Prostitution should be legal

First let me outline my position. Prostitution should NOT be legal Legislation Helps Protect Society Health Issues of Promiscuity Links to Organized Crime and Use of Illegal Drugs Links to Sex Slavery Legislation Helps Protect the Vulnerable Men Using Their Wive or Daughters as Prostitutes Pimps Using Drugs and Physical Violence to Control Girls Child Trafficking Increases as a Result of Legalized Prostitution Forced Prostitution Increases as a Result of Legalized Prostitution The High Economic Cost of Sex Trade Medical Expenses for Participants Medical Expenses for “Second Hand” Victims I want to cover all the points above (unless there are some you wish to concede in the interest of saving space and time in the debate). First I want to look at the example of Germany’s recent change to legalize prostitution.The German Experiment. Historically prostitution was never outlawed in Germany. The took the position of Saint Augustine that prostitution should be tolerated. [1][2] by Governments. In the 1500s there was a change in attitude because of the Protestant reformation and the rise of syphilis. In the 1800s sex trade workers had to register with local police and health authorities. In the early 1900s the focus was on regulation (not abolition) and then government run brothels were common under Nazi rule. Later, in East Germany prostitution was illegal, but in West Germany it was regulated. In unified Germany prostitution was never fully illegal, but the rules varied by municipality. In 2002, Germany changed the law in an effort to improve the legal situation of prostitutes. [3] Let’s look at the results of the 2002 change in law. It is estimated that 400,000 work as prostitutes in Germany (Pop 89 million).[4] “It is a magnet for migrant sex workers, who are lured from their wretched villages in Bulgaria and Romania and turned into virtual sex slaves in Germany’s 3,000 brothels. Police are nearly powerless to help them.” - [5] Germany is finding that the current laws are not working, and have added more laws to refine what is legal and what is not. [6] [7] The German government (2007 report) concluding that few prostitutes had taken advantage of regular work contracts and that work conditions had improved only slightly, if at all The law has failed. Prostitutes themselves don't want to change their working conditions and contracts to the new (2002) legal status. [8] Prostitution should NOT be legal. It increases rape (non consensual sex). It increases human trafficking(sex slavery). It increases statutory rape (consensual sex with underage partners) The usual age of entry to the “profession” is between 14 and 16. It is linked with organized crime and drug trafficking even in places where prostitution is legalized and regulated. None of these are activities that governments should encourage.Lets look at some further reasons why governments should work to minimize prostitution. Legislation Helps Protect Society There are many health issues relating to promiscuity. Prostitution maximizes these issues. First lets look at Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Most STDs have an incubation time before they can be diagnosed. This means that a prostitute (lets say 2 partners daily) who will test positive for HIV after 3 weeks, may infect 42 customers before it is possible to detect that she is infected. There is no way to 100% prevent the spread of STDs. Here are some other medical risks of promiscuity: Prostate cancer, Cervical cancer, Oral cancer, Heart disease, Domestic violence, Unwanted pregnancy, Birth defects[9] There are consistent links to organized crime and use of illegal drugs. I assume we are agreed that organized crime and illegal drug use should be reduced if possible. The link between organized crime, human trafficking, illegal drug use and prostitution is made clear in a position paper from the London School of Economics. [10] Here are some points to ponder from that paper. * “legalized sex industries actually result in increased trafficking to meet the demand for women to be used in the legal sex industries” * “wherever prostitution is legalized, trafficking to sex industry marketplaces in that region increases” * “prostitution is inherently harmful and dehumanizing and fuels trafficking in persons” * democratic political regime experience a larger reported incidence of trafficking. It is inaccurate to think of prostitution as a single experience. In countries where it is legal there are freelance workers, brothel workers, workers with a “manager”. Many of the low end / low price workers are getting money for drugs. In Germany there is a huge problem with “narco prostitution” as the workers are in poor health, and many are victims of rape, murder and violence. In round 2 I plan to cover the issues listed below. Although I am against unnecessary government intervention, I believe the best way to reduce the harm done by prostitution is to criminalize the purchase of prostitution (Target the Johns as opposed to the sellers). Trades training could be offered to the sellers of sex services as a way to get them out of the sex business. FOR ROUND 2 Legislation Helps Protect the Vulnerable Men Using Their Wive or Daughters as Prostitutes Pimps Using Drugs and Physical Violence to Control Girls Child Trafficking Increases as a Result of Legalized Prostitution Forced Prostitution Increases as a Result of Legalized Prostitution The High Economic Cost of Sex Trade Medical Expenses for Participants Medical Expenses for “Second Hand” Victims[1] http://catholicforum.fisheaters.com...[2] Summa Theologica: Part II of book II, question 10, article 11 http://www.newadvent.org...[3] http://en.wikipedia.org...[4] http://www.dw.de...[5] http://www.theglobeandmail.com...[6] http://www.examiner.com...[7] http://www.theguardian.com...[8] http://www.taz.de... Translated by Google[9] http://voxxi.com...[10] http://dx.doi.org...