need to be in control of their own destiny. When they are, sex will trade at its natural price and, more than likely, end up a lot less attractive as a commodity because of the expense.
The sex slave industry thrives not on legalization of prostitution but in a complex of economic instability, suppresion of women's and children's rights, patriarchal oppression, greed, etc etc. Fixing those will take centuries, but when that's done, even with the sex trade legal the world round there will be no sex slave trade.
As with marijuana, prositution was made illegal in an atmosphere of moral correction: using the law to fix society's ills. But it was done in a very hamhanded fashion, without a clear appreciation of basic rights, or of true cause and effect. Now their continued illegality has become something of a tradition.
Anyway, we should continue to prevent crimes such as public sex and pandering, and the violation of workers' rights, but the sex and sex-trade portion of it should not be among those crimes.
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