Should prostitution be legal?

Hypersonic · Jun 9, 2013

roguenuke said:
I don't agree. I think first that if a married man or woman would be willing to pay for sex that they would also have no issue with going to a bar to pick up a stranger to have sex with. Second, I think there are couples out there that have no issue with their spouse going to a prostitute.

Every time this argument comes up, all I can think about is "The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas". Especially the part where they are interviewing the townpeople on the news, and the old lady says that she considered it a blessing for her husband, when he was alive, to go there. It gave her a break. I know its just a movie, but I can definitely see some people feeling this way.

Citing your first sentence, thus is why I said legalizing prostitution would only increase the divorce rates because there is no fear of being caught because monies were exchanged for sex. Difference between picking someone up at a bar and a prostitute is quite often most women outright just dont perform sexual acts for youe pleasure. Also, soliticing prostitution is anonymous whereas bar pickups is a social environment, and if you are willing to commit infidelity you are exposimg yourself.

My point is that legalizing prostitution will lead to an increase in infidelity and divorce.

ReformCollege · Jun 9, 2013

Geoist said:
Although I think it is disgusting, prostitution should be completely legal as long as it is between consenting adults.

Agreed, It's disgusting, but then again its a great transfer of wealth and nothing undermines the careers of the powerful like a sex scandel or two :lol::lol::lol:

ReformCollege · Jun 9, 2013

Gathomas88 said:
I completely agree that regulated prostitution can improve the lives of existing sex workers.

However, as Europe's current situation highlights, legalized prostitution can have a tendency to be something of a double-edged sword. Legalizing the sex industry results in increased demand for sex workers, which makes the overall industry larger than it would've been before legalization. In Europe at least, this increased demand has often been met by human trafficking put in place by organized crime families, who take their workers from more poverty stricken regions of the world like Eastern Europe and Africa.

It can also be extremely difficult for authorities to shut these operations down once they are in place, as it is nearly impossible to prove beyond a doubt which sex workers have been trafficked and which have not after the fact.

The same could conceivably happen over here. The last thing we want is to legalize prostitution in order to improve the lives of street walkers just to open the door for drug cartels to set up shop and open their own line of brothels stocked with latin american workers that may, or may not, happen to be trafficked sex slaves.

Little Finger is against prostitution? Who would've thought!

MoSurveyor · Jun 9, 2013

X Factor said:
Should someone be allowed to sell themselves into slavery?

Prostitution isn't slavery any more than any other job.

X Factor said:
It's not a victimless crime. People don't get into prostitution because their lives are going well. Would you be ok with someone doing "business" in the house next to yours?

I wouldn't be OK with someone running a car repair center or a tax preparation office next door, either, that's why I live where it's zoned for residential only.

Baralis · Jun 9, 2013

Yes

“I do not understand why prostitution is illegal. Why should prostitution be illegal. Selling is legal, ****ing is legal. Why isn’t selling ****ing legal? You know, why should it be illegal to sell something that is perfectly legal to give away. I can’t follow the logic on that at all. Of all the things you can do to a person, giving someone a orgasm is hardly the worst thing in the world. In the army they give you a metal for spraying napalm on people. civilian life, you go to jail for giving someone an orgasm. Maybe, I’m not supposed to understand it.” – George Carlin

MoSurveyor · Jun 9, 2013

Gathomas88 said:
I completely agree that regulated prostitution can improve the lives of existing sex workers.

However, as Europe's current situation highlights, legalized prostitution can have a tendency to be something of a double-edged sword. Legalizing the sex industry results in increased demand for sex workers, which makes the overall industry larger than it would've been before legalization. In Europe at least, this increased demand has often been met by human trafficking put in place by organized crime families, who take their workers from more poverty stricken regions of the world like Eastern Europe and Africa.

It can also be extremely difficult for authorities to shut these operations down once they are in place, as it is nearly impossible to prove beyond a doubt which sex workers have been trafficked and which have not after the fact.

The same could conceivably happen over here. The last thing we want is to legalize prostitution in order to improve the lives of street walkers just to open the door for drug cartels to set up shop and open their own line of brothels stocked with latin american workers that may, or may not, happen to be trafficked sex slaves.

Maybe they have a different immigration standard than the US?

RabidAlpaca · Jun 9, 2013

wolfie said:
I can't believe this crap..do you think women enjoy being a prostitute??

They may enjoy the financial wealth it may bring them..(all overseen by men)

But ENJOY..nah!!

Some might, just like there are a lot of pornstars who really enjoy their jobs.

Do you think people enjoy working at mcdonalds? Should we ban people from working at mcdonalds because they won't like it? Most people hate their jobs.

