Prostitution is not a victimless crime

[FallingPianos]

prostitution is not a victimless crime, it is sexual exploitation. here are some statistics:

Prostitution
78% of adult prostitutes began prostitution as juveniles: 60% were 16 years of age and under, and some were as young as 10...

...Most children enter prostitution at the age of 14...

...51% of prostitutes in one study had a father who battered their mother. 62% of prostitutes were physically abused as children...

...More than 90% of prostitutes lost their virginity through sexual assault...

...Adults working in prostitution reported the following:
• 82% had been physically assaulted;
• 83% had been threatened with a weapon;
• 68% had been raped while working as a prostitute...

...70% of prostitutes were victims of sexual assaults by customers...

...50% of prostitutes reported being kidnapped by pimps; 76% were beaten by pimps; and 79% were beaten by customers...

...75% of prostitutes attempted suicide...

while there may be some exceptions, most prostitutes are not adults concenting to trade sex for money. most are forced or coerced into prostitution, or enter prostitution because they see no alternative. our laws need to change to reflect that. the selling of sex should be made legal so that prostitutes can seek help without fear of being procecuted, while the buying of sex, and pimping should be kept illigal so that the real perpetrators of sexual exploitation can be sought and stopped.

 

[Kandahar]

prostitution is not a victimless crime, it is sexual exploitation. here are some statistics:

Those statistics are sad, but they don't answer the question of who is being harmed in an individual circumstance of individual buying sex from another.

while there may be some exceptions, most prostitutes are not adults concenting to trade sex for money. most are forced or coerced into prostitution, or enter prostitution because they see no alternative. our laws need to change to reflect that. the selling of sex should be made legal so that prostitutes can seek help without fear of being procecuted, while the buying of sex, and pimping should be kept illigal so that the real perpetrators of sexual exploitation can be sought and stopped.

I agree that prostitution should be legalized, but keeping it illegal to buy sex is like saying (as the government did during Prohibition) that it should be legal to drink alcohol but illegal to buy or make it. Either prostitution is legal or it's not. If prostitution is legalized, the underworld crimes associated with it will also disappear. Prostitutes aren't going to be beaten or pimped if they're legitimate workers in a legitimate industry. People don't routinely beat the hell out of the guy at McDonald's for getting their order wrong, do they?

 

[shuku]

...Most children enter prostitution at the age of 14...

Not most kids I know.


That aside, the statistics seem to show trends in a lifestyle leading up to prostitution and the dangers involved in the profession.
The worst part is the coercion and the underage people involved.
Any union put together at this point would be very vunerable to corruption.
I would be interested to know the percentages of prostitutes that use addictive drugs, both before (to show a possible cause) and during/after (to show common lifestyle choices)

Oh, and what's the source?

 

[FallingPianos]

Oh, and what's the source?

I linked directly to the source...

 

[shuku]

Sorry. Just looks like underlined text to me.

 

[Jay R]

This is an old thread that didn't get any where near the right level of interest.

The problem isn't prostitutes but pimps. people making their living out of the domination of others. As some of you have noted they frequently use drugs to enslave and control young women and girls. They are slavemasters, simple as that, but it's not treated as such by the media or governments.
This is a big problem for Europe at the moment, and as usual the politicians are completely failing to do any good in the matter.

Pimping should be classed as a much more serious crime than it is with serious punishments and full seizure of assets for those convicted. That must be done before any legalization of prostitution, otherwise your just legitimising their crime by tolerating it.

Clients of prostitutes as consumers of the sex trade have a duty to take their business to responsible businesses, ideally run by working girls themselves in a cooperative. If you frequent a house where girls are slaves you are guilty of complicity in their slavery, and liable for punishment, public naming at the very least.

 

[MrFungus420]

prostitution is not a victimless crime, it is sexual exploitation. here are some statistics:

All of which are reasons for legalizing it. The vicitmizing done in those statistics are criminal acts. Criminal acts that they cannot report without a tacit admission of guilt of perpetrating a crime themselves.

The other statistics point to people with "bad" upbringings getting caught in a desperate lifestyle. You would probably find similar statistics dealing with any group that feels they are forced into a life of crime.

What I would like to see would be a comparison of staticstics like this comparing prostitutes where is is legal and where it isn't.

Which also brings to mind a question about the prostitutes that gave them their information. Were they from both legal and illegal areas? Was it limited to street hookers from big cities? Did it include high-priced call-girls? I would be willing to bet that the demographics of the different...(levels, heirarchies, sub-groups-you pick)...would be very different.

while there may be some exceptions, most prostitutes are not adults concenting to trade sex for money. most are forced or coerced into prostitution, or enter prostitution because they see no alternative. our laws need to change to reflect that. the selling of sex should be made legal so that prostitutes can seek help without fear of being procecuted, while the buying of sex,

You had me up until here. If it is legal for someone to "sell sex", then it is nonsensical to make it illegal to "buy sex". As long as it is consensual, there is no real reason to have it illegal.

It is utterly ridiculous. Sex is the only thing that is legal to give away, but illegal to sell. :screwy

and pimping should be kept illigal so that the real perpetrators of sexual exploitation can be sought and stopped.

Exactly. If it is legalized, then the vast majority of the problems go away. Treat it like a business and have some sensible regulations to cover matters like safety and hygiene.

It is the illegality itself that causes the majority of the problems with prostitution.

 

[MrFungus420]

My mistake, I missed the link.

It seems that it is exclusively about street-hookers.

So, I'd still like to see a comparison of the stats for legal vs. illegal, and the different sub-groups.

 

[Spartacus FPV]

Why is it illegal to sell something that is perfectly legal to give away for free? - George Carlin

My stance is that most of the ugliness involved is caused by the criminalization of prostitution. In the places where its legal there is no issue with security, disease or exploitation.