From one of the worlds oldest occupations comes one of the oldest legal debates:

prostitution. There is no denying that the sex industry has taken international dimensions and is
recognized as an economic motor for many countries. The actual act, a prostitute and her/his
customer agreeing on an exchange of money for sex, violates no one's rights, and does not
directly nor can it be demonstrated that it necessarily harms anyone else. Thus, it should be legal.
Nevertheless, prostitution is illegal in the United States. According to current legislation, women
who sell their bodies, as well as the men who pay for their sexual services, are criminals. This
essay will compare between the different legislation alternatives, argue in favor of legalization
using several points like: morality, personal freedom and individual liberty, decrease in human
trafficking, violence, rape, diseases and finally, provide a plan to legalize prostitution. Whether it
should be a legal profession or not is a matter of much controversy. Yet, in many countries it is
legal but with heavily regulated restrictions. Prostitution in the United States should be treated
the same way. It should be a legalized profession but with restrictions regulated by laws and
government departments. On the surface, this looks like a rehashing of a timeless debate,
however it is not. The question should no longer be about morality is prostitution a vice and are
those involved evil or somehow lacking in judgment? The question should be: Is prostitution a
form of exploitation to be abolished or an occupation to be regulated?
There are four general approaches to prostitution legislation: complete criminalization,
partial decriminalization, decriminalization, and legalization. In a completely criminalized
regime (such as in almost every state in the United States except for Nevada) all aspects of
prostitution, both the sale and purchase of sex, as well as all third party involvement, are illegal
and appear as offenses in the criminal code (Hayes, 2008). The goal of complete criminalization
is to eradicate the sex industry by the roots. Supporters of complete criminalization attempt to
reduce both the demand and supply of prostitution by persecuting both parties, therefore
deterring both prostitutes and their client. In a partially decriminalized regime (such as in
Sweden) the activities of the actual prostitute are decriminalized (are not pursued by police), but
all other prostitution-related activities, such as purchasing sex or facilitating prostitution, remain
criminalized (Hayes, 2008). Prostitutes are not viewed as guilty for selling sex, they are viewed
as victims, nevertheless, buying sex is an offense. This type of legal action focuses on the
demand. Advocates for partial decriminalization argue that it decreases the demand for trafficked
women by criminalizing the purchase of a prostitute. In a decriminalized regime, all laws
concerning prostitution have been repealed and no prostitution-specific controls are imposed
(Hayes, 2008). Sex trafficking is viewed differently from prostitution and is still pursued as a
criminal act, but all forms of what is considered consensual prostitution is decriminalized.
Theoretically, in a decriminalized regime, prostitution is considered a legitimate a normal
business that is not differentiated from other business (Hayes, 2008). Despite the claimed
advantages of a decriminalized regime, currently no country has complete decriminalization
because no country allows prostitution without restriction. In a legalized regime, such as in
Germany and the Netherlands, prostitution is allowed in certain conditions, as specified by the
government (Hayes, 2008). Such regimes are also sometimes referred to as regulated because
there is legislation regulating the sex industry through prostitution-specific controls. These
controls regulate the manner and conditions under which prostitution is allowed, for example, a
ban on brothels (or a requirement that all brothels be registered with the state) and that all
prostitutes be licensed and submit to mandatory health examinations. The basic premise behind
most legalized regimes is that prostitution is a part of the social order, but needs to be controlled
in order to protect public order and health. This last approach is the one I believe should be
adopted in the United States.
Morality is usually the first thought that comes to mind when talking about prostitution,
mostly because it's the most controversial part of this debate. Morality is the idea relating to
principles of right and wrong in behavior (Miriam-Webster). Our society lives by a moral code,
nevertheless this "moral code" is extremely subjective because morality is an idea (sets of value)
that, while they may overlap in different individuals, is still independent. Prostitution is a highly
subjective moral arena, with strong advocates for both sides of the argument. The problem is that
the moral values of the majority are defended by the government at the expense of the moral
values of the minority. What right does one set of moral standards have to gain the government's
favor over another set of moral standards? Society as a whole has the right to protect itself
against harm that it may be caused by one person's actions, otherwise society as we know it
would fall apart. But society should not have the right to impose laws upon people who do not
affect society in a direct or harmful manner. Prostitution, unlike smoking for example, only
affects those who are engaging in the act itself. Cigarette smoking has been proven to endanger
the life of not only the smoker, but also the people who are near the smoker. Secondhand smoke
has been proven to cause cancer in people who have never smoked. For this very reason laws
were established to protect non-smoking people, smoking was not banned or criminalized
although it is proven that cigarettes kill people, even people who don't smoke. Why then, is
prostitution banned when only the prostitute and the client are involved?