BMCM said:
First the Government should stay out of it.... then the government should step in and get involved...

Yes, because the first scenario is a contract between two willing adults. The government should respect that contract, as there is no victim. The second scenario is one citizen coercing another citizen with the threat of violence.

That is the role of government, to prevent coercion between citizens. Anything 2 or more people willingly do to or with each other should be legal.

Mathematician · Jun 9, 2013

ChuckBerry said:
Besides the morality question, there is a nagging problem with legalizing prostitution. How does one observe the prostitute at work to ensure they are working safely? Very few customers would be willing to be observed while having sex, and without watchful eyes, anything can happen, the main issue being condom usage. Plenty of customers would be willing to pay a premium for not using a condom, and the prostitute would pocket the extra gains and not have to share with the brothel owner. STD testing will of course catch a problem, but only after it becomes a problem.

I agree and will add a couple things. What portion of prostitutes do you think will honestly report their earnings? It's not like they need a pimp employer. To extend your concerns about STDs, they will clearly spread more and even those avoiding prostitution will have increased risks.

RabidAlpaca · Jun 9, 2013

Mathematician said:
I agree and will add a couple things. What portion of prostitutes do you think will honestly report their earnings? It's not like they need a pimp employer. To extend your concerns about STDs, they will clearly spread more and even those avoiding prostitution will have increased risks.

Prostitution is legal in Germany, and yet the workers are regularly tested, and the STD rate of the entire country is much lower than ours.

Bringing this business out of the alleyways and into regulation is the only way to protect these women.

Mathematician · Jun 9, 2013

AlabamaPaul said:
How would a situation be handled if there was a pregnancy resulting from an encounter?

I'm glad you mentioned pregnancy. IMO, a pregnancy resulting from paying someone to screw is disrespectful as heck to the child. Kids should be created with love of your partner, not just love of a damn orgasm.

roguenuke · Jun 9, 2013

Hypersonic said:
Citing your first sentence, thus is why I said legalizing prostitution would only increase the divorce rates because there is no fear of being caught because monies were exchanged for sex. Difference between picking someone up at a bar and a prostitute is quite often most women outright just dont perform sexual acts for youe pleasure. Also, soliticing prostitution is anonymous whereas bar pickups is a social environment, and if you are willing to commit infidelity you are exposimg yourself.

My point is that legalizing prostitution will lead to an increase in infidelity and divorce.

You must not have been out in a while. Picking up someone in a bar can be anonymous and it isn't all that hard to find a woman willing to perform acts for the man's pleasure. Maybe you go to the wrong bars.

But even besides that, you said it yourself, that you believe they are less likely to get caught so why would they get caught leading to the divorce? It may increase infidelity but it could easily make more marriages happier as well. Not everyone is the same. Some feel that any sexual contact is infidelity, others feel only certain sexual acts are infidelity, and still others feel it is only infidelity if there is an emotional connection. If a spouse is fine with their spouse going to a prostitute, then it is none of your business. It is probably better if they are having problems that revolve around sex, which some couples do, that if sex with someone else is considered an option, then it is available through a prostitute (regulated) rather than just someone picked up for a one-night stand or worse, someone the person knows, which turns into a major drama.

I just don't think that you can really say that it would increase divorce.

RabidAlpaca · Jun 9, 2013

Hypersonic said:
Citing your first sentence, thus is why I said legalizing prostitution would only increase the divorce rates because there is no fear of being caught because monies were exchanged for sex. Difference between picking someone up at a bar and a prostitute is quite often most women outright just dont perform sexual acts for youe pleasure. Also, soliticing prostitution is anonymous whereas bar pickups is a social environment, and if you are willing to commit infidelity you are exposimg yourself.

My point is that legalizing prostitution will lead to an increase in infidelity and divorce.

Your assumptions don't match the evidence. Here's a map of the world showing the legal status of prostitution:

Red is illegal and unregulated.
Blue is legal and unregulated.
Green is legal and regulated.

Prostitution is legal in almost all of europe and south america, and yet the US has the highest divorce rates in the world. Germany for instance didn't even make the top 50 divorce rates.

Divorce rate statistics - Countries Compared - NationMaster

Rocketman · Jun 9, 2013

Absolutely, why should it be illegal to sell anything you can give away for free?

Hypersonic · Jun 9, 2013

RabidAlpaca said:
Your assumptions don't match the evidence. Here's a map of the world showing the legal status of prostitution:

Red is illegal and unregulated.
Blue is legal and unregulated.
Green is legal and regulated.

