Should prostitution be legal, or illegal?

[Nye Bevan]

This poll refers to consenting adults over the age of 18, with no coercion involved.

44 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Prostitution should be legalized, regulated and licensed, with mandatory health checks and in designated areas only.
	42 (95%)
	Prostitution should be illegal under all circumstances.
	2 (5%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
Show usernames Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll

[OldDem2012]

1. Congress is legal, why not prostitution? Same thing, right? nt.

[cliffordu]

6. Perfect.

[Motown_Johnny]

9. No

There are some things a sex worker just won't do no matter how much they are paid.

[Deep13]

51. +1

[JI7]

2. illegal

[JaneyVee]

3. Legal.

[Benton D Struckcheon]

4. Legal and regulated...

...same story with drugs. End the damn drug war. Get rid of these vice offenses that tie up resources for no good reason and reverse it: make it legal, regulate it, and tax it. The results re crime and the budget will be mildly spectacular.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

5. Very Mixed

Part of me wants to support the concept of freedom of choice, including to be a sex worker.

Part of me understands that sex workers are treated about as badly as you can get and I am not sure legalization will help in that regards.

[winter is coming]

16. Same here. Does anyone know if sex workers are any better off in places where

prostitution is legal?

[Travis_0004]

17. I would assume so.

In places where it is legal, there is health screening, and security to protect them from customers. I know a bit about places like the bunny ranch (just from TV), and I don't think they are perfect there, (not by a long shot), I would imagine they are much better than a place where prostitution is illegal.

[LadyHawkAZ]

19. Yes, they are

HIV/STD transmission drops when condom use is mandated and enforceable, abuse drops, sexual assaults drop, mental and physical health draws level with the general population and and trafficking goes down.

ETA I should clarify, trafficking drops where trafficking enforcement is funded and pursued. Some places haven't.

[redqueen]

48. Read about how serious the human trafficking issue is in Amsterdam.

Keep in mind, this is a multi billion dollar industry, so treat the information you read as critically as you would if it were about any similarly lucrative industry. Money buys a large platform from which to speak, and the largest megaphone.

[cbrer]

7. I've been looking for another career field... nt

[DollarBillHines]

8. If it was legal, could 'aspiring rappers' still afford Maseratis?

I would hate to see Maserati take a sales hit.

[limpyhobbler]

10. We need a system where anybody can get a good job without a hassle.

A full employment situation where everybody's basic needs are met and people don't live in fear because of their precarious economic situations. Then I think you'll see a lot less prostitution. Banning it probably just creates a black market and a dangerous situation. So I think it should be legal. But I also don't think it's to be celebrated. I have a problem with it as I don't like the idea of people being forced into selling their body as a commodity. Some may say it is not forced, it is a choice. But there may different ideas abut what constitutes force. I think you'll find that most prostitutes come from low income backgrounds. Not too many rich people go into prostitution as a career choice. People are compelled into selling their bodies because they need money. So even though the poll question says 'no coercion involved', I think there may be always be some economic coercion at work.

Somebody may say a construction worker also sells their body for money, so what's the difference. But selling one's body for sex strikes me as a rather more dramatic and desperate act than selling it for general labor.

[waddirum]

46. not to mention that sex workers with arrests for prostitution...

... face further discrimination in the legit job market, because of their criminal record.

[madokie]

11. Sure it should be legal

Seems to me the only real hangup is religion

[Fawke Em]

12. We really need to provide better job opportunities to women.

Prostitution isn't one of them.

[Puzzledtraveller]

27. I agree

And those that support it's legalization also decry women as objects. You cannot have it both ways.

[bowens43]

32. If that's what they want to do, why not?

[Yavin4]

37. Why do you assume that all prostitutes are women?

The most common street walkers where I live are young, poor men who are far more likely to be killed than their female counterparts.

[Motown_Johnny]

13. "No coercion involved" is the problem with this question.

Prostitution has always been a way to subjugate women. The damage done to women coerced into prostitution far outweighs, in my opinion, any benefits from regulating it. Eliminating coercion is not possible. Reducing the number of people exploited in the sex trade through legislation and enforcement is the lesser of the two evils here.


This is an issue where people on both sides have reasonable points. I can respect the opposing viewpoint but I disagree with it.

[jeff47]

20. Actually, it used to empower women

For example, prostitution was legal in a whole lot of ancient civilizations. As a result, there were women who were able to 'make it on their own'. They weren't dependent on a particular man like the typical married woman.

