September 26, 2009

• Prostitution and the Government

  Ok, I am going to talk about something that I know many many of my readers will not agree with me on, but that is ok. Please read all this and then feel free to give your thoughts and opinions in the comments.

  I know many people enjoy talking about the evils of Prostitution and I agree. I would never want one on my children to be a prostitute. I believe sex is a beautiful thing between a husband and a wife. That being said, I am about to say something that will probably shock everyone reading this…. I do not believe that Prostitution should be illegal.

  Why?

  Well, to be honest, I don’t think that it should be an issue that the government has it’s hands in. The government has put it’s hands into way too many things that it really shouldn’t have it’s hands in. Prostitution is one of those things. In the United States, each state has the power to decide whether or not prostitution is legal in that state or part of that state. In all but two U.S. states (Nevada and Rhode Island), the buying and selling of sexual services is illegal and usually classified as a misdemeanor.
  
  Prosecuting Prostitutes has become a way for states to make money. Another way they could do this is by allowing legal Prostitution and just taxing them like the Bunny Ranch (this is a link to the actual Bunny Ranch site. You have been warned).

  Originally, prostitution was widely legal in the United States. Prostitution was made illegal in almost all states between 1910 and 1915 largely due to the influence of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union which was influential in the banning of drug use and was a major force in the prohibition of alcohol.
  
  Before that in many parts of the United States Brothels were common. Over 200 brothels existed in lower Manhattan. Brothels are establishments specifically dedicated to prostitution. Other names for brothels include bordello, whorehouse, cathouse, and knocking shop. Prostitution also occurs in some massage parlours, and in Asian countries in some barber shops where sexual services may be offered as a secondary function of the premises.

  Basically, prostitution has been and will continue to permeate society, thrive in it, and women will continue to use their bodies as a means to feed themselves.
  
  Are we all agreed on that? So why not legalize it, if we know it exists already?

  Prostitution has been in existence for hundreds and hundreds of years, going back to the Byzantine, Roman, Greek, and Egyptian Empires. Prostitution is not about to disappear anytime soon, despite relatively recent local laws.

  Ted Arthur Haggard was leader of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). He resigned or was removed after he admitted soliciting prostitute Mike Jones for homosexual sex and methamphetamine.

  Edward Nottingham was the former chief federal judge of Colorado. In August 2007, Nottingham was exposed as having spent $3,000 at a strip club in 2005. His ex wife found the credit card receipt and it, and related purchases, became public knowledge through his divorce proceedings. In October 2008, Nottingham resigned after a prostitute filed an affidavit with the 10th Circuit claiming that she asked him to lie to 10th Circuit investigators about their weekly illegal sex sales from February 2003 through November 2004. Despite this, he is a lawyer in private practice in good standing in Colorado.

  Louisiana Senator David Vitter was identified as a client of “D.C. Madam” Deborah Jeane Palfrey’s prostitution service in Washington, D.C. He is an outspoken conservative.

  Making prostitution legal would allow the act to be managed instead of ignored.

  Look at all the problems that occurred when Alcohol was illegal. Home producers created whiskey and bathtub gin. The price of alcohol skyrocketed in black market sales due to heavy demand and the greedy public officials who secretly monitored it. The government lost considerable amounts of tax dollars from bootlegged alcohol and it became impossible to regulate the quality and safety of the product. It was thought prohibition would put an end to many social problems but it actually created many more. Increasing the number of laws runs a risk of creating more criminals, and that is exactly what had happened. Jails became filled.

  If we allow prostitution to remain hidden from view and basically invisible to the law as it is today, we allow a number of teens to be swept up into prostitution every year. When adult women decide to exchange money for sex, it is a personal choice open to them under the philosophy of a free, democratic society. When troubled minors who do not yet have the social survival skills decide to prostitute, they are often manipulated by opportunists who exploit these teens, typically leading to horrific ends. Legalizing prostitution will help prevent these instances through regulation.

  Legalized, regulated prostitution has many benefits. Encounters can happen within controlled environments that bring about safety for both the customers and the prostitutes. Prostitutes would no longer be strong-armed by pimps or organized crime rings. Underage prostitution would be curtailed. There would also be health-safety improvements.

  Why is the government deciding what is ok for two consenting adults in privacy?

  There are many benefits to legalized prostitution.
  The benefits include
  (1) allowing law enforcement agencies to respond to more important crimes,
  (2) freeing justice systems from nuisance cases,
  (3) helping women who are trapped by prostitution,
  (4) preventing teens from being ensnared into prostitution (If prostitution was legal then it would be easier (but not impossible) to keep under 18s out of it.)
  (5) stopping some of the HIV spread (there could be Prostitutes who are HIV positive who could service clients who are HIV positive).
  
  What are your thoughts?

  • 3:14 pm
  • 30 Comments