Moral views regarding prostitution vary greatly from person to person; however, should
prostitution even be a question of morality? The answer to this question is no. I will suggest that
the essential argument surrounding the legalization of prostitution should not one of morality, but
one that focuses on finding the best way for society to deal with it, not as civilizations oldest
profession, but as one of civilization's most common profession. For those who think that
prostituting is immoral, this is the least supported argument. There are so many things considered
to be immoral by large numbers of people. Tattoos, legalization of guns and divorce are just a
few of these. Why then, if these are legal, should prostitution be any different? Furthermore,
consider the fact that pornography is legal, as is the adult film industry. How can it be that it is
perfectly legal to be an adult film actor/actress and get paid for performing sexual acts, have it
videotaped and sell it, but it is illegal to do the same, only excluding the videotape? There is no
logic behind that principle. The first prostitute in the United States to speak publicly for rights of
sex workers, Margo St. James, states in A Vindication of the Rights of Whores, By legalizing
pornography and keeping prostitution illegal, the government legitimizes men selling womens
sexuality while criminalizing women for selling sex on their own terms (Pheterson, 1989). Only
when prostitution is not placed under the spotlight of a false morality dilemma but a choice of
work and normal consensual sexual behavior, will policy making be taken into serious
consideration which will in turn lead to the provision of safe sexual services as means of work.
In the dilemma of prostitution, personal liberty (autonomy) is one of the less debated
issues, but I believe is of utmost importance. In our culture, we interpret autonomy as the right to
self-determination and the right to maximize self-interest. That means that we are able to pursue
our own goals and life plans without external constraints, including our choice of work. If we
accept this definition of autonomy then we should be able to choose how we work as long as our
work does not cause harm to others. Prostitutes do not commit and inherently harmful act
because consenting adults are the ones involved. Sexual choices are as fundamental to our lives
as artistic expression, if not more so, and therefore these choices too should enjoy the full
embrace of constitutional guarantees even if they upset the traditional order (Abramson, 2003).
Prohibition of prostitution violate one's most basic and inherent rights. Individuals own their
bodies and their labor services and have the absolute right to decide how those labor services
should be used. As long as the prostitution transaction is voluntary, there is no justification for
governmental interference. Indeed, such interference constitutes an infringement of the privacy
and personal liberty of the individuals involved (Armentano, 1993).
Another reason to legalize prostitution is human trafficking. Today, sex trafficking is a
high-tech, globalized, electronic market, and predators are involved at all levels, using the same
methods to control prostituted women that batterers use against their victims: minimization and
denial of physical violence, economic exploitation, social isolation, verbal abuse, threats and
intimidation, physical violence, sexual assault, and captivity. Due to the highly organized and
secretive nature of human trafficking, accurate statistics on the scope and extent of human
trafficking in general and sex trafficking in particular are unavailable. The United States
government, however, estimates that as many as 800,000 people are trafficked across
international borders each year and that even more are trafficked internally and 80 percent are
destined to be used for sex exploitation, fifty percent of victims are minors and eighty percent are
females while a small percent are boys and men (Trafficking in Persons Report U.S. Department
of State, 2007). Most trafficking victims are taken to brothels where they become prostitutes and
slaves to sexual services. These slaves are sometimes beaten, dependent on the conditions of
which they live. It is believed that trafficking in women, coercion and exploitation can only be
stopped if the existence of prostitution is recognized and the legal and social rights of prostitutes
are guaranteed. In St. Louis in 2007 police busted a 22 state prostitution ring where they found
that 27 of the 50 girls working were minors (Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation, 2010).
These girls were being forced into this against their will due to the threats by their pimps.
