Proponents of legalizing prostitution have very strong beliefs that it would help the profession many women are a part of. Many believe that the legalization of this act would help to give prostitutes more power over themselves and more resources for their choice of employment. Some of the main arguments of proponents are that it would reduce violence against sex workers, it would give them a chance to promote healthier sex and lives, it is essentially a victimless crime, it could be seen as revenue for the state, law enforcement would have the ability to work on more pressing things like violent crimes, and it is not going away any time soon.

In 2003, there was a court case in Rhode Island that uncovered the state legislation could not keep prostitutes and customers engaging in a “commercial exchange” (Ehrenfreund, 2014). For the next six years, Rhode Island saw a significant decrease in public health, specifically sexually transmitted infections, outbreaks, public safety had an increase, and the number of rapes reported decreased by 31 percent, according to a study done by two university employees. This mistake in state legislation came about when lawmakers amended the laws about prostitutions because they had the potential to “infringe on First Amendment freedoms” (Ehrenfreund, 2014). Basically, the lawmakers deleted the passage that actually defined the act of prostitution, the act of having sex for money. However, they did leave in the laws against pimping, street walking, and trafficking.

One support of the legalization of prostitution is that it will help to protect sex workers legally. If there were to be a problem with a client, a sex worker would have the ability to approach authorities to complain about their issue. As of now this is impossible. Fear of being sent to jail or having to pay a fine, sex workers often do not report abuse by their pimps or johns. This ability to bring those to justice who hurt them will give sex workers more security in their jobs (Ehrenfreund, 2014).

In Nevada, prostitution is legalized in brothels only. Because of this, sex workers have a steady job without fear of being arrested. According to an article by Erin Fuchs, sex workers in Nevada are required to get monthly syphilis and HIV testing done, as well as weekly test for gonorrhea and chlamydia, something that not everyone does (Fuchs, 2013). Because of the legalization in Nevada, all paid sexual encounters require a condom to be worn, decreasing the possibility of spreading STIs between the workers and the customers. According to Fuchs, there were instances in 2012 in New York City where police officers used the fact that a woman was carrying condoms as evidence of being a sex worker, which started the trend of not using a condom during an encounter. According to a PROS Network (Providers and Resources Offering Services to sex workers) study, 46% of the 35 sex workers polled said they did not carry condoms with them because they were afraid of being arrested because of them (“Public Health Crisis”, 2012). Because of Nevada’s laws there is a higher use of condoms among sex workers.

Many people also believe that not allowing the sex workers access to public health initiatives by stigmatizing their work leads to a spread in ignorance and STIs, especially HIV. The United Nations Development Program published a report on illegal sex work in Asia detailing the harm it does to sex workers’ health:

“Criminalization increases vulnerability to HIV by fueling stigma and discrimination, limiting access to HIV and sexual health services, condoms and harm reduction services, and adversely affecting the self-esteem of sex workers and their ability to make informed choices about their health.” (UNDP as qtd. by Fuchs, 2013).

By not giving these workers basic rights to their own health, we cannot possibly begin to make a difference in the HIV and AIDS epidemic that is plaguing this world.

Opponents of legalizing prostitution believe that there would be far too many adverse effects to make it reasonable to become a recognized, legal profession. Many believe that legalizing, even decriminalizing; prostitution does little to help the harm that many sex workers come to. According to a German publication Der Spiegel, legalizing prostitution has not helped with the international problem of human trafficking and sex trafficking. The article quoted an American Congresswoman, Carolyn Maloney, who created the Human Trafficking Caucus as saying “there was the naive belief that legalized prostitution would improve life for prostitutes, eliminate prostitution in areas where it remained illegal and remove organized crime from the business. Like all fairy tales, this turns out to be sheer fantasy” in regards to the legalization of prostitution in Las Vegas (“Unprotected”, 2013). The legalization of prostitution in Nevada actually created an increase in human trafficking, due to the demand of more and more sex workers to fill the brothels. According to this article, Germany “technically” does not have a problem with human trafficking, from a statistical perspective. But when there are women who do make testimonies about being lured into Germany to work in a brothel, they are often omitted or lost.

The article talks about how women from poor eastern European countries are lured to Germany with the promise of a job as a nanny or model or are even sent by their families to make money, often ending up in brothels in the red light districts of Germany (“Unprotected”, 2013). According to an article by Donna Hughes, the young girls who are coerced into the sex working lifestyle are conditioned by sexual violence and rape. Many girls finally give up and give in thinking there is no way out. Because there are places in Europe that legalize prostitution, it is hard for these girls to get out of the life and get the protection they deserve. Reports of abuse and rape are not always taken seriously, and lead to less and less reporting due to being afraid no justice will come to them (Hughes, 1999). Hughes goes on to say that prostitution is not only a bodily invasion, but a mental one too. Many sex workers report each act being like rape and using drugs and alcohol to numb the pain they felt each time they were working. This leads to high numbers of drug overdoses and alcohol poisoning cases.

