Originally posted by Lord Shadow Z
Because I believe in finding a woman to love, I would never, ever condone anyone who believes that prostitution is acceptable in society.
The very concept of paying a strange woman to satisfy sexual needs is really disgusting and it should stay illegal.
I agree with your seniment Shadow, and there is no way I would ever even consider visiting a prostitute. Not incidentally that it is even the worst possible form of sexual immorality.
But you are forgetting that some people are ALWAYS going to use prostitution INEVITABLY whether it is legal or illegal. If it were legal then there would be little or no opportunity for pimps to exploit the racquets and whores so outrageously and where it does occur, there could be stringent hygiene controls, so morally repugnant though it may be, if it were legal, the overall situation could well be improved somewhat.
As I said, the idea that legalising is good because it will destroy the underground market is not necessarily 100% correct. It is the same argument advanced with drugs, and there, there is a moral objection that society should not condone that which is wrong, even if it would make things easier if it did- and I am sympathetic to that argument.
Secondly, like I also said before, I am far from convinced that legalised prostitution will have such a great effect on the underground market, which there will still be a big demand for.
As Corran pointed out, paying for sex is not illegal. What we are talking about here is solicitation or the organisation of such things; it is part of society which is obfusc and anonymous in nature.
Ok, here are some interesting details that put the idea that legalising it will reduce the harm it does in a different light:
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SWEDEN
Following decriminalisation, in 1995 the Swedish government appointed a commission to look at the problems resulting from prostitution in Sweden, and to look at the situation in other countries. As a result Sweden reversed the legislation, making prostitution illegal.
The main points the Swedish investigation found were the harms caused to people, as summarised below: -
Harm to woman – Prostitutes often have a bad start to life with poverty and sexual and other abuse. Prostitution adds further abuse (psychological, drugs, assault & STD’s) to an already traumatised woman. Post-traumatic stress syndrome, depression, suicide attempts are all much more frequent in prostitutes.
Harm to man – Prostitution gives men sexual release, without the need of proximity, relationship, or demands. Many men who use prostitutes are unable to form satisfactory relationships, and would benefit from treatment.
Harm to family/society. Families are the building blocks of society, and prostitution damages families. For instance the wife of a man who uses prostitutes always has to sexually live up to the man's extra-marital sexual experiences. Sexually transmitted diseases are brought into the home. Money and time is spent on prostitutes that should be spent on the family.
Human rights. Prostitution mainly involves women being used by men. Prostitution transmits an unacceptable view of human beings in that they can be used, bought and sold as commodities.
Child prostitution increases where adult prostitution is legalised.
Criminalisation restrains females from entering trade, as well as clients.
AUSTRALIA
South Australia also legalised prostitution and then reversed the legislation. A summary of the course of events follows.
South Australia experienced 20 years of attempts trying to get prostitution legalised. In July 2000 the house of Assembly narrowly passed legalising brothels. Then, on 17/05/2001 South Australia legislation rejected bill after looking at evidence from other states where similar legislation
caused an increase rather than decrease in prostitution problems. They also looked at exactly who wanted brothels legalised and found it was those who get money from prostitution - pimps, madams & academics (others who support newly fashionable theory of "voluntary prostitution".
In various Australian states legalising or decriminalising results in large numbers of brothels setting up outside the rules, e.g., Victoria State, New South Wales.
They found the following problems were caused by prostitution:
1. Public nuisance. Men loitering and urinating on streets, near brothels, violence.
2. Spread of STD’s / AIDS.
3. Serious depression / drug addiction in prostitutes.
4. Child sexual abuse. A significant percentage of customers prefer very young prostitutes.
5. Other crimes – drugs, weapons, stolen goods.
They found that legalising brothels or prostitutes resulted in a two-tier system or legal and illegal prostitution, with an overall increase in the number of prostitutes, particularly in the illegal sector. This resulted in an increase in all the problems of illegal prostitution that legalising prostitution was supposed to solve.
The argument was put forward, in view of the serious hazards associated with prostitution, that it should be banned, just as the asbestos industry was banned in Australia due to the hazards involved.
New South Wales decriminalised brothels and had similar problems as Victoria State as a result of their legalising brothels. The numbers of brothels escalated, with many of the businesses being unapproved and fly-by-night. Also New South Wales had hundreds of illegally imported Asian women who were exploited in brothels.
