Prostitution should be legal.

Alright, sorry for taking so long! Good arguments once more! "My refutation to that is even if prostitution remains illegal, this same kind of underage prostitution would occur". -That is absolutely true, but when you legalize something, people will find ways to take advantages of those opportunities. The fact that something is illegal and can be punished acts as a deterrent. It will not deter all crime, but it will deter some crime. I will briefly explain why some punishments are implemented. The prison system acts as a deterrent to criminal activity and it also protects society by incarcerating those who may do additional harm to others. As I mentioned, the criminality of something will not deter all crime, but it does deter some. True, but I think it's a pretty low number as to be completely significant, but I get your point. I'll give that one to you, it's valid. However, underage prostitutes should not affect everyone else who is completely of age and can make there own choices. You can have sex for every other reason you want, except money. The crime is completely determined by motivation! It's basically convicting someone and throwing them in jail for having the wrong motivation to have sex. I'll replace having sex in this situation I'll replace the words "having sex" with say, eating a burrito. If I eat a burrito because I like the burrito, it's fine, but when I do it because I want money, it's suddenly illegal? What? You should not send someone to JAIL just because they engaged in the benign act of paying someone for sex. Nothing inherently bad about that. What people who don't support the legalization of prostitution need to understand that money for sex, when cut down to the basics, there is nothing inherently bad about that. It's paying someone to perform an act which does not harm anyone else. The problem isn't the act itself, the problem is the industry which surrounds it, so wouldn't it be better to legalize it so we could take steps to eliminate this abusive industry and keep the prostitutes safe? "I would like you to define what safe is." Maybe I used the wrong word there, but my point is still valid and it still stands. -Take this statistic for example! In 1991, 85% of prostitutes/clients reported history of sexual abuse in childhood; 70% reported incest! Would you consider that to be a tragedy? For arguments sake, lets say over 75% of prostitutes were sexually abused as children. Is it fair to conclude that many if not most prostitutes were sexually abused as children? That being said, do you feel that prostitution is justified knowing that a majority of them were abused as young children? Is there a link between sexual abuse as a child and prostitution? I believe there is, and to truly fight prostitution, we must fight the sexual abuse of children. Further, we must find a better way to identify these children (schools would be the greatest place). Okay, it's fair to say many prostitutes were abused as children. But how about the prostitutes that weren't and chose the profession from their own free will? And even if there was a link between all of them, isn't the damage already done? Why should something that could be, but not always, a result of something that's illegal be declared illegal simply because it's the result of illegal activity? That doesn't make any sense. Say, hypothetically, getting hit by a car can lead to becoming a burger flipper, a less than desirable job. Does that mean that burger flipping should be declared illegal? No. Your point, no offense, is really muddled. "Personally, it should be a fundamental right to have sex with whoever you want, whenever you want, and whichever way you want as long as both parties agree to the proceedings." -People already have the right to do this. No issue needs to be addressed there. "Well, actually, no. X couldn't go up to y, offer him money for sex, and then have consensual sex, because of this draconian, invasive law. In this example of prostitution I give, all the criteria I listed above is met, and they are still not allowed to do it. Therefore, it is an issue that needs to be addressed." -I agree, that would be entirely illegal, you must have not provided that information in your initial argument. Please refer to the sentence I used as reference for your argument. Alright. In the example I gave of X paying y for sex, and then having it consensually, that met the criteria that I presented. Then you said that we already have the right to do this. And then I said no, we don't have the right to do this because the example I gave met all the criteria for the rights we should have and it's still illegal. Then you agreed with me and said that yes, it would be entirely illegal. However, your statement is illogical, since before you said that we do have the right to do the things that meet the criteria, and my example certainly met the criteria. Your contradicting yourself. Look, I think you're a skilled debater, yet you're not being reasonable. "SIDE NOTE: They are not hurting anyone. X wants sex, y wants money, they make a deal that helps both of them! Maybe y likes having sex? Who knows!" -You mention that nobody is getting hurt? 80% of women in prostitution have been the victim of a Rape. Additionally, 68% - 70% are being Raped! Based on that statistic, can you still conclude that "They are not hurting anyone"? You need to understand the vulnerabilities of Prostitutes. First, a majority of them were sexually abused as children and started prostitution by the age of 12-14 years. Then not only were they sexually abused as children, exploited as minors, 70% of them are RAPED while on the job? How is nobody getting hurt? Where do you not see exploitation? I was reffering to the example I gave where x and y have consensual sex, not rape. I do understand that rape is a huge problem in the prostitution industry. It is sick and it is wrong. However, in the example I gave where x and y have consensual sex and hurt nobody, my point was that that harmless act of consensual sex is considered illegal by these draconian prostitution laws. And since there's this trend of abuse and rape in the prostitution industry, wouldn't it be better to legalize it so we can regulate it and make sure this stuff doesn't happen? "Up to 95% of women in prostitution are problematic drug users, including around 78% heroin users and rising numbers of crack cocaine addicts (Home Office 2004a)." [2] Conclusion of Round 3. -Let me break this down. We have "75% of women involved in prostitution started as children" [2]. A large percentage of prostitutes reported sexual abuse as children. While conducting the act of prostitution 70% of prostitutes reported they have been Raped. Lastly, "95% of women in prostitution are problematic drug users including 78% of them identified as HEROIN users. Yes, so why don't we legalize the industry so we can regulate it. The problem here isn't the prostitution itself, it's the heroin and rape which can occur as a result of that. Whether or not heroin should be considered legal is honestly a matter of opinion, so I'm not gonna debate that, however, allow me this allegory. At bars and such and such, people can get really rowdy and beat each other up. Does that mean bars should be illegal? No. That is all. Good arguments all around, from both sides if I might say myself.