Legalizing Prostitution - Essay Example

Should Prostitution be Legalized? Proponents Annie Sprinkle: 60 year old sexologist, former prostitute and editor of porn magazine believes no one’s fundamental human or civil right can be denied based on the kind trade, profession or work they engage in. There has never been a single law that has been successful in ending prostitution. Prostitution is defined as the exchange of sexual service for an agreed compensation between adults who consent. Going by its definition therefore prostitution just like any other is a service industry in which skills are exchanged for money or other agreed forms of compensation.

Adults who are not able to consent as we as children who are forced or coerced into sexuality for commercial or other reasons deserve to be fully protected by the law while those criminals perpetrating the same qualify for legal condemnation & punishment. Just like other workers, prostitutes working in the sex industry have a constitutional right to be protected from criminal activities such as being harassed sexually, rape and many others. The bottom line is that everyone has to right of choice in terms what they engage in order to earn a living.Sherry F.Colb: A female law professor and judge argues that prostitution as a profession should not be discriminated against.

Those people who chose to engage in prostitution should not be abused, arrested or prevented from soliciting. Our society today has both male and female persons engaging in prostitution but legislations against prostitution refer to women in most cases. It has been tradition to punish and stigmatize women for prostitution while the same laws do not touch men purchase sex from these women. This is discrimination and it is directed straight at women. The laws also actively violate the individuals’ rights to privacy by imposing penal measures on private consensual sexual activity between adults.

Whether a person chooses to have sex with another one for leisure, monetary gain or any other reason is a personal matter that should not be meddled by the government.OpponentsTony Nassif: He is founder and president of the Cedars Cultural and Educational foundation. Legalizing prostitution for him is by all means violating the right to physical and moral integrity; it reduces sexuality into a commodity. It is against peoples’ constitutional right to liberty & security and in fact promotes human trafficking, modern slavery and forced labor.

By legalizing prostitution we violate the victims’ rights to enjoying high standards of health since prostitution is associated with increased cases of violence, spread of disease, unintended pregnancies and abortions that are not safely performed. Many prostitutes have also been found with symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder, depression and other illnesses. The effects of prostitution are sometimes irreversible. It is therefore very clear that prostitution can result into many unwanted effects to the persons who engage in it and hence if legalized the society is at risk.

John Banbenek: 57 years of age, a Native American psychiatrist and executive director of the Tumaini foundation. He also owns Pundit Blog. According to him it is not possible to support eradication of HIV AIDS and at the same time rally for legalization of prostitution. It has been proved many times that prostitution is the vector number one in AIDS transmission whether the form of prostitution is legal or illegal. Prostitutes naturally have more than one sexual partner and as such their exposure & risk of getting infected with AIDs is elevated.

They likelihood of transmitting the disease to many people is likewise increase. Very many studies are available to show how much suffering is endured by prostitutes; women or reduced to commercial commodities, addiction to drugs among prostitutes is high and many of them sufferer from conditions which are directly caused by prostitution such as depression. Abortions will also go up if prostitution is legalized. Prostitution is against the moral standards of our society and if legalized will only serve to increase moral decadence; we should therefore condemn it using all possible means.

Works Cited.1. Charles Lane. “Legalizing Prostitution Doesn’t Make it Safer.” The Washington Post, 2012. retrieved from http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-lane-legalizing- prostitution-doesnt-make-it-safer/2013/12/23/c23886e4-6c02-11e3-b405- 7e360f7e9fd2_story.html