Prostitution is legal in almost all of europe and south america, and yet the US has the highest divorce rates in the world. Germany for instance didn't even make the top 50 divorce rates.

Divorce rate statistics - Countries Compared - NationMaster

Well, the United States among the world is the most conservative.....

Hypersonic · Jun 9, 2013

roguenuke said:
You must not have been out in a while. Picking up someone in a bar can be anonymous and it isn't all that hard to find a woman willing to perform acts for the man's pleasure. Maybe you go to the wrong bars.

But even besides that, you said it yourself, that you believe they are less likely to get caught so why would they get caught leading to the divorce? It may increase infidelity but it could easily make more marriages happier as well. Not everyone is the same. Some feel that any sexual contact is infidelity, others feel only certain sexual acts are infidelity, and still others feel it is only infidelity if there is an emotional connection. If a spouse is fine with their spouse going to a prostitute, then it is none of your business. It is probably better if they are having problems that revolve around sex, which some couples do, that if sex with someone else is considered an option, then it is available through a prostitute (regulated) rather than just someone picked up for a one-night stand or worse, someone the person knows, which turns into a major drama.

I just don't think that you can really say that it would increase divorce.

But the minor difference between picking up random people at bars and prostitutes is the risk of the other developing emotional attachment, whereas for a prostitute it is just a job. The risk of emotional attachment even if the relationship is just "friends with benefits" also runs the risk of the other person developing feelings and thus running the further risk of exposing your infidelities.

ChrisL · Jun 9, 2013

Hypersonic said:
Citing your first sentence, thus is why I said legalizing prostitution would only increase the divorce rates because there is no fear of being caught because monies were exchanged for sex. Difference between picking someone up at a bar and a prostitute is quite often most women outright just dont perform sexual acts for youe pleasure. Also, soliticing prostitution is anonymous whereas bar pickups is a social environment, and if you are willing to commit infidelity you are exposimg yourself.

My point is that legalizing prostitution will lead to an increase in infidelity and divorce.

ROFL! That's pretty funny stuff!

BTW, most men cheat with coworkers.

Cameron · Jun 9, 2013

I feel like legalized prostitution just facilitates cheating and would be difficult/expensive to regulate properly. Yes, I'm sure there are plenty of single people who would like to patronize prostitutes and wouldn't be hurting anyone by doing so. Yes, maybe it's a little of a I-know-what's-best-for-you type of position. I don't really care. Prostitution is certainly not a fundamental right, and I think the concerns are legitimate enough to survive rational basis review.

American · Jun 9, 2013

samsmart said:
I don't know about that. I see nothing wrong with having closed circuit cameras in the rooms of the brothels to monitor what happens in the rooms, and tell the customers about it.

While there may be some customers who wouldn't go to those brothels, I'm sure there will be a number who won't mind it, considering it is a legal form of prostitution and that the evidence from the monitoring will protect them just as much as it would the prostitute.

No doubt the NSA would be happy to provide recording services for you.

Rocketman · Jun 9, 2013

ChrisL said:
ROFL! That's pretty funny stuff!

BTW, most men cheat with coworkers.

they must be incredibly stupid if they do, the is one of the first lessons in life, never **** in your own yard

ChrisL · Jun 9, 2013

Rocketman said:
they must be incredibly stupid if they do, the is one of the first lessons in life, never **** in your own yard

Look it up. It's true.

Rocketman · Jun 9, 2013

ChrisL said:
Look it up. It's true.

I have never messed with a co-worker and know very few that have, wonder who funded the study?

ChrisL · Jun 9, 2013

Rocketman said:
I have never messed with a co-worker and know very few that have, wonder who funded the study?

Surprised anyone would doubt this. It's kind of just common sense. Men would spend a lot of time with women coworkers. The story about the boss cheating with his secretary? That really happens sometimes.

Cheating

AlabamaPaul · Jun 9, 2013

ChrisL said:
Surprised anyone would doubt this. It's kind of just common sense. Men would spend a lot of time with women coworkers. The story about the boss cheating with his secretary? That really happens sometimes.

Cheating

Yes bosses playing hanky panky with the secretary does happen. We lost a part owner one time because of it...

Rocketman · Jun 9, 2013

ChrisL said:
Surprised anyone would doubt this. It's kind of just common sense. Men would spend a lot of time with women coworkers. The story about the boss cheating with his secretary? That really happens sometimes.

Cheating

menstuff.org? LMAO is that owned by the national enquirer or the star?

Dooble · Jun 9, 2013

HumanBeing said:
Simple question.

Is it PC to vote "No"?

Should prostitution be legal?