This enraged a lot of chauvinists. So they started pushing through laws and other efforts to stigmatize prostitution.

Eliminating coercion is not possible.

Based on what?

There's an awful lot of prostitutes today who are self-employed. Are you arguing they are being coerced by men despite working for themselves?

I'm not operating under any illusion that it's all like Pretty Woman or otherwise always wonderful for the woman. But the very illegality pushes prostitutes to be dominated by men, IMO. Decriminalize it, and a lot more women will work for themselves. Put restrictions like NV or Germany while 'legalizing' prostitution leads to various abuses.

[Recursion]

31. Based on every country where it is legal

There is not a legal prostitution regime in the world that has managed to avoid serious TIP problems.

Now de-criminalization as opposed to legalization is something that's worth looking at -- get interventions for the sex workers rather than putting them and the johns in jail.

[LadyHawkAZ]

40. Germany had a drop in trafficking post-legalization

http://rightswork.org/2010/10/claim-%E2%80%9Cgerman%E2%80%99s-legalized-prostitution-brought-more-exploitation-than-emancipation-to-women%E2%80%9C/

They have a pretty strong reporting and education program in place for trafficking.

[Grey]

14. Prostitution should be decriminalized,

If it were made legal, that means anyone that cannot find a job in their area must apply to work as a prostitute. No matter the age or sex of the person. I vote for taking it off the books. No one should be forced into that line of work.

[LadyHawkAZ]

21. That has never happened

and I doubt it ever would. If it's really a worry, it could be dealt with by a simple change in the unemployment laws.

[bowens43]

33. your post makes no sense.

"If it were made legal, that means anyone that cannot find a job in their area must apply to work as a prostitute. "

I'm sorry but that is a ridiculous statement.

[Warren Stupidity]

15. Legal and regulated, obviously.

The fantasists who think they can disappear sex work are not helping anyone.

[Ligyron]

18. If prostitution wasn't an underground, unregulated, "criminal" type activity

like it is here in the USA, there would be far less opportunity for violence/coercion period. Try calling the police on your pimp or suing him/her as things stand now. As long as people, usually men, are stupid enough or desperate enough to actually pay for sex - both parties involved could benefit from the protection afforded under the law.

[Recursion]

30. Really? Because it's got a lot of the same exploitation and trafficking problems in Germany

where it is legal.

[Ligyron]

45. I'm not surprised

When I was there female Turkish "Guest" workers were being exploited like crazy. Even if legal I don't know how much protection citizens, never mind non-citizens can expect, but it's got to be the least amount of harm to the fewer number of people I should think. Even here in the US without legal protection, some girls find it an easy way to make a lot of money and actually enjoy the work.

[Egalitarian Thug]

47. Well it's been legal here far longer and those problems do not exist at all.

That tells me that, if what you say is true, the problem is in Germany's laws and/or enforcement.

[Recursion]

49. Only if "here" is fairy-tale land. There's no legal prostitution in the world without...

... huge trafficking problems. Especially in Nevada.

[Egalitarian Thug]

57. That's just flat out wrong. There is trafficking here in Vegas because it is illegal,

mostly Asians but from all over. But it is virtually non-existent in the legal brothels and is quickly stopped when try it. The workers and the owners are quite vigilant.

[fujiyama]

22. Legal and regulated

The sex industry will never die. It's basic to want it - and to pay for it if not getting it otherwise - at least that's the way it has operated for several thousand years of human existence.

It's better to empower sex-workers under the law. To combat the exploitation we need to bring it to the light, de-stigmatize it to some extent, and regulate the industry - requiring health screenings among other protections - including heavier crackdowns on those that traffic women.

[Behind the Aegis]

23. Legal. Video pornography is legal, so why not prostitution?

As long as it is consensual, I fail to see how someone else's sex life is any of my business.

[Waltons_Mtn]

28. I thought about that before....

What is to stop someone from advertising "Shoot your own Porn"?
Here is how it would work. (of course this is simplified a bit)
A gentleman or lady could "produce", "direct", and "star" in their own porn movie. He/she funds it and purchases a script.
He/she hires an actor/actress to co-star in the movie.
After shooting the scene, someone "edits" it by adding the credits and proper regulatory items to the movie and then burns it to a DVD.
The movie is given back to the producer so he can "distribute" it, or not.


