Prostitution: immoral or in demand

[Astoria]

I don't find it immoral but I do think it's pathetic, for both the ones selling and buying.

 

[iLikeHippos]

I wouldn't say it's immoral if it's a job you have a choice in, and it's sure as hell is a demand here in Sweden where every fucking girl asks an Edward personality out of you.

It would perhaps be a perfect solution to the diminishes of jobs and perhaps gain a lot of cash to the government binge, but what I think your real problem is religion and sexual diseases.
Both of them would be your problems, and you can't deny any of them.
For example if just one of them gains HIV, that's HIV given by the government. And that's not a healthy standard. (Though you'd ought to give your own person some credit as a victim)

Although I doubt religion have anything to say in our social norms these days, should the government really spit in their faces for some additional jobs and services?
I can't remember if they even bother anymore, though.

 

[Kortney]

Prostitution needs to be legalised. Tax it. Make it safe. Make it clean.

Only option. "Banning" it helps no one and it certainly doesn't get rid of it.

 

[ultrachicken]

Prostitution will always be there, no matter what the law says. Even in very repressive muslim countries it's easy to find prostitutes if you know where to look.
It's like alcohol or other drugs. Prohibition doesn't make the good in question disappear from the market. It only turns the people involved into criminals and grants criminal organization a virtual monopoly.

There is nothing wrong with the exchange of money for sexual services. What's wrong is the involvement of organized crime and pimps.
If you want to protect women from exploitation, then you have to fight organized crime, not prostitution itself.
Organized crime is rampant in all industrialized countries and yet it's rarely spoken about. THAT is the issue.[/quote]I also agree with this.

 

[similar.squirrel]

Somebody who isgood at sex should be allowed to offer his or her services for financial gain. There need to be a lot of safeguards in place to prevent the associated nastiness from occurring. Licenses, background checks, drugs-tests and anti-exploitation measures etc. Like dancers or athletes, I suppose.

 

[TRR]

Prostitution is the world's oldest profession, there is nothing anyone can do to stop it from happening short of complete totalitarianism. There will always be people who will pay for sex. Laws that make it illegal only compromise the safety of the workers. If anything, laws should be put in place to protect and support safe prostitution. Ideally, prostitution should be removed from alleys and made more respectable.

Personally, however, I don't believe one should have to pay for sex.

 

[King Ramen Noodle]

IMO i would never visit a brothel but i still think it would be a good thing to have.legalize it, set standards like monthly std checks, constant cleaning, blah blah. really tired of this Puritans Stigma that should have died along with the Puritans, this whole life is bad, anything that feels good is the devil trying to get in you and take you to hell. i will eat my damn cake when i want to and when i get the chance for sex I'm sure as hell not gonna go "no god says that's bad" I'm gonna be "hell yeah" because being close with people is the right way to be(though granted if i ever went to a brothel i think i would rather walk right back out that door but only because I'm not interested in sex with someone i barely know.) look back on the Victorian era in England. we can all pretty much agree that was a shitty time to be alive right? do you really want to be stuck up tight wads who think anything enjoyable is bad for you? sure too much of a good thing can be bad but doesn't mean we should never touch it again.

 

[Joepow]

I think you might of missed some of my earlier points in my back and forth with Anubis. We already have stripping, and if prostitution was legalized, most strippers would have to become prostitutes, because have no doubt that if a company could change their business model to bring in more money they would, regardless of their employee's wants. So yes, people who want to be prostitutes would have the opportunity to be prostitutes, but many people who kept away from prostitution by becoming strippers will be forced into the career. Also, I don't deny that some people would want to be prostitutes, but unlike garbage, it's not a necessary job that has to be done by someone, and I never said that porn stars are weird, I understand that the porn industry has it's own awards and there is a lot of appeal to being famous for sex.

But the problem is, if prostitution isn't legal, people just go to illegal prostitudes (or do some sex turism). Legalizing prostitution provides prostitudes much better working conditions and legal rights.

 

[djpobletay]

I live in the US in the great state of Nevada, home of Las Vegas, and the only state with legal and regulated prostitution. Some of my state's congressmen are trying to abolish prostitution right now but it has not reached a vote yet. Nevada brothels are regulated and constantly under government supervision. I don't think prostitution is wrong as long as the people are not forced into it or underage.

 

[MasterChief892039]

I absolutely hate the concept of prostitution because I don't like the idea of someone selling their body for a living, particularly if they're doing it because they feel they have no other options or can't get out.

However, I also realize that
a) prostitution isn't going to go away anytime soon (aka, ever), and
b) making prostitution illegal is incredibly damaging and dangerous for women

Criminalizing prostitution doesn't make it disappear, it just pushes women into back alleys where, without regulation, they're undoubtedly going to face issues like being underpaid, having to give a large portion if not all of the money to a "pimp", being abused, having unsafe sex and being raped. I would also bet that drugs enter into the equation more when prostitution is illegal than when it's legal.

