For a long while i wondered why prostitution is illegal and the recent killing of 5 prostitutes in the UK has just made me really wonder more. A link to the case below.

news.bbc.co.uk...

I wouldn't use prostitution myself (yes honestly) but i think it should be legal and an option for society. I'm sure some normal men when unable to find a willing partner may even get aggressive. That isn't to say that the serial kiler in the above story would have been helped by it but maybe if prostitution was legal these women may not have died as they would have been in a protected work enviroment.

The pro side to prostitution is very high. Firstly you lay down a series of laws and regulations that must be followed. Brothels and licenses would be needed, streetwalking would still be illegal and setences for it increased massively.

The brothels could be safely regulated with doctors visiting each week to check for STD's, security could be employed to remove trouble makers, the brothel would be a business and so taxable, which lets face it governments love. The woman could be checked for drug use to help prevent pimps trapping them with it, condoms would be the only way you get to have sex in the establishment, thus reducing the spread of disease.

So more money for the country in taxes, a safe working enviroment, and a greatly reduced spread of disease, for me these positive points outweigh the negative ones. Hopefully it would also mean the elimination of illegal brothels with enslaved illegal workers.

Theres an old quote and i can't remember who said it but it goes like this, "Why is it illegal to sell something that you can give away for free". For me this perfectly says it all, what good reason is there to keep prostitution illegal?

I'm happy to hear responses against it, i really would like to hear a good arguement against prostitution being legal.

[edit on 22-2-2008 by ImaginaryReality1984]

You make a good point about prostitutes being prey for serial killers because of the inherent effects of its illegality. A serial killer near Seattle killed about 50 prostitutes and nearly got away free and clear.

Another argument is that it diverts scarce police resources. Writer James Bovard related how "As planes were smashing into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, ten FBI agents were working a prostitution investigation in New Orleans. After a year's work and more than five thousand tapped calls, the FBI proudly announced the indictment of a dozen hookers and madams....law professor Jonathon Turley quipped, 'Only the FBI could go to the French Quarter and find only a dozen prostitutes after a year of investigation.'" (p.57, 'Terrorism and Tyranny').

Russel, that's another excellent point. The government would save time and money with not having to find and prosecute as many prostitutes. I am sure they would still have to chase some illegal ones though.

Thank you also for giving me such an excellent quote.



I will remember that for a long time.

You're welcome, and thanks for the original post.

Here in the U.S., I think it will take a 'tipping point' scenario to legalize prostitution, but eventually it could happen. When I was a kid, gambling was outlawed pretty much everywhere but Vegas, and it was a big source of income for organized crime. Then a few states started lotteries, and the floodgates were opened.

What once was criminal is now an integral part of the government in most states. Interestingly, there has been a recent rebirth of anti-gambling laws, but this is really aimed at the ulterior purpose of holding back Internet competition to gov't and Tribal gambling.

reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984

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I agree. It's a victimless crime between 2 consenting adults.

I find it amazing that it is illegal actually. I guess we can only have freedom if it doesn't offend someone else, huh?

I had a little debate with someone about it on this thread:

Why do people think it's ok to force their moralities/beliefs upon others?

Don't let the thread fool you. I actually stopped posting on it because I got tired of having to read an entire page long post everytime I tried to make a point. It just started wearing me out.

[edit on 2/24/2008 by bigbert81]

Before someone makes the arguement that they don't want their taxes paying for the regulation of these businesses, i should point out the tax paid from these brothels would be able to cover it i'm sure.

The brothels would hire doctors to come in each week and check the men and women working there for diseases and drug usage. So here the tax payer pays nothing. The doctors would file reports to a central organisation which would be funded by money from the brothels taxes.

It would also provide jobs becuase you need security and administrators in each brothel, not to mention the jobs in the government organisation to regulate it.

reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984

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Yes, you are correct. Nevada has it worked out to where the people don't have to pay any state tax because of brothels and casinos.

It's actually SAVING people money.

Of course we should legalise prostitution.
What two consenting adults get up to is their own business.

The benefits to sociey are many fold.

Most prostitutes currently receive benefits.
Legalised prostitution means less benefit payments and increased tax revenue.

The girls will be working in a much safer environment resulting in fewer assaults and murders.
This would enable freeing up the police resource currently spent processing the act of prostitution and all the associated crime that goes with it.
Pimping will also virtually eliminated.

They would also provide a service to society.
People use prostitutes for various reasons.
None more so than the lonely.
More lonely people would be prepared to seek the services of these ladies if it were not a criminal act, thus being allowed to relieve their sexual frustrations and enter into some social interaction.

Legalised prostitutes would also require regular health screening and thus reduce the level of STD's.

Prostitution has been with us since the dawn of time.
It is not going to go away and by continuing to allow some outdated moral prejudices to govern our laws only helps maintain the restriction on free will within our society.

The criminalisation of prostitution serves no positive purpose to society and no rational theorising can justify it.

Several yrs. ago I heard an interview from a bureaucrat in the Nevada agency (can't recall the exact name) dealing with legal brothels. He said that there had NEVER been a case of a girl testing positive to AIDS, due to the procedures they had put in place. He said AIDS among illegal prostitutes was sky-high. The incidence of other STD's at legal brothels was not zero, but very close.

You know i did worry slightly about posting this idea as i thought i would be torn apart by the religious extremists, both christian, cathlic and islamic. It's nice to see this didn't happen.

I also expected a lot more opposition..........nice to see it's a relatively acceptable view here.

When it is legalized, only the girls or boys on the cutting edge would
agree to registering themselves and being tested & health monitored
several times a year...as licensed prostitutes.

licensed pros...would of course be very risky, because the state would be liable for any diseases or STDs or shakedowns by Pimps -

I recall that Germany had certain parts of the cities deignated for that type of trade, and the 'contractors' had to be certified and given health cards to be able to conduct their business.


all i can see is problems with legalization...as in way too much bureaucracy & regulation, etc.

the best non-remedy is to let prostitution continue as it is now ---
on the fringes of law enforcement, imho

I have been all over continentsl Europe and it works perfectly ok.

Well speaking as someone frmt he UK the country is already responsible for the STD's as we have a national health service so nothing changes there. Actually the prostitutes would be paying taxes and so helping pay for any treatment they had to recieve. If you look up the figures for the brothel in Nevada i think it is then you'll find they have not had one case of HIV and very low instance of other STD's. That's what condoms are for.

The beaurocracy would again be funded by the brothels paying taxes.

Have you any idea of the cost of law enforment dealing with prostitution? Entire parts of the police service are devoted to stopping prostitution, these police officers could be freed up to catch other more dangerous criminals or just catch the illegal pimps that would hopefully slowly die out.

Yes it takes regulation to run something like this effectively but the savings in time and effort on the law enforcment side and the amount gained in taxes is surely worth it.