Because prostitution is kept illegal it is forced to be kept underground where it is very hard to
keep girls safe. Moreover, some efforts to prohibit prostitution have increased sex workers' risk
to the dangers of trafficking. Sweden, for example, is much praised by anti-prostitution activists
for a 1998 law that aimed to protect sex workers by criminalizing their customers (Feingold,
2005). But several independent studies, including one conducted by the Swedish police, showed
that it exposed prostitutes to more dangerous clients and less safe-sex practices (Feingold, 2005).
When demand for prostitution continues (as it often does because laws criminalizing the sale of
sex are more strictly enforced than those criminalizing the purchase of sex) an insufficient supply
leads to an explosion trafficking industry. When the demand for prostitution exceeds the supply,
traffickers use the opportunity to move women and girls into countries with insufficient supply.
For example, in Southeast Asia in the 1960s the arrival of American soldiers demanding
prostitutes far exceeded the existing supply and caused a boom in regional sex trafficking
(Hayes, 2008). Legalizing it would help decrease human trafficking crimes, because voluntary
prostitutes can fill the supply-side which will put traffickers out of business. The premise is
simple: it is much easier to regulate something when its legal rather than when it's not.
Legalizing prostitution can also potentially minimize violence. Underground activities are
more violent than legal activities because there are no laws regulating what happens. The public
usually believes that violence is part of a prostitute's job description; the abuse comes with the
territory, but this is not a rational way of thinking. According to the Canadian medical
association: In a recent US study of almost 2,000 prostitutes followed over a 30-year period, by
far the most common causes of death were homicide, suicide, drug- and alcohol-related
problems, HIV infection and accidents, in that order. The homicide rate among active female
prostitutes was 17 times higher than that of the age-matched general female population
(Potterat, 2004). The majority of women have been victims of robbery, physical and verbal
violence, and theft of service; two-thirds of them claimed to have been beaten regularly by their
pimps and seventy-eight percent reported being victimized by perversion an average of
seventeen times each (Loff, 2007). Prostitutes can also be abused in similar ways by police
officers and other officers of the court. The figures that report the abuse against prostitutes are
greatly varied according to different populations. According to the website, Prostitutes Education
Network, in a sample of clients from St. James Infirmary, as sex worker clinic in San Francisco,
53% of their sample experienced "past or current occupational violence" including 32% by
customers, 20% from employers and 15% by police. Prostitutes are at higher risk of occupational
mortality than any other group of women ever studied. For example, the homicide rate for female
prostitutes was estimated to be 204 per 100,000 which is higher than that for the riskiest
legitimate occupations in the United States during a similar period (4 per 100,000 for female
liquor store workers and 29 per 100,000 for male taxicab drivers) (Sex Worker Health, San
Francisco Style: The St. James Infirmary, 2011).
If we legitimize this industry, prostitutes will have law enforcement working with them
instead of working against them. Society has an obligation to protect women, even prostitutes,
and that cannot be done if laws are not implemented in favor of legalizing prostitution.
Although, no system is risk free, women who are working in legal brothels and window units in
the Netherlands and Nevada experience very little violence (Weitzer, 2006). In a study carried
out comparing the legal vs. illegal brothels in Nevada is was concluded that: "There is strong
indication from the interviews, document analysis, and ethnographic data, that legal brothels
generally offer a safer working environment than their illegal counterparts" (Brents, 2005). If
prostitution were legal, pimps and middle mans will be eliminated. Eliminating pimps would
help decrease the violent acts that are committed against these women by more than 50%
(Brents, 2005). We need to protect the prostitute because as long as people have both money and
sexual frustration, some people will continue paying other people to gratify their desires.
Rape and sexually transmitted diseases are a constant problem in our society. The number
of rapes could decrease when there are legal alternatives that are more easily available.
Criminalizing the sex industry creates ideal conditions for abuse of sex workers. In a study
realized by The Independent Institute, the hypothesis that rape would decrease if prostitution was
legalized was tested by regressing the rape rate in available Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries against a proxy for the availability of sex
through prostitution (Cundiff, 2004). The analysis of the data collected seems to support the
hypothesis that the rape rate could be lowered if prostitution was more readily available. It is
estimated that if prostitution were legalized in the United States, the rape rate would decrease by
roughly 25%, for a decrease of approximately 25,000 rapes per year (Cundiff, 2004). Using
statistics to compare rape per capita is not a reliable source of information because what
constitutes as rape varies from different countries and some rapes go unreported aside from the
fact that some countries under-report the real numbers. Another big issue with rape is that
usually, prostitutes that have been raped do not report it because of fear that they might not
believed because of their profession or they would be prosecuted as criminals. Therefore, these
women become easy prey for sexual predators and are attacked without repercussions to their
violators. Nevertheless, taking into account the inaccuracy of these numbers, the Rate of rape per
100,000 population is 27.3 for the USA (where prostitution is illegal) and 9.2 for the Netherlands
(where prostitution is legal).