My stance is the same on the issue of abortion. I find both to be incredibly uncomfortable issues morally, but I understand the need to have both activities legal in order to protect as many people as possible.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I've personally never seen why it's illegal to pay money for something that it's perfectly legal to give away from free. I'm fairly sure legalising and regulating it would solve many of the problems associated with it in the first place.

it isnt illegal to pay for sex, thats the part of prostitution that is compleatly legal, its things like soliciting, kerb crawling, advertising, those are illegal

Depends upon the country/state. In Texas, prostitution itself is illegal as are most of the acts leading to sex. Notably, thanks to a three strike law, the third time a prostitute is arrested and convicted of prostitution it is tried as a felony rather than a class A misdemeanor (a severe misdemeanor).

For the record, I think it should be treated like any other legal vice. Restrict it to certain districts, regulate it for health and safety of those involved and call it a day. Most of the violence and abuse related to the industry is a direct result of the fact that, once something is made illegal, it is no longer regulated by any authority save those who would willingly commit criminal acts.

 

[Nexus4]

Thing is that if the government regulated prostitutes and opened their own brothels, you start getting prostitutes away from pimps and gangsters 'cause why toe the line when you can do it perfectly legitimately? The government would be cleaning up the city as well as looking after these people, and protecting them from their former pimps, so it would be a win-win no?

 

[trollnystan]

As long as it is heavily regulated I'd have no problems with legal prostitution. It'd be safer for both the workers and the clients. I don't think it would completely wipe out the illegal sex trade, but it might heavily reduce it and make it less financially lucrative. That surviving corner though would probably be a violent and scary one.

 

[Geeky Anomaly]

I really like the way prostitution is handled in Germany.

It is government regulated. So, it is TAXED and has health code standards. If a working girl contracts an STD, she's forced to retire.

The ladies can choose their clients. So, if a hooker doesn't like you, or you rub her the wrong way, she can say no, and you can't have her.

The ladies don't stand on the street, they live/work in a "pink house".

The best part....a man has to apply to get into a pink house. His genitals are inspected and he must provide a recently updated medical history to be allowed in. If a client manages to slip past all this and still transmit an STD, he is then sued, and the girl/girls he gave it to get the money.

 

[ramboondiea]

[

For someone who appears to be a native speaker of the language, your English is inexcusably bad. If you want people to bother giving you useful responses, put a little effort into making your post clear and easy-to-read.

Prostitution, in my opinion, should be treated no differently to any other act where people sell their bodies to be disposed with by other people. In other words I refuse to pretend there's a difference between taking a cock for money and breaking your back working in a mine for it. Neither are something I would usually do by choice, and so incentivising me to do so financially seems equally exploitative either way.

Human trafficking/slavery is really where my objections to prostitution lie. But I don't think that these HAVE to be a feature of a well-implemented sex industry (see Nevada as an example of this rather than Amsterdam, which is a terrible example).

and how is it inexcusably bad? because i have used some short hand here and there? or using bases instead of basis perhaps? and i have had plenty of useful responses thank you very much so i believe people haven't had any issue with it and neither do you as you all so managed to answer the question? or may be because i didn't post it as a large formal question as i just want some opinions to see how accurate many of the statements within my readings are accurate?

Spoiler: Here is your OP with errors highlighted

hey escapist just a little question,

im in the middle of a assignment on prostitution for my university course, and all my readings on theories talk heavily of public perceptions, decisions, and opinions as a bases of a lot of arguments.

so i thought id take a little consensus of what your opinion on prostitution is and how you think it should be dealt with.

so my questions are; what are your feelings on prostitution?. why do you think people become prostitutes?. id . what your opinion on managed and tolerance zones?

also a little side note, here in the UK, prostitution is technically not illegal, just the things associated with it.

Hopefully that will quiet your adolescent whining about the standard of your language.

What concerns me more is reading "i just want some opinions to see how accurate many of the statements within my readings are accurate". I presume that this means something like 'I just wanted some opinions to see how accurate many of the statements in my reading are' and this is potentially dangerous for your assignment. Be wary of 'verifying' claims by forum. If you are trying to prove to yourself that there are people out there who genuinely hold one position or another, then the internet is a great place to open your mind. If, however, you are testing claims in the literature, you are doing it very much in the wrong way.

it was hardly adolescent whining, considering your use of weighted words like 'inexcusable' but perhaps you would prefer it if I did behave like an adolescence so you can maintain this arrogant condescension?
I merely wanted to ask a quick question to a larger community, but I have no intention of crafting some excessively formal problem question when all i am curious about were a few opinions, not an attempt to start an academic debate, if that were the case i would have likely posted in the political area and asked about proposed policy and methods of control.

regardless of these points, as I wrote the question within a few seconds in the middle of my reading and people have been able to understand it and answer it then I don't see the need to point out mistakes.
Finally I am not using the forum to validate anything,my work includes nothing but academic resources and that is how it shall remain, it was purely to quench my curiosity as such a source is merely in a piece of academic work.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

I really like the way prostitution is handled in Germany.

