Legalization of Prostitution - Essay Example

Legalization of Prostitution Prostitution is one of the topicsthat bring about divergent views especially when brought up in the legal context. Arguments in favour of the stand that prostitution should beillegal are based on the views that it contributes to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and promotehuman trafficking. However, such arguments do not consider the fact that legalizationallows for regulation therefore reducing incidences of infections while also failing to accept that Prostitution should be legalized as it is a victimless crime, can be of economic benefit, it should be the choice of the individual and can help reduce violence against women.Consequently, this essay argues that prostitution should be legalized so that the environment in which sexual workers operate can beregulated by ensuring safe practices such as testing for infections and using protection which will considerably reduce the dangers associated with the practice. An important argument for the legalization of prostitution is that it helps reduce violence against women working in the industry.Prostitute facesconstant risks of violence from both their pimps and customers since they do not have the legal right to press for charges in cases where prostitution is illegal.Violence is perpetuated by customers who after being served by the prostitute refuses to pay or pays less than the agreed amount with any claim by the prostitute for additional pay being met by violence.Since the prostitution industry does not have any form of regulation and operates as an underground business, Levitt and Venkatesh note a woman working as aprostitute would expect an annual average of a dozen incidents of violence and 300instances of unprotected sex (3).” Making prostitution legal creates an environment where prostitution becomes legitimate occupation with sex workers having the same safeguards and rights accorded to other professionals.Such legalization will eliminatethe pimps as prostitutes work in legally recognized brothels while customers also pay according to the agreed prices. Prostitution is a “victimless crime”sincethe women sell their bodies of their own wishshould therefore be “dealtwith by repealing punitive and discriminatory laws” (Outshoorn 24). Criminalization should only be applied in situations where the prostitution is connected to other offences such as human trafficking. When a personal decision, prostitution is should be legal. Legalization and provision of safe environment for the practice make prostitution aharmless act since even the spread of sexually transmitted infections which might be considered as one of the harmful consequences is minimized.Additionally, even when there is a victim in situation such as violence, the law enforcement in many cases targets the prostitute instead of the perpetrator. In violent cases, legalization charges will be imposed on the perpetrators while at the same time offering protection to prostitutes. Legalizing prostitution has an economic sense since it provides the government with a chance to levy taxes on the practice. The government will make this practice a source of revenue that will go into making the conditions better for the prostitute through provision of such services as health care education and alternative forms of earning.The state can also take this chance to reduce the prevalence of the practice since paying taxes might a reason for some of the sex workers quitting the business. Paying tax will either reduce the profits for the operators or make the service expensive, thereby contributing to the reduction of those who are willing to pay for sexual favours (Cho, Dreher and Neumayer 8). Those who are in favour of making prostitution illegal argue that prostitution contributes to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and consequences such as unwanted pregnancies, abortions and infertility. Although this is true to some extent, the continued association of prostitution with these negative side effects has been due to lack of proper review on the conditions in which it should be practised. The diseases and pregnancies have been due to lack of any rule compelling sex workers to demand customers use condoms. This state of affairs should be blamed on the working conditions where prostitution is illegal since prostitutes go underground where they do not practice safe sex and do not go for regulartesting for infections.However, legalization of prostitution is an effective step towards reducing the rate of infections andgetting unwanted pregnancies. Legalization of prostitution will include laws that make it mandatory to sue condoms and getting tested for sexually transmitted diseases. A good example is in Nevada where sex workers are required to have tests for syphilis and HIV every month in addition to weekly tests for gonorrhoea and Chlamydia in addition tothoserunning the brothels being required to ensure clients use condoms for all sex (Golden, ‎ Collins, ‎ Cunningham 214). Such laws dramatically reduce the rate of unwanted pregnancies and infectionsas they practice safe sex. Opponents of effortsmake prostitution legal have argued that prostitution help propagate human trafficking. It is argued that a majority of the victims in international human trafficking syndicates are either girls or women taken in foreign countries to be sexually exploited in prostitution relatedbusinesses (Cho, Dreher and Neumayer 3). In this case prostitution is seen as providing a basis for trafficking as those involved are sure of getting markets for the victims. However, it should be noted that human trafficking for the purpose of prostitution can be linked to making prostitution illegal since it creates an environment of rampant exploitation and abuse of sex workers. However, this could be stopped by ensuring prostitution exists as a recognized and the legal practice where the social rights of prostitutes is guaranteed (Savinoand Turvey 58). This should include offering the prostitutes with a work permitted based on a background check to ensure they are independent and not sponsored by a pimp. Opposition to the legalization of prostitution have also been based on ethical and moral reasoningwith the opponents claiming it is an immoral activity that should not be accepted in society.However, evidence show that prostitution is one of the “oldest profession in the world”implying its presence has only been denied while being practiced in secrete (Essed 259). This situation also implies that men and women will most likely be looking to pay for sexual favours for unforeseeable future.For this reason combined with the earlier argument that prostitution is a victimless crime, the practice should be legalized as it is here to stay.Accepting the existence of prostitution insociety will come with measures to ensure it is not done in the public where others will be affected by the actions of those practicing it. Prostitution will be regulated and put in the category of private practices that does not disturb the public. This easy has presented arguments in favour of legalization of prostitution based on the need to regulate the practice.Argumentsagainst legalization of prostitutionhave been based on views such as promotion of human trafficking,increased levels of contracting sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies. It is argued that legalization eliminates these negative consequences of prostitution by ensuring the sex workers are tested on a regular basis for diseases such as HIV/AIDS, Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea.Further, there will be a reduction in violence perpetrated by pimps and customers since the sex worker will be protected by law and can seek legal redress when assaulted. Although the problem of human trafficking has been linked to prostitution businesses, legalization of prostitution can be part of the solution to this problem through making it a requirement that allsex workers have a working permit and the permit should only be granted when the person is determined to be independent. Therefore, legalization of protectionis the solution to other problems associated with prostitution since making it illegal has never been successful as the practice has continued to exist through history even with the existence of rules prohibitingcommercial sex. Work Cited Cho, Seo-Young, Axel Dreher, and Eric Neumayer. "Does Legalized Prostitution Increase Human Trafficking? Economics of Security Working Paper 71, Berlin: Economics of Security, 2012. Print Essed, Philomena, David Theo Goldberg, and Audrey Kobayashi, eds. A companion to gender studies. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2009. Golden, Rachel, ‎Charles B. Collins, ‎Shayna D Cunningham.Best Evidence Structural Interventions for HIV Prevention. New York: Springer, 2013. Levitt, Steven D., and Venkatesh,SudhirAlladi."An empirical analysis of street-level prostitution."Preliminary draft, September 2007. Outshoorn, Joyce, ed. The politics of prostitution: women's movements, democratic states and the globalisation of sex commerce. Cambridge University Press, 2004. Savino, John O., and TurveyBrent E., eds. Rape investigation handbook. Waltham, Massachusetts: Academic Press, 2011. Read More