Prostitution won't change, even if it's legal

[Dreamer Tatum]

The argument for legalization is that it ensures it's consensual and clean. Fine - suppose it's regulated so that a sex worker has to sign an affidavit that they are doing it by their own free will, they understand the risks, and they may even agree to pay a registration fee to ensure they're serious about working in the industry.

All that would is add an upper stratum to the business. Rich people could avail themselves of this high-end, registered, legit service, which because of its requirements would almost certainly be pretty expensive. You could argue that the high-end segment is already essentially de facto legal and self-regulating in some respects. Meanwhile, people who generally exploit the underage, the addicted, the hopeless, and the weak, would still have that segment wide open to them. I don't see how legalization can possibly change that aspect of prostitution.

[daleanime]

1. As long as we have the same problems...

with inequality that exist currently, nothing would change.

[shenmue]

2. Exactly

Vulnerable people will still be wandering around, shooting heroin, getting beaten by pimps and living in and out of trash hotels. Except for a few high-cost call girls, who cater to the rich, most prostitutes don't do this because it's "fun." They do it because they're poor.

The only thing that may be a tiny bit better is that if they didn't have to worry about being in and out of jail, they might be able to find some help for the drug thing. But the rest of their lives will probably be the same.

Johns romanticize the encounter as something fun to do because they're bored. I really doubt most prostitutes out there are having a good time.

[redqueen]

3. It doesn't, it makes it worse.

You're exactly right, it creates a two-tiered system.

And since it's legal, it is easier for traffickers to cash in on the buyers who don't want to use condoms, who don't want to restrict themselves to acts which legal prostitutes will agree to, and who want underage prostitutes.

K&R