Janice Raymond wrote an article that discussed 10 reasons why legalizing prostitution is not a good idea. The first of these is that it is a “gift” to pimps, traffickers, and the sex industry, not the workers. She disputes the claim that recognizing prostitution as a legal form of employment brings a certain amount of dignity to the women “dignifying prostitution as work doesn’t dignify the women, it simply dignifies the sex industry… they haven’t thought through the consequences of legalizing pimps as legitimate sex entrepreneurs or third party businessmen, or the fact that men who buy women for sexual activity are now accepted as legitimate consumers of sex.” (Raymond, 2003). She points out the notion that these women, or men, do not start working for themselves; in fact they become even more entrenched with their bosses, pimps. The legalization and decriminalization does not inherently give the workers rights, as a labor union would, but just allows people to create more money for them through exploitation. She also urges for the decriminalization for the sex workers themselves, but instead find the pimps and johns more accountable for exploitation.

Raymond’s second argument is that the legalization promotes sex trafficking. She cites a report that found 80% of the sex workers in the Netherlands (where it is legal) had been brought in from other countries, 70% of which were from central and eastern Europe (Budapest Group, 1999, and IOM, 1994, as qtd. in Raymond, 2003). She goes on to say that even the government was in favor of bringing in outside girls: “In the year 2000, the Dutch Ministry of Justice argued in favor of a legal quota of foreign “sex workers,” because the Dutch prostitution market demanded a variety of “bodies”” (Dutting, 2001, as qtd. in Raymond, 2003). In Germany, after the legalization of prostitution there was a study that showed “75% of the women in Germany’s prostitution industry were foreigners from Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and other countries in South America” (Altink, 1993, as qtd. in Raymond, 2003). The rapid increase of immigrants was masked by the allowance of work permits to be granted for being a sex worker. Currently, the promotion of prostitution, pimping, and brothels are legal in Germany.

Raymond’s third argument discusses child prostitution. Originally the legalization of prostitution was aimed at ending children being prostituted, but after the legislature passed the Netherlands saw a 300% increase in child prostitutes from 1996 to 2001, going from 4,000 children to over 15,000 (Raymond, 2003). The ChildRight organization estimated that at least 5,000 of the child prostitutes in the Netherlands were trafficked in from other countries, and mostly from Nigeria. The increase of demand of sex workers allows for those who are making the brut of the money to make less than moral decisions.

 

This topic is not an easy one. It is hard to make a decision about such an interesting career. One on hand I am avidly against coercion and human trafficking. On the other, I am in full support of people having the right to partake in whatever career they choose. I don’t believe that just because your job is to have sex for money means that you should be penalized. I think that there should be harsher punishments for those who physically, emotionally, and mentally abuse others.

The strongest argument for legalization was the notion that STIs become less and less prevalent. That being said, they do not always test for some infections, HPV being one. Allowing a sex worker to have the right to insist on the use of a condom is also something that I am in support of. Not being able to have even that much say over your own body should be illegal. For the men and women who choose this line of work, they should have more than that to protect them. Another compelling argument was that the sex workers would have more say over whom they work with and for. Allowing a person to choose their line of work should be an inherent right. By taking a majority of the power from the pimps and brothels, sex workers will have a better chance at doing their work the best they can.

I do agree that implementing regular, even more than recommended for the general population; STI testing is a very good idea. By using condoms, and knowing you medical situation, you can help to reduce unwanted STI spreads.

On the other side of the argument, I think the most profound point was about the human trafficking of young girls and children. The fact that the Dutch government basically, in my opinion, allowed for human trafficking to continue is beyond me. Importing young people just so your customers can get the “body” they want is appalling. No one should be lured into a job they do not readily want to take on. While human trafficking will continue whether or not prostitution is legal, it should not be supported, overtly or not.

I would have to say that I side more, in some respects, with the legalization of prostitution. The reason I have come to this decision is that I think it will help not only with the STI problem, but also with drug and alcohol abuse. It is no secret that sex workers often use illicit substances to numb the pain of their work, and it should not be one. By giving the power back to the workers to seek the help they need, whether it be legal or medical, we are giving them more opportunity at life. I do think that there should be strict regulations on who can and cannot be a sex worker and what they must do to continue working.

I think that implementing a license, as you would for a bus driver or plumber, would help to make the industry more reputable. By doing this, you could require sex workers to have to complete certain trainings and certifications to become licensed. This would also help to regulate STI testing by requiring it to keep the license. Having this system seems unattainable, but it could be done. Just as we trust those who fix our houses, teach our children, and drive our buses we should trust those we wish to have sex with having the proper education and training. This could also help to weed out illegal, or “undocumented”, sex workers. Having restrictions on any career is what allows it to work well.

 

References

Ehrenfreund, M. (2014). “When Rhode Island accidentally legalized prostitution, rape decreased sharply”. The Washington Post. Retrieved from: www.washingtonpost.com

Fuchs, E. (2013). “The 6 Types of Prostitutes and Where They Work”. Business Insider. Retrieved from: www.businessinsider.com

Fuchs, E. (2013). “7 Reasons Why America Should Legalize Prostitution”. Business Insider. Retrieved from: www.businessinsider.com

“Public Health Crisis: The Impact of Using Condoms as Evidence of Prostitution in New York City”. (2012). The PROS Network and the Sex Workers Project. Retrieved from: www.sexworkersproject.org

Raymond, J. G. (2003) “Ten Reasons For Not Legalizing Prostitution and a Legal Response to the Demand for Prostitution”. Journal of Trauma Practice and Prostitution, Trafficking, and Traumatic Stress. Retrieved from: www.embracedignity.org

“Unprotected: How Legalizing Prostitution Has Failed”. (2013). Der Spiegel. Retrieved from: www.spiegel.de