Should Voters Approve Some Particular Measure that Allows State to Regulate Legalized Prostitution - Essay Example

The Number 5 November Prostitution is generally understood as female or male engagement into sexual intercourse or provision of sex services for money (Collins English Dictionary, “Prostitute”). Nowadays prostitution is considered illegal in 49 of 50 states in the United States, with Nevada being the only state where prostitution has been legal in some rural counties (Condon, “Harry Reid says Nevada should outlaw prostitution”). From available resources on prostitution regulation and legalization, it appears that there are basically two groups in the debate on whether voters should approve of some particular measure that would permit their state or county to regulate legalized prostitution. The first group is represented by proponents of the so-called proposition K (a measure to decriminalize prostitution) who also agree on the necessity of legalization and subsequent regulation. The members of this group suggest a variety of measures that would help regulate prostitution as a legalized business in the United States. The second group is represented by the opponents to the Proposition K and to legalization of prostitution in the United States. For this group, the question of the prostitution regulation by law does not exist as they oppose the very idea of its decriminalization and legalization of “the world’s oldest profession” (Armentano, “The Case for Legalized Prostitution”). This paper explores the arguments of both groups using the Toulmin model and provides a justified perspective on the issue. Firstly, the rhetorical situation is considered as the phenomenon of prostitution is discussed in the context of modern American society and its status. Next, the arguments of each side are analyzed with the help of the Toulmin model, which will help to reveal the common backing. Further, the author’s perspective on the issue will be discussed. The paper ends with a summary of major ideas discussed in the essay and a general conclusion on the issue. To begin with, the proponents of legalization and regulation of prostitution either by a state or a county, claim that prostitution should be legalized and regulated in the United States. This should be done because illegal prostitution promoted human trafficking, spread of HIV and other infections, and violates prostitutes’ human rights. In addition, it is alleged that the illegal status of prostitution has prevented women from working in safe conditions and urged them to work in the streets. Also, illegal prostitution, which is deemed a misdemeanor, incurs millions of tax dollars to be spent on investigation and prosecution of this criminal offense. To illustrate, statistic data show that Los Angeles spends around 100 million dollars a year to deal with prostitution (Armentano, “The Case for Legalized Prostitution”). Besides, it was estimated that nearly a half of illegal prostitutes in New York City and Washington D.C. were HIV-positive back in the 1990s (Armentano, “The Case for Legalized Prostitution”). Proponents of prostitution legalization and regulation warrant that legalization and regulation of prostitution is beneficial in many ways. They back their statement by saying that legalized brothels, with strict regulation by the state, in combination with severe penalties for the so-called johns that seek sex in the streets, will prevent human trafficking, spread of infections, and victimization of prostitutes (Lee & Persson 1). While it can be said that prostitution is a morally challenging occupation that promotes the decay of norms and values in the society and does not deserve decriminalization and legalization, it remains a fact that to use the services of sex workers or not is a personal choice of each of us. In addition, some people oppose the idea that legalized and regulated prostitution will help reduce victimization of prostitutes pointing out that the black market will still exist and keep recruiting girls from poor nations, the fraction of involuntary prostitutes as well as victims of violence will reduce (“Prostitution: Should It Be Legalized?”). The opponents of legalization and regulation of prostitution either by a state or county claim that prostitution should not be legalized and officially regulated in the United States because prostitution violates women’s rights to security, liberty, and integrity and turns women into “products” that can be sold and bought. Legalized prostitution also increases the rates of human trafficking since decriminalization of prostitution makes it harder to allocate human traffickers, in particular from the developing countries. Besides, countries with legalized prostitution turn into magnets for many under-aged prostitutes and human traffickers, as well as drug dealers and a range of petty criminal offenders (Kleine-Brockhoff, “Legalization Opens Criminal Floodgates”). Recent studies show that countries with legalized and regulated prostitution have not eliminated street prostitution, have not combated victimization of prostitutes (who may still be hit by customers), have not allowed for better control of brothels through their legalization (statistically, the number of illegal brothels in Victoria, Australia is 400, which is four times more than the number of legal brothels), and have not prevented the spread of infections (according to the data provided by Macfarlane Burnett Centre for Medical Research, 40 per cent male clients, who potentially transmitted infections, did not wear condoms) (Jeffreys, “The Legislation of Prostitution: A Failed Social Experiment”). Banning prostitution without any steps to legalization and regulation will benefit the society in many ways. First of all, it will serve a restrictive measure for street prostitution, as well as prevent the industry of prostitution from intense development through human trafficking and under-aged prostitution. Also, if prostitution is banned, people will get a chance to raise their children in a morally decent setting, without being afraid of seeing a brothel while “looking out of a school bus” (Condon, “Harry Reid says Nevada should outlaw prostitution”). In addition, if prostitution is banned, men will act in a more reserved manner towards prostitutes keeping their tastes simple rather than elaborate on new ways of exploiting women. Of course, it can be said that banning prostitution will not stop the very phenomenon of prostitution from development; however, the latter will be moderate in comparison with the pace of development of brothels industry within a legal setting. Besides, women will be less likely to engage in prostitution if they are aware that prostitution is a criminal offense. In summary, the opposing sides in the debate have used several common arguments to provide backing to their claims. These have been banning prostitution/allowing prostitution violates women’s rights and leads to women victimization, as well as promotes human trafficking and exposes people to infections. From careful examination of both claims in terms of the Toulmin model, it appears that illegal prostitution benefits the society more. Besides, unsuccessful experience of the countries where prostitution has been legal for decades helps to identify serious weaknesses of this approach. Works Cited Armentano, Paul. “The case for legalized prostitution”. Freedom Daily. December, 1993. Web. Nov 5, 2012. < http://www.fff.org/freedom/1293e.asp>. Condon, Stephanie. “Harry Reid says Nevada should outlaw prostitution.” CBSNews. Feb 22, 2011. Web. Nov 5, 2012. < http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162- 20035051-503544.html> Jeffreys, Sheila. “The legalization of prostitution: A failed social experiment”. Sisysphe. Mar 5, 2003. Web. 5 Nov, 2012. < http://sisyphe.org/article.php3?id_article=697>. Kleine-Brockhoff, Thomas. “Legalization opens criminal floodgates.” PostGlobal. Jan 29, 2007. Web. Nov 5, 2012. < http://prostitution.procon.org/view.source.php?sourceID=000848> Lee, Samuel and Persson, Petra. “Human Trafficking and Regulating Prostitution”. N.d. Web. 5 Nov 2012. “Prostitution: Should it be legalized?” BBC News. Talking Point. Apr 23, 2001. Web. Nov 5, 2012. < http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/1271865.stm> Read More