Should prostitution be legal?

[Haydn2]

Sorry to sound a bit conservative on this one , but i don't think it should be legal .
I guess its because i believe sex should be if not between 2 people that love eachother , then at are at least in lust.
I find that financial transaction a man pays to accentually masterbate inside of a women (Which is what it is , its not real sex) a bit perverted. ( and it is 99% of men paying , whether its to a woman , or a rent boy).
Yes you might argue some of the woman enjoy it as well , but i bet the vast majority are financially desperate and/or feeding a drug habit , coerced into it or much worse.
You might say that because it is illegal it will drive it underground , which is true . But this should be tackled by the authroritys.
I think if these woman are given education and better opportunitys then they wouldn't fall into this seedy dead-end trap.
Just think if it was your own daughter ? would you think that was ok?

[Puddleglum]

Oh dear the 'what would you think if your daughter did it'.

Frankly what adult women do is no business of their fathers. That sort of thinking belongs to religious loons.

I would have no more business telling my daughter not to fuck for money than I would telling her not to fuck stupid men ,men of different races or men I just didn't like.

The only thing perverted is not doing it.

[Ben Davis]

...i believe sex should be if not between 2 people that love eachother , then at are at least in lust.

Fair enough. Don't use prostitutes then. That's hardly an argument for keeping prostitution illegal though; what you want to do sexually is up to you, what others want to do is up to them. As long as there's mutual consent, I don't see any problem whether money changes hands or not.

I find that financial transaction a (person) pays to (essentially) masterbate inside of (someone else)... a bit perverted.

Fixed that sentence for you. Same argument as above, same response. Would you make one-night-stands illegal? It's pretty much the same thing.

...i bet the vast majority (of prostitutes) are financially desperate

...and so you think it's right to deny them an opportunity to make legitimate money?

...and/or feeding a drug habit , coerced into it or much worse.

Generally, these are problems caused by the illegality of prostitution. Legalise it, provide properly constructed legislation and support mechanisms and the vast majority of these issues stop. Check out the Australian model for a great example.

I think if these woman are given education and better opportunitys then they wouldn't fall into this seedy dead-end trap.

Examining the Australian model, plenty of well educated women get into the business because there's plenty of money to be made for someone with the smarts. Let's not forget that the sex industry, world-wide, is only financially outperformed by the arms trade.

Just think if it was your own daughter ? would you think that was ok?

...or my son (just to make the point). It would be none of my business who s/he sleeps with or why. Given the current illegality, I'd like to think I'd only be supportive. It must be shit enough having society judge you for your sexual behaviour without having police stress on top. I assume you wouldn't empathise?

[Haydn2]

I went to Amsterdam where prostitution is legalised , back when i was 17 (to smoke alot of week with my mates) .
I remember walking through the red light district and feeling pity on the girls though the windows .Some were no older then me.
Sorry , but perhaps i am over conservative and i certainly don't think society should interfere with what people get up in private. But i just feel sorry for them .

[Ben Davis]

I went to Amsterdam where prostitution is legalised , back when i was 17 (to smoke alot of week with my mates) . I remember walking through the red light district and feeling pity on the girls though the windows.

Ahh, judgemental pity. Yes, your views on seuality are repressed and a bit 1950's.

...i certainly don't think society should interfere with what people get up in private.

Then why are you pro-illegalisation? This flatly contradicts what you said earlier. You're not backtracking, are you?

But i just feel sorry for them .

Maybe you should empathise instead of patronise.

[Puddleglum]

Hayden- your spelling indicates that you are a Brit. Frankly I am surprised because prostituion isn;'t actually legalized in the Netherlands- it's decriminalzed, however prostitution per se is not illegal in the UK.

Girls in windows in Amstrerdam maybe no older than you but they earn a ton more monry than you. As for being 'miserable' sure that wasn't bored sitting and waiting for a client? And if they are misrable so what? Lots of people are miserable in their work. I'll bet eary morning office cleaners are pretty miserable too.

[Darth]

Aus spelling is usually the same as brittish.
His profile says he is in england =P.

[TaraJo]

Yeah, I'm a little surprised the poll is so one sided, but, hey, when you take the religious shaming of sex out of the equation and think about things rationally, it's hard to find a good reason to be against it.

I've thought of doing escorting myself. Been really desperate and if I had looked better back then, I probably would have done it. As of now, the only reason I'm not really thinking of doing it is because I know my boyfriend wouldn't be happy with it.

I think it would be easier to regulate if it were legal. Make the girls get tested for STD's (and their ability to do their work legally would depend on the tests coming out clean) and use condoms and you've already made a positive contribution. Take pimps out of the equation and you're even better.

There's another factor, though. The girls have to go around, always afraid because what they're doing is illegal and they could be arrested. So they don't want to go to the police when they're robbed or beaten because the police might arrest them. And on that matter, girls don't have to worry about getting an arrest on their records that can lock them out of other jobs later on.

Honestly, there's so much wrong with prostitution being illegal. Though, honestly, I think our society is REALLY uptight about sex in general.

[JohnDG]

It's not the issue of it being right or wrong, but if you care about their lives and just wish to provide safe haven.

[Puddleglum]

It's not the issue of it being right or wrong, but if you care about their lives and just wish to provide safe haven.

What does that mean?

I use two different agencies and use 5 different 'regulars' unless I am abroad.

I have a good professional relationship with them like I would with my accountant, my maintenence suprvisor or anyone else I deal with on a fairly regular basis but their lives outside the worksplace are not really my concern.

I don;t get your point.