It is government regulated. So, it is TAXED and has health code standards. If a working girl contracts an STD, she's forced to retire.

The ladies can choose their clients. So, if a hooker doesn't like you, or you rub her the wrong way, she can say no, and you can't have her.

The ladies don't stand on the street, they live/work in a "pink house".

The best part....a man has to apply to get into a pink house. His genitals are inspected and he must provide a recently updated medical history to be allowed in. If a client manages to slip past all this and still transmit an STD, he is then sued, and the girl/girls he gave it to get the money.

That sounds like a great system. Too bad the US isn't smart enough to implement something like that.

 

[ramboondiea]

I really like the way prostitution is handled in Germany.

It is government regulated. So, it is TAXED and has health code standards. If a working girl contracts an STD, she's forced to retire.

The ladies can choose their clients. So, if a hooker doesn't like you, or you rub her the wrong way, she can say no, and you can't have her.

The ladies don't stand on the street, they live/work in a "pink house".

The best part....a man has to apply to get into a pink house. His genitals are inspected and he must provide a recently updated medical history to be allowed in. If a client manages to slip past all this and still transmit an STD, he is then sued, and the girl/girls he gave it to get the money.

although it is taxed as though it is a normal job, they do not receive the same protection that normal career receive (health benefits) many of the Criminologists who study the area often compare the state to being the pimp

 

[BonsaiK]

what are your feelings on prostitution?

I think it's fine, if that's what people want to do for whatever reason. I've also dated active prostitutes in the past and they didn't seem to mind it either. Wasn't the most pleasant job in the world, but hey, that's why it pays so well. Better to work a shitty job for a fuckton of money than a shitty job for 9-to-5 wages.

why do you think people become prostitutes?

It's an occupation where you can earn a lot of money working very few hours. People do it to fund a university degree, support a drug habit, pay off a mortgage, pay large debts, fund an overseas trip or relocation, and any number of other things that one might need a shitload of money for really quickly. That's definitely the main reason people do it. It's rare for someone to get into it purely from the sexual angle, it's been known to happen but it's not the norm. There are also other reasons such as rebellion and so forth, but money is the main one in most cases.

id you think there should be harsher punishments in place?

No.

should it be legitimised as a business opposition.

I assume you mean "option" not "opposition". Where I live it's more or less unofficially legal so I guess this question is moot, but assuming it wasn't legal here then I'd say yes. Criminalising it only drives it further underground and into the hands of more unscrupulous people, which inevitably means that girls get hurt.

what your opinion on managed and tolerance zones?

I've never seen it in practice so I guess I don't know. I don't see it as a necessary thing, brothels can and do exist wherever people are economically able to set up shop and tolerance zones won't change that. If you're talking about for street walking then maybe it's a good idea but then street walking should ideally not exist anyway, it's very dangerous - legalised brothels is the way to go.

 

[Realitycrash]

I wouldn't call it immoral, but a society where prostitution is legal there are going to be plenty of people that are doing it even though they really don't want to, to do it because they are addicted to drugs, in poverty, or what not.
Then again, in a society where it isn't legal, people still do it, except in worse conditions. Point is; If people truly, really wanna sell themselves, they should be able to do it. But society better be god-damn sure that it is what they really, really want.
Otherwise, these people need help. I can imagine few things as horrible as forced prostitution because of starvation/threats of violence/ drug abuse.

wait... would you or would you not support a system where prostitution was legal, with a level of regulation of your choice?

I don't have enough statistics, knowledge about or experience with a system that legally supports it to answer that question. I am pretty sure, however, that even within a system where you can legally buy your hookers, there is going to be alot of forced labor. And by forced, I mean people that do it because they got no other options.

 

[Odbarc]

You could probably save money for not having to buy a woman a bunch of drinks then risk getting called out on rape after.
It's the oldest profession in the world.

On the other hand, what's to stop little girl's with their jail-bait card's expired to just pimp themselves out for a lot of easy cash on their 18th birthdays?
Whose to their 17 year old friends won't join in their easy-cash ways or pulled into threesomes with the allure of money?

A prostitution license would be required and the Government would become the pimps.
It could work and there's nothing saying that corruption wouldn't get into this (as it does with everything else).
What I would really hate is to be solicited by a money-needing woman or have prostitutes mixing in with non-prostitutes when I'm trying to find a woman I want to marry/date/love.
What would be worse is finding out your potential life-partner participated in prostitution.

You can also look at the 'path of lease resistance' where having sex is easy, earning money through sex is fun and easy, and a lot of woman would likely participate in some form of prostitution in their lives because of the quick and easy money it would make them.