Prostitution - Legal or Illegal?
I'm writing an essay, and I just wanted to see peoples' opinions on this.
*Edit
The essay...
I'm writing an essay, and I just wanted to see peoples' opinions on this.
*Edit
The essay...
Rough Draft (complete)Outline
Rough Draft (paragraphs 2/6)1. Introduction – Prohibition
2. Introduction – Prostitution
3. Body – STD Transmission
4. Body – Prostitute Abuse
5. Body – Fiscal Loss
6. Conclusion
Thesis – Underground prostitution renders the government unable to impose regulations for sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention, safety of prostitutes, and taxation.
On January the sixteenth, in the year nineteen hundred and twenty, prohibition was first enacted nationwide in the United States. This thirteen-year folly, brought forth by pietistic religious denominations, served to have no ultimately positive effect in the long run. Alcoholics simply ran their businesses underground, creating a lawless sub-society devoid of safety regulations or taxation. The government lost money attempting to prevent the manufacture and consumption of alcohol and losing the ability to profit off of such industries. Thousands of people died yearly due to poisoning from bad batches of alcohol produced by inexperienced, careless brewers. All in all, the attempt to achieve alcohol abstinence was a complete failure, resulting in the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment and the end of prohibition in 1933.
Closely mirroring this is the issue of prostitution. The religious right is pressing their views of morality upon the government and forcing them into legality. In truth, with the accordance of the separation of church and state, there is no reason for prostitution to be illegal. It does not cause harm to innocent third parties. It does not hinder the freedom of citizens. It is, overall, a relatively innocuous industry and is only perceived negatively when subject to conservative morality – which, in and of itself, is relative and, therefore, unreliable. The illegality of prostitution has done nothing but force it underground, where it continues to thrive in a dangerous environment. Underground prostitution renders the government unable to impose regulations for sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention, safety of prostitutes, and taxation.
On January 16, 1920, prohibition was first enacted nationwide in the United States. This thirteen-year folly, brought forth by pietistic religious denominations, served to have no ultimately positive effect in the long run. Alcoholics simply ran their businesses underground, creating a lawless sub-society devoid of safety regulations or taxation. The government lost money attempting to prevent the manufacture and consumption of alcohol and losing the ability to profit off of such industries. Thousands of people died yearly due to poisoning from bad batches of alcohol produced by inexperienced, careless brewers. All in all, the attempt to achieve alcohol abstinence was a complete failure, resulting in the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment and the end of prohibition in 1933.
Closely mirroring this is the issue of prostitution. The religious right is pressing their views of morality upon the government and forcing them into legality. In truth, there is no reason for prostitution to be illegal. It does not cause harm to innocent third parties. It does not hinder the freedom of citizens. It is, overall, a relatively innocuous industry and is only perceived negatively when subject to conservative morality – which, in and of itself, is relative and, therefore, unreliable. The illegality of prostitution has done nothing but force it underground, where it continues to thrive in a dangerous environment. Underground prostitution renders the government unable to impose regulations for sexually transmitted disease (STD) prevention, safety of prostitutes, and taxation.
Because prostitution is illegal, there is no system to ensure that STD carriers are kept quarantined and not allowed to work. Roadside hookers who aren’t aware that they have an STD, or even those who do know but don’t care, spread the disease to every customer they service. Not only does this harm the prostitutes’ unlawful customers, but any other innocent citizens that said customers come in sexual contact with afterwards. If prostitution was legalized and regulated, the government could create controls – licenses, regular health exams and blood tests, and other things – to make sure that STDs aren’t spread through these means. In areas where it is legal (for instance, the state of Nevada), weekly health checks and cervical specimens are required of all prostitutes working in brothels. Since 1986, when mandatory testing began, not a single brothel prostitute has ever tested positive for HIV.
Another issue that could be solved by legalizing prostitution is that of safety. Government regulations may help prevent pimping, which is by far a worse exploitation than that from a brothel owner. Oftentimes, prostitutes can find themselves trapped in such a lifestyle and forced to work. Pimps can be abusive, using psychological intimidation, manipulation and physical force to control the members in the "stable". Also, government-regulated brothels would decrease the number of roadside prostitutes. It is unarguable that roadside prostitution is far more dangerous than working in a brothel. A Canadian Report on Prostitution and Pornography concluded that girls and women in prostitution have a mortality rate 40 times higher than the national average. This rate would be decreased dramatically by protecting prostitutes under the law. The truth is, most prostitutes don’t want to work as they do. In a study of 475 people in prostitution, 62% reported having been raped in prostitution, and 92% stated that they wanted to escape prostitution immediately. Legalizing it and providing help for these people will give them a better chance to get back on track to a normal lifestyle.
The legalization of prostitution would provide fiscal benefits to the government. Not only would the government save money that it is currently spending on preventing prostitution and punishing those who take part in it, but it would be able to tax prostitutes.
Again, there is no reason not to legalize prostitution. The three reasons above are strong enough to do so immediately: it would prevent the spread of STDs, it would prevent prostitutes from being abused, and it would be of monetary benefit. Health checks and blood tests could be regulated. Prostitutes would be removed from dangerous situations such as roadside hooking and find a safer environment in a brothel. Prostitutes could be taxed for their services. Overall, prostitution is a harmless act of free will – the sale of one’s body for profit. We can only benefit by legalizing it, but keeping it illegal does nothing but make underground communities thrive that much more.
