Prostitution should be legalized

Ok, I will first begin by going over my opponents arguments, although I have to say that the lawyer/ prostitution comment was really funny! I am going to bring up some statistics to attack zealot362'"s arguments! zealot362's 1st argument: Currently, prostitution is against the law and those who break that law are criminals. What I am saying is that law should be amended because it is wrong to criminalize prostitutes just for the sake that they are prostitutes. The concept that prostitution is immoral has often always been a contentious topic. I am stating that we should make it legal for those who wish to prostitute to do so, and I don't see anything immoral about that. My response to that: What we have to see and what I have been saying throughout this debate is that it is immoral. Not only for for the women that are in the trade of prostitution but for society in general.The health consequences to women from prostitution are the same injuries and infections suffered by women who are subjected to other forms of violence against women. The physical health consequences include: injury (bruises, broken bones, black eyes, concussions). A 1994 study conducted with 68 women in Minneapolis/St.Paul who had been prostituted for at least six months found that half the women had been physically assaulted by their purchasers, and a third of these experienced purchaser assaults at least several times a year. 23% of those assaulted were beaten severely enough to have suffered broken bones. Two experienced violence so vicious that they were beaten into a coma. Furthermore, 90% of the women in this study had experienced violence in their personal relationships resulting in miscarriage, stabbing, loss of consciousness, and head injuries (Parriott, Health Experiences of Twin Cities Women Used in Prostitution) As you can see, there is a law against prostitution for many reasons. zealot362's 2nd argument: "Reported," alcoholism grew after prohibition ended. People were not going to be seen in any drunken state in public and so the number of reported cases of alcoholism would naturally be less than after the prohibition. My response to that: Weather it is reported or not, it is the moral that I was trying to state. Here is another example. If cigarettes became illegal, there would be a lot of people that still smoked, but the overall numbers of smokers would most likely dramatically decrease simply because citizens do not want to get in trouble with the law. As I stated before, the numbers of prostitutes would most likely rise, then the younger generation would be affected. zealot362's 3rd and 4th arguments: Yes, if prostitution was legalized, many people would indeed see it as a career choice. It would be just as legitimate as being a lawyer, which is arguably at the same level of immorality. The only difference is that a prostitute stops screwing you after you die (I told you I would jest a bit.) My response to that: If you have non consensual sex with a prostitute is it rape or shoplifting? just kidding.... The emotional health consequences of prostitution include severe trauma, stress, depression, anxiety, self-medication through alcohol and drug abuse; and eating disorders. Almost all the women in the Minneapolis/St. Paul study categorized themselves as chemically-addicted. Crack cocaine and alcohol were used most frequently. Ultimately, women in prostitution are also at special risk for self-mutilation, suicide and homicide. 56% of the women in the Minneapolis/St. Paul study had attempted suicide, and 19% had tried to harm themselves physically in other ways. So prostitution should be considered a career choice? Even if people don"t think of prostitution as a career choice until they are a mid-teen, does anyone really want them thinking that way I don"t know about you, but I would not want my child to be accepting of that kind of behavior. zealot362's 5th argument: How do you suppose that a line cannot be drawn? The way I see it, there is the prostitute that wishes to raise herself out of poverty by prostituting herself and must constantly watch her back for cops. And is unable to report crimes because she will be convicted as well. There seems to me to be a clear line and legalizing prostitution will allow the distinction to be more easily noticed. My response to this: If there is a line, I am not seeing it. Simply because in a realistic society, things will never turn out like that. As I brought up before, A 1994 study conducted with 68 women in Minneapolis/St.Paul who had been prostituted for at least six months found that half the women had been physically assaulted by their purchasers, and a third of these experienced purchaser assaults at least several times a year. 23% of those assaulted were beaten severely enough to have suffered broken bones. Two experienced violence so vicious that they were beaten into a coma. Furthermore, 90% of the women in this study had experienced violence in their personal relationships resulting in miscarriage, stabbing, loss of consciousness, and head injuries (Parriott, Health Experiences of Twin Cities Women Used in Prostitution). There are other studies like this one and they are all pointing to the same thing. Even is a line was magically drawn and the law is still taken away, the number of victims will still be terrible. zealot362's 5th argument: Legal prostitutes will be more educated and so will understand the necessity of taking every precaution necessary. You seem to be making a prostitute out to be some selfish woman who just desires to get as much money from the men she services as a prostitute. This just wouldn't be the case. Prostitutes do have moral standards and by giving them a legal facility to practice their service, that fact would be made quite clear. Especially the women who are kept in the dark by their pimps. I would have a hard time finding their actions as malicious because their utmost focus is self-preservation, which would be keeping the pimp happy. My response to this: Women in prostitution suffer the same broken bones, concussions, STDs, chronic pelvic pain, and extreme stress and trauma that women who have been battered, raped and sexually abused endure. In fact, the case can be made that women in prostitution -- because they are subject to being battered, raped and sexually abused all at the same time over an extensive period of time -- suffer these health consequences more intensively and consistently. For example, in another survey of 55 victims/survivors of prostitution who used the services of the Council for Prostitution Alternative in Portland, Oregon, 78% were victims of rape by pimps and male buyers an average of 49 times a year; 84% were the victims of aggravated assault and were thus horribly beaten, often requiring emergency room attention and hospitalization; 53% were victims of sexual abuse and torture; and 27% were mutilated (Documentation available from the Council for Prostitution Alternatives). Whether prostitution is legal or not, the prostitutes will still be physically hurt, either through STD"s or through their pimps. No matter the amount of education that is given to the prostitute, it is the pimps decision to hurt her or not, regardless whether the law is abolished or not! So what we have to see is that prostitution effects everyone in only a negative way. Where I got my crap: http://www.uri.edu...