How legal should prostitution be?

[ttwtt78640]

Taco trucks have the health code/inspections because they must be free of food-borne illnesses, plus worker safety regs. I worked in a bakery. I know all about that.


BTW, Did you see my later edit? (about 5 minutes ago)

OK, but that is likely to be expanded beyond STD testing - which would be mighty hard to enforce without licensing to know who to check (and to fund the enforcement costs).

 

[VanceMack]

They're legalizing pot all over the place. Will that make things better or worse?

Great question...different set of circumstances. I dont know that it will make it better. There isnt evidence to support that. At best, decriminalizing marijuana takes away the penalty and threat from the casual user. Thats certainly a plus. The cost at dispensaries is such that it hasnt made much of a dent in the black market pot trade (from what I have read).

The medicinal marijuana argument is kind of a joke. FOR THE MOST PART...not to say all inclusive...but for the most part people that got medical marijuana cards were just casual users that finally had a legal umbrella. They were fully functioning, generally productive members of society, not prone to 'addiction' (relative, where pot is concerned). But those that were struggling with severe depression, anxiety, or in general crappy life syndrome, legalizing marijuana gives temporary respite from the symptoms...but is not the solution.

That being said...Im a libertarian...Ive always been in favor of decriminalizing marijuana use. But to compare a marijuana user to a prostitute and the damage done to the soul and psyche to say nothing of the physical well being by prostitution vs using marijuana...well...like I said VERY different set of circumstance.

 

[Luce]

I think prostitution should be legal, but that pimps should be thrown into traffic.

 

[Lisa]

OK, but that is likely to be expanded beyond STD testing - which would be mighty hard to enforce without licensing to know who to check (and to fund the enforcement costs).

An annual license with a decal on the door or a laminated license to carry with them.

 

[ttwtt78640]

An annual license with a decal on the door or a laminated license to carry with them.

Hmm… you initially said for both parties. Does that (bolded above) apply to legal customers as well?

 

[Lisa]

Hmm… you initially said for both parties. Does that (bolded above) apply to legal customers as well?

I would like it to but that's where the enforcement gets cloudy. How do you convince sex workers to demand that testing when it will likely turn away paying clients?

 

[ttwtt78640]

I would like it to but that's where the enforcement gets cloudy. How do you convince sex workers to demand that testing when it will likely turn away paying clients?

Yep, and if customers are not tested then why bother to test the workers?

 

[Lisa]

Yep, and if customers are not tested then why bother to test the workers?

The workers must be tested as an act of public health. We can cut down the spread of HIV and other STDs by half by doing that. The other 50% (customers) is questionable. There has to be some enforcement to make certain that health workers and clients are both of sufficient age and freely consent. Fine and mandate testing as a condition of the release when they enforce the prior regulations.

 

[WillyPete]

I personally dont believe the answer to a problem is EVER to normalize the problem.

That prostitution is a problem all on it's own is a matter of perspective. I'd wager if you detailed them, that most of your actual concerns would be secondary to the acts of sex and being
paid for it.

Like with drugs, some of them are consequences of prostitution being illegal, rather than prostitution itself.

Your answer, principled as it may be, realistically prevents you from ever solving the problem or even improving conditions for those impacted.

 

[VanceMack]

That prostitution is a problem all on it's own is a matter of perspective. I'd wager if you detailed them, that most of your actual concerns would be secondary to the acts of sex and being
paid for it.

Like with drugs, some of them are consequences of prostitution being illegal, rather than prostitution itself.

Your answer, principled as it may be, realistically prevents you from ever solving the problem or even improving conditions for those impacted.

Understood...which is why to me it isnt such a simple cut and dried situation. As a matter of politics and personal agency, I'm pro legalization. But from the human side...I cringe.

 

[WillyPete]

Understood...which is why to me it isnt such a simple cut and dried situation. As a matter of politics and personal agency, I'm pro legalization. But from the human side...I cringe.

Can't blame you, but it's one of those "perfect being the enemy of the good" scenarios.

Prostitutes are cut off from the protections you and I would want them to receive by the way the law is presently applied, intentionally.

That we can fix.

 

[Bum]

How legal should prostitution be? Please elaborate on your position in the comments.

Some resources you might want to look into:

Prostitution in New Zealand - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Prostitution in Nevada - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

What a person chooses to do with their own body is none of my business if they are not hurting anyone, and shouldn't be the Governments business.

 

[armycowboy]

I went with legal, but in brothels, so as to reduce trafficking, disease, etc.

 

[Court Jester]

This is a textbook straw-man argument.

The government should not intervene into sexual relations between consenting adults. NEVER - under any circumstances.

Even when the transaction is happening on the street corner in front of your house?

