Should prostitution be legal?

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-18-2004
Should prostitution be legal?
8
Tue, 08-31-2004 - 1:19pm

Should prostitution be legal?



  • Yes
  • No


You will not be able to change your vote.


iVillage Member
Registered: 05-18-2004
Tue, 08-31-2004 - 1:25pm
In the US(except for Las Vegas I think) prostitution is illegal. I happen to think it should be, because then it can be regulated(to an extent). I also find it odd that people in porn have sex for money and is legal, and am not sure how the law differntiates the two(porn and prostitution). I don't think the government should be able to tell us what we can do with out bodies in the privacy of our own homes.

Leticia

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-15-2003
Tue, 08-31-2004 - 1:44pm
Hi,

I voted 'yes'. I think it's wierd that it's illegal to sell something that you can give away. Having said 'yes' though, I believe that the industry should be HIGHLY regulated by the state government and the energy and resources currently used to control adult prostitution should be funneled into completely completely destroying teen and child prostitution. I think the penalty for adults that solicite children should be severe.

Peace.

Scott.

Avatar for sugarbeat
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Tue, 08-31-2004 - 2:51pm
i agree that there is a very fine line between prostitution and pornography. the reason most of pornography is legal is because it is protected by the first amendment free speech clause. it's also why you find a lot of thinly veiled plots in adult movies -- it is arguably "art" and the supreme ct. did not want to get into regulating what is art and what isn't. obscene material, however, is not protected by the first amendment and is illegal.

if pornography meets the following definition of obscenity it is illegal:

(a) whether "the average person, applying contemporary community standards" would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest

(b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and

(c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value."


it may sound like a lot of word play, and in large part it is. prostitution is still illegal because it does not enjoy the same first amendment protection.

the reason you have the larry flynt's and hugh hefner's championing first amendment rights is that it protects their bottom line.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-27-2004
Tue, 08-31-2004 - 3:58pm
They'll never stop it, so they might as well legalize it....and regulate it, and tax it, and make sure they are healthy & disease free. It works in Vegas.

However, just as in Vegas, even if it's legalized, there will still be illegal participants.

Many of the state Lotteries were an attempt to put an end to the illegal "numbers" and "policy" gambling, it didn't work. The lotteries make money, but there's still plenty of illegal gambling going on.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-18-2001
Tue, 08-31-2004 - 5:28pm
It was legalised here in New Zealand about 12 months ago. Since then there have been a rash of local and council by-laws created to govern the location of brothels, trading hours, restrictions on billboards and other advertising methods.

On the brightside, it's now taxed, regulated and because it's legal there are no problems with the girls getting employment contracts with conditions clearly set out in them. They are also entitled to the same benefits and holidays as any other employee. Health checks and tests are included and the girls don't have to hide their activities in the same way. Likewise, the brothels are more open to regular inspection by councils and police, and have tightened up the underage restrictions and checks because their cover can't be blown if they make enquiries about potential new girls. The safety of the girls has improved too because now the police can be called if clients are violent, refuse to pay, or cause any trouble.

One of the women from the Prostitutes Collective was on the tellie just the other day literally gushing about how conditions had improved for the prostitutes since the legalisation.

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-18-2004
Wed, 09-01-2004 - 3:29am
For those who voted no, what is your reasoning? Curious to know.

Leticia

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-29-2004
Wed, 09-01-2004 - 4:44am
regarding the new law in new zealand - i can see how the existing prostitutes are happy about all the better conditions. but what about young women coming up? now that there are all sorts of "benefits," will that make prostitution more enticing to them as a career option?

i'm not sure which answer is right, but i definitely see two sides to the coin.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-18-2001
Wed, 09-01-2004 - 9:42pm
>>but what about young women coming up? now that there are all sorts of "benefits," will that make prostitution more enticing to them as a career option?<<

I don't think that anyone sees it as a "career" in the normal sense. It's still not a job that I'd like my daughter doing, but for those that either choose to get into the business or fall into it by accident it's a better situation than it was. Apparently the number of women that are drug addicts prostituting themselves is/has fallen dramatically now that many of the brothels can easily and legally introduce drug-testing. I'm not sure if that means that there will be fewer drug addicts out there or if it's just forced them underground, but it does mean that the girls in the whorehouses will be there for one less reason and that customers will be safer.

I suppose that _some_ might see it as a more attractive 'career' option now that it has the thin veneer of legality and a certain basic acceptance.