Prostitution should be legal

Pro begins round 3 with the illogical statement: (grammar mistakes quoted exactly) “being a prostitute is about as dangers as being a fisherman.” This is either an intentional attempt to mislead, or a poor understanding of math and statistics. He states that the homicide rate for prostitutes is 200 and then tries to compare that to the death rate for fisherman. A true comparison would be the homicide rate of prostitutes to the homicide rate for fisherman or the death rate for prostitutes to the death rate for fishermen. I would have more sympathy for this error if PRO had not misquoted the facts so obviously. Death rate by homicide in active prostitutes was 229[1], but the overall death rate (CMR) was 459. Compare this to the CMR for USA (9) or Canadian (8) general population.[2] This makes a prostitute 50 times more likely to die than an average citizen. I was surprised to learn that “Homicide is the second leading cause of death on the job for workers in the United States.”[3] The major factors were listed in the study as “ contact with the public; exchange of money; and working alone, at night, or in high-crime areas are risk factors for workplace homicide Several studies also report high rates of homicide associated with taxicab services, grocery stores, convenience stores, bars, nightclubs, and gasoline stations.” There is also a strong link to ethnicity of both the individual AND their fellow workers. These factors would not change by simply legalizing prostitution. PRO continues argue for the safety of legalized prostitution based on anecdotal (the worst kind) evidence[4] Prostitutes, clients and managers were interviewed– This is the kind of background work you do before designing a scientific study. Included in this study were quotes like “Panic buttons are a joke . . . usually they’re across the room, but if you can get across the room you can get out the door.” This was from a “study” claiming the safety merits of legalized brothel prostitution. Let me recap why Prostitution should NOT be legal Simply allowing the sale of sex for money will not remove the problems of prostitution. Because this is a state (not federal) issue in the US, the laws that grow up around prostitution will be a patchwork of local and state regulations that encourage sex trafficking and other criminal activity. We use legislation to protect society, and the dangers of prostitution merit tighter laws and more enforcement to keep people from getting into sex trades too easily. There are many health issues of promiscuity. These are not only issues for sex workers, but for their customers, and for the intimate partners of those customers. The best way to limit harm is to keep prostitution illegal, and to find more effective methods of enforcement. Prostitution has many links to organized crime and illegal drug use. These ties will not simply disappear if prostitution were legalized. This would give more money laundering opportunities to criminal enterprise. In The US the average age of entry into street prostitution is 12-14 years.[5] Sex slavery and sex trafficking are a core part of prostitution, even in countries like Germany where it is legal. Legalization only makes the numbers larger. We have legislation to protect the vulnerable. There are age restrictions for alcohol and tobacco. Many drugs are prohibited completely. Speed limits are enforced. In Prostitution, the dangers to the workers and their clients are so high (and there are no benefits) that it needs to be completely prohibited. The prohibition against men taking advantage of women by making them prostitutes is ancient,[6] and there is no reason to think society will get better by legalizing prostitution. As the USA moves towards universal health care and socialized medicine there is an even bigger need to reduce, not increase, prostitution. As the taxpayer ends up paying the cost for medical care of prostitutes and their clients you will pay a huge cost for legalized prostitution. “Prostitutes health care needs exceed those of most other women.”[7] Not only is there a high price to pay for medical treatment of prostitutes, but most sexually transmitted diseases have an incubation period where the disease is infectious, but not yet diagnosed. This makes the transfer to client and coworkers a danger as well. New strains of multi drug resistant STDs are appearing among prostitutes who use antibiotics “just in case”. [8] [9] “The rapid spread was associated with transmission in high risk individuals (that is, prostitutes and their clients).” This was in the Netherlands where prostitution is legal and carefully controlled. In Germany the legalization of prostitution did exactly what would be expected. The number of prostitutes went up, and the price of a prostitute’s service went down. Homicide rates went up. Incidents of violence increased. Human Trafficking increased. These are not good for society or individuals. Pro states that prostitution should be legalized. He wants us to work hard to change our laws so that more harm can come to more people. His position would increase costs to the taxpayer. (for the possible benefit of lowering the cost of a prostitute) There is no good reason to legalize prostitution. There are many good reasons to increase enforcement. Vote CON [1] http://aje.oxfordjournals.org... [2] http://data.worldbank.org... [3] http://aje.oxfordjournals.org... [4] http://esplerp.org... [5] http://www.womensfundingnetwork.org... [6] http://www.biblegateway.com... [7] http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu... [8] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov... [9] http://sti.bmj.com...