A US State Department human rights survey, published on 25.02.00 condemned lax prosecution laws in Australia which lead to a increase in trafficking of East Asian females for the Australian sex trade.
It was conclude that legalising brothels does not remove pimps, but provides a comfortable environment for pimps to operate in.
UNITED KINGDOM
There is very interesting historical evidence from the mid-19th century.
Members of Parliament argued that as laws never been able to stamp out prostitution so it should be legalised and regulated to minimise harm. One could ask, when has any law stamped out any crime?
In the UK in the 1860 a new law required prostitutes to be registered and regularly examined by doctors due to the spread of syphilis in HM defense forces. This did not work, due to bribery and corruption. On the contrary, STD’s increased.
In 1886 the Act was repealed after Josephine Butler presented evidence she had been collecting for 20 years. As result, state licensed brothels were rejected in the UK, Europe, Australia, and North America.
The League of Nations and then the UN in 1949 further investigated and produced one of
very first UN conventions for the suppression of the traffic in persons and of the exploitation of the Prostitution of others.
Furthermore, research by Prof Byrne published in 1991 showed that when the adult sex trade is tolerated child prostitution a great problem, but when it is not tolerated, it is not such a problem. The evidence presented was from France, where the adult sex trade is tolerated, and from England where the sex trade is not tolerated and child prostitution is not the problem it is in France.
Looks like it isn't so easy to curb STDs.
That link should work. It looks as if it failed there as well.
Legalise prostitution?
Hm. Tricky question. I’m not too fond of the idea of reducing people to consumer goods. On the other hand, if some women want to earn money, because some men are losers, then by all means…
Assuming the prostitutes really do WANT that line of work, it should be legal. To protect the working girls from pimps, drugs, and violent customers. The problem is, I don’t know if anybody really wants to be a prostitute. Take the drug-hookers. They’re out there to earn money to get their drugs.
Maybe it’s our views on sex that’s messed up. Uh, no sex before marriage, no sex with others after marriage, adultery, divorce chaos. Maybe what we need is a freer outlook on sex?
Of course, that won’t help the loser-men who’re so devoid of charm and grace they can never get a girlfriend or just a one-night stand. Tough luck, I’d say.
Ush> There is a big difference between legalising drugs and prostitution. The former deals with a “thing” (namely drugs), the other deals with people (the prostitutes).
Im_Fuzzy> Why don’t you just stay away, if the topics are too much for you?
Barf> Trafficking? You know, women are lured to West-Europe from the East and Asia, promised jobs, and end up being locked up as prostitutes. That’s forcing them.
Ush> To me it sounded as if you, in an attempt at being 100 % objective, didn’t take the “human factor” into account.
Did you read what I wrote? I don’t really know WHAT to think about this. This “3. Serious depression / drug addiction in prostitutes,” to me is a problem. That perhaps no women (or men) really WANT to prostitute themselves for money.
As I said above: Perhaps it’s our outlook on sexuality that needs to change? Who can say?
That's from a study, Omega, they are not my words. I was simply providing evidence to back my point that there is thois automatic assumption that legalising it will ease the problems of the illegal industry- I said it does not appear to be that simple and I provided studies that had concurred.
I don;t necessarily agree with everything in the study but I think the argument needs to go beyond "it will ease the exploitation of the illegal industry and make things safer" as simply a stated fact and have a look at the reality of what legalisation does.
I heard that in Swedem that the number of sexual assaults upon children has decreased by 75% because of their for of legalized prostitution. This leads me to belive that child molestors chose children as their victims more because they are an easier target than an adult...and not because children are their preferred sexual partners. Besides....i kind of feel bad for those individuals that can't get laid. Everyone should experience the splendor that is sex....✅
And NO i didn't take the time to read Ush's whole comment so if i restate what he said. Then don't comment on this please...
Originally posted by Linkalicious
I heard that in Swedem that the number of sexual assaults upon children has decreased by 75% because of their for of legalized prostitution. This leads me to belive that child molestors chose children as their victims more because they are an easier target than an adult...and not because children are their preferred sexual partners. Besides....i kind of feel bad for those individuals that can't get laid. Everyone should experience the splendor that is sex....✅And NO i didn't take the time to read Ush's whole comment so if i restate what he said. Then don't comment on this please...
No, actually, one of the reasons Sweden reversed the legislation because the evidence seemed to indicate that MORE children were being harmed this way.