"Sick" to some, I know. But perfectly legal as far as the law is concerned.

[LiberalFighter]

24. Kill the pimps first.

[Nye Bevan]

25. Kick

[get the red out]

26. Legal

I am so tired of our law enforcement resources being wasted on prostitution and the war on drugs. If it were legal and regulated there would be less abuse involved. There is certainly no way to end it.

[Recursion]

29. Find a way to do it without TIP becoming involved, and I'd be pro-legalization/regulation

But so far no country has been able to do that.

[redqueen]

53. That is because a sizeable portion of sex buyers don't want to follow rules.

Legal prostitutes can refuse, but underground ones will have sex with no condom and perform whatever acts, and the sex buyers can be as humiliating or hurtful as they like. And many of them do like that ability a lot.

So wherever it is legal to buy sex, an underground market forms.

The Nordic model is quite successful. It will continue to spread to other countries as the laws become more progressive throughout Europe at least.

[JVS]

34. Somewhere between choice 1 and 2.

Heavy regulation of prostitution would just lead to a prostitution black market that functions the same way as the current illegal black market. OTOH, I could see why people wouldn't want every public place to be a venue for prostitution. Get rid of anti-prostitution laws, this allows prostitutes to choose whether to work in red-light districts or from their own homes, if a neighborhood doesn't want the activity in public they can use laws against lewd and lascivious behavior in public.

[brooklynite]

35. If you believe prostitution is "oppressive" to women, how do you feel about construction?

There are plenty of professional, well-paid construction workers who enjoy what they do. There are also plenty of unskilled, uneducated , sometimes undocumented people for whom their body is the only resource they have, who have to work as day laborers for minimal pay and no health or retirement benefits in sometimes unsafe working conditions. What's the difference?

We shouldn't try to ban EVERYONE from working if the work is something they choose; we should try instead to improve the working conditions of those who don't have a choice.

[aikoaiko]

36. It would reduce harm proportionately, but not make a dent in harm illegal prostitutes

who would probably not be reduced in numbers if there were reasonable regulation.

[Yavin4]

38. To protect the sex workers and inhibit trafficking, make it legal and regulated.

There will always be prostitution. No matter the economic system. By making it legal, you are treating its workers like you would in any other business. You give them criminal and civil protection. The reason why there are pimps is for protection. If their place of work is mistreating them, then you can give them civil remedies as well.

As for trafficking, by licensing sex workers, it's easier to detect those who are working without a license.

[MadrasT]

39. I honestly don't know. n/t

[ellisonz]

42. +1

[Kurska]

41. A resounding yes

Time to bring it out of the gutter and regulate for the benefit of all involved.

[The Straight Story]

43. Your body, your choice

If it is forced it is not prostitution it is slavery.

Someone wants to use their body to make money other than slaving in a factory and prostituting themselves to wall street I am good with that.

[Recursion]

54. The cheerful escort working her way through law school is a male fantasy

Look at it this way: nobody works as a lawyer to pay their way through escort school, you know?

[The Straight Story]

56. Still their choice, not for others to regulate how people use their bodies (nt)

[LittleBlue]

44. Legal. It's going to happen anyway

There's no point in punishing prostitutes or their johns

[hedgehog]

50. The purchase of sex should be illegal, not the sale.

[Deep13]

52. Prostitutes provide an honest service for fees.

They are not nearly as dishonest as politicians.

[Scootaloo]

55. I can't answer this as "yes" or "no"

I have no problem with the concept of prostitution itself. If someone decides, "what the hell, I want ot have sex and get paid for it," that's fine for them I suppose.

My problem is with the commodification of the human body and the outgrowths of that. You can talk about regulation and licensing and my question is, "Oh you mean like the oil industry and lobby groups?"

There's also the problem of people effectively being forced into prostitution by their own economic position; Or under the "license and regulate" paradigm, being arrested for trying to prostitute while poor, without some ProstiCorp contract.

I don't agree that the current paradigm "works." It's a punishment levied mostly against the prostitutes and their Johns rather than a measure against the actual problems.

So I'm afraid I don't have an answer. I don't think prostitutes should be punished for their trade, but nor do I think the solution is ProstiCorp. And just to complicate things, I hold that the treatment of human bodies and emotions as a salable product is inherently problematic... I don't think there's a good answer with in the framework of "passing and enforcing laws" any more than poverty is answerable through that.

[Nye Bevan]

58. Kick