Sorry, but prostitution does not always happen in some swanky nightclub or casino and then a quite walk up to a private room where two adults engage in consentual sex. MOST prostitution is controlled by criminal enterprises; women are exploited (often trafficked), and there are ill effect on communities. Prostitution in may way invited drug addiction, other crimes, and blight to a city. Society has every right and every responsibility to control behavior which adversey affects the rest of the society.

The fact that government DOES intervene in these types of sexual relationships is a flaw in GOVERNMENT, and not a flaw in the relationship (or the consenting individuals).

Nobody including me is attempting to control what the "relationships" are between consenting adults. However, prostitution is not a relationship, it is an illegal business transaction. For example: If a person wanted to sell themselves into slavery for money, the law would not allow a person to do that, not even if the two people in that transaction are consenting to it.

 

[Deuce]

Documented consent can be very important in a #metoo (alleged victims must be believed) world. In a what could otherwise become a purely he said/she said situation (with physical evidence of sexual relations) it’s often best to be able to prove consent.

Lol, yet another one who thinks “believe victims” means “blindly accept every single allegation.”

 

[ttwtt78640]

Lol, yet another one who thinks “believe victims” means “blindly accept every single allegation.”

Only when deemed politically advantageous, but why take chances?

 

[SkyChief]

. . . . Even when the transaction is happening on the street corner in front of your house? . . .

It doesn't matter where these mutually-agreed sexual arrangements are made.

If prostitution bothers you, move to Utah. I hear the prostitution rate is remarkably low there.

 

[Patriotic Voter]

How legal should prostitution be? Please elaborate on your position in the comments.

Obviously all sexual activity for profit should be illegal. You know what is coming next: illegal abortions. How many unwanted children will be born because their parents were prostitutes? Sex for money is always immoral, but I would not expect them to get a Plan B pill on their way home and take it immediately.

 

[Patriotic Voter]

Government should never outlaw or regulate or tax sex between two (or more) consenting adults.

What kind of sexual activity involves more than two people?

Last time I checked, polygamy is illegal in the United States.

 

[SkyChief]

What kind of sexual activity involves more than two people?

Last time I checked, polygamy is illegal in the United States.

Uh-oh - I am so busted.

My point is that government should not tell consenting adults how to have sex.

Let's leave it at that.

 

[Patriotic Voter]

Hmm . . . Does that apply to all consensual business transactions?

No. States, counties, and cities decide what to put taxes on. Your question reminds me of a ballot issue in central Ohio before I was old enough to vote called, "Stop the One Cent Tax on Pop." Not surprisingly, it passed.

 

[Court Jester]

It doesn't matter where these mutually-agreed sexual arrangements are made.

Yeah, it kind of does. Especially when the sex trade is taking place on city streets, in front of businesses, homes, schools, etc. I remember how it was on the streets of Hollywood back in the 70s and early 80s. It really brought things down, and it encouraged a lot of crime. It brought in the worst elements.

Now in Los Angeles an area of south Figuora street near south Central has become a virtual open prostitution mart. Hookers and Johns pulling over into alleys, strip mall parking lots, and also near residences. Police do next to nothing in that area; so it has become where more and more show up. Then comes the turf wars for corners, fights, and eventually murders. So, don't tell me it doesn't matter where it happens,

If prostitution bothers you, move to Utah. I hear the prostitution rate is remarkably low there.

Like I said, I couldn't care less what people do behind closed doors. What they do in public, and how it affects the public, are two different things.

Open prostitution, like open drug use.... all of that just eventually leads to trouble.

 

[ttwtt78640]

No. States, counties, and cities decide what to put taxes on. Your question reminds me of a ballot issue in central Ohio before I was old enough to vote called, "Stop the One Cent Tax on Pop." Not surprisingly, it passed.

Actually governments decide what to regulate or tax. Which is why I asked what makes a consensual sex business transaction special?

 

[Patriotic Voter]

Actually governments decide what to regulate or tax. Which is why I asked what makes a consensual sex business transaction special?

How are states, counties, and cities not the government?

Also, when is prostitution consensual sex between a husband and wife?

 

[SkyChief]

. . . Now in Los Angeles an area of south Figuora street near south Central has become a virtual open prostitution mart. Hookers and Johns pulling over into alleys, strip mall parking lots, and also near residences. Police do next to nothing in that area; so it has become where more and more show up. Then comes the turf wars for corners, fights, and eventually murders. So, don't tell me it doesn't matter where it happens,

I live in L.A. - - I know what happens here.

On Figueroa, on Crenshaw, on La Brea, Manchester, et.al.

All big cities have prostitution. Stop pretending that prostitution is the reason for murder.

It's not.

Shame on you for suggesting such nonsense.