STDs could also be reduced by legalizing prostitution. There is high rate of STDs due to
lack of health awareness and not knowing where to go for testing and treatment. In a report
conducted in 2007 in the U.S stated that the number of STD infections have doubled, in some
cases tripled, from the year prior (Hayes, 2008). This is something that can be easily prevented
by legalizing sex work. In countries and states where prostitution is legal, the risk of sexual
transmitted diseases is slower than where prostitution is illegal (Hayes, 2008). This is because
prostitutes have better access to doctors, medicines, sex education, and contraceptives that
prevent and reduce sexually transmitted diseases. For example, since they made prostitution legal
in Nevada there have no reports of anyone contract a STD from a prostitute (Hayes, 2008).
Furthermore, countries that legalize prostitution and require periodic testing for STDs have an
even lower rate of transmitting STDs (Hayes, 2008).
Numerous benefits could be obtained if the government made prostitution legal. New
legislation will have to be made by the United States Government to make prostitution legal in
all states. New government departments could be created, for example, DHP (Department of
Healthy Prostitution), to monitor and regulate prostitution and all of its counter parts. This
department will create new jobs boosting the economy. First off, prostitution could only be
performed in brothels and the localization of these places will be discrete, well guarded, and at a
certain distance from residential areas. No brothel could be located near a school zone. Age
restrictions will be employed, workers cannot be any younger than 18 years of age (this would
target child prostitution). Brothels and prostitutes must pass a criminal background check in
order to be licensed. Once they are licensed they will register with the DHP and pay a fee.
Workers must attend health classes and seminars provided by the agency to stay in the job and
must also receive certification from the state after taking the health classes, these could also be
open to clients. Clients will need proof of testing (no older than 2 months) before participating in
any activities. Prostitutes must adhere to strict medical testing and control. They would be tested
for STDs before being licensed. Once they begin to work at a brothel, they would be tested
every seven days for gonorrhea and chlamydia and checked monthly for syphilis and HIV (this is
a successful current practice in the state of Nevada). There will be zero tolerance for alcohol or
drug use while at work. Clients must sign agreements to appropriate behavior and accept the
conditions put forward by the workers, therefore ensuring safety and respecting the boundaries
of each worker. Clients will pay up front. Moreover, since prostitution would be considered a
job, everyone who is a part of the industry must be paid by either salary or by the hour so that the
government could tax it, allowing the economy to benefit off of it. This also promotes fairness in
the working place, ensuring that workers receive their fair share of money and owners cannot
exploit them. Some kind of protection (condom or diaphragm) should be used at all times.
security guards will be present in all brothels producing more jobs and ensuring the safety of the
workers. Psychological evaluations, counseling and treatment would be available at all times.
This would also create jobs and ensure the well being of the workers. Monetary rewards could
be used to encourage people with information that leads to illegal (non-registered) or
underground prostitution which in turn can decrease human trafficking. Violators of the rules and
regulations stipulated, but not limited, to the ones presented above will be heavily ticketed and
could be sentenced to time in prison with high bails
Prostitution is an occupation that, whether it is legal or not, will still remain in the world.
It is a successful legal profession in many places all over the world, such as Singapore, Canada,
France, Mexico, Israel, Denmark and the Netherlands. With all of the restrictions provided
above, prostitution can be managed and controlled. Violence would be reduced because
prostitutes would be in a safe environment and off the streets and STD's can be reduced as well a
human trafficking. New jobs may be created not only working as a prostitute, but also as
functionaries of the government agencies that will regulate prostitution. Because this will be a
legitimate job, taxes will be filed improving the economy. The advantages to legalizing
prostitution are enormous and will not compromise the values of our society. The arguments
against prostitution have been refuted and it has been demonstrated with various criteria that
there are no grounds that allow for the prohibition of prostitution, therefore, it should be
legalized.
















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