Should Prostitution Be Legalized

While sex work has long been controversial, it has become even more contested over the past decade as laws, policies, and enforcement practices have become more repressive in many nations, partly as a result of the ascendancy of interest groups committed to the total abolition of the sex industry. At the same time, however, several other nations have recently decriminalized prostitution. Legalizing Prostitution maps out the current terrain. Using America as a backdrop, Weitzer draws on extensive field research in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany to illustrate alternatives to American-style criminalization of sex workers. These cases are then used to develop a roster of “best practices” that can serve as a model for other nations considering legalization. Legalizing Prostitution provides a theoretically grounded comparative analysis of political dynamics, policy outcomes, and red-light landscapes in nations where prostitution has been legalized and regulated by the government, presenting a rich and novel portrait of the multifaceted world of legal sex for sale.

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Sociology - Gender Studies, grade: B, University of Manchester, language: English, abstract: Should prostitution be legalized? This issue has been debated for many years. There are those who believe that legalizing prostitution will bring benefits like, improved human rights, better health and economic benefits. They also assert that prostitution is the oldest profession and it will always be there. But, legalizing it will increase use of condoms and reduce sexual transmitted infections like HIV/AIDS. They also point out that prostitutes should be left to choose they way they earn their income as that is their right, therefore the society should not interfere with their rights. On the other hand, opponents of prostitution assert that many of these prostitutes are in the business against their will and legalizing it would only increase cases of forced prostitution. They also brought up the issue of sex trafficking and child prostitution; accordingly they point out that prostitution is dehumanizing, risky and dehumanizing. They restate that the abuses and possible dangers for legalizing prostitution outweigh the possible benefits of legalizing prostitution. And the debate goes on: Should prostitution be legalized? This paper enters into this debate by arguing that prostitution should not be legalized, the following points supports this position.

Dennis Hof, proprietor of the world-famous Moonlite BunnyRanch brothel and the P.T. Barnum of prostitution, charts his path to fame and infamy, while dispensing homespun wisdom about sex, sales, money, and how to live as the country’s most recognizable pimp. In The Art of the Pimp, Dennis Hof offers a hilarious, insightful, behind-the-scenes look at life as the proprietor of The Moonlight BunnyRanch, the world’s most famous legal brothel, and recounts his chaotic life as the king of America’s sex industry. Hof, the star of HBO’s critically lauded series Cathouse, reveals the tricks of turning tricks, the secrets of his outrageous marketing stunts, and scandalous details of his friendships with porn stars, prostitutes, and politicians. Readers will learn how Hof’s “girls” negotiate the highest prices for sex, the dirty little secrets of getting men to fall in love with them, and the inside tales of “The Girlfriend Experience,” the #1 requested menu item. The Art of the Pimp will take readers on a wild ride through his countless sexual conquests, romantic failures, and business successes.

Essay from the year 2018 in the subject Sociology - Relationships and Family, grade: 1, , course: Gender Sexuality, language: English, abstract: Prostitution is defined as a form of non-marital sexual activity characterized by financial reward and absence of long-term fidelity between two parties. Prostitution has been widely debated, condemned for its immoral and degrading nature. On the other hand, there are liberal feminists who have counter argued saying that prostitution is very empowering. The controversy surrounding prostitution has divided feminists worldwide. Radical feminists are of the opinion that prostitution is an institution of male dominance that exploits economically vulnerable and emotionally damaged women for the sake of male pleasure. In this regard, prostitutes become involuntary victims of patriarchy or conscious participants in the degradation of women. This therefore has impacts on all women as a group as prostitution continually affirms and reinforces patriarchal definitions of women as having a primary function to serve men sexually. Conversely, liberal feminists find in prostitution a practice of women’s resistance to and sexual liberation from norms and traditional moral precepts of sexuality that have long served to control and subordinate women. Others see prostitution as a means of wrestling patriarchal control over women’s sexuality that women should be at liberty to do. Prostitution therefore raises moral and legal questions. The legal question is should the practice be criminalized? In addition, the moral question is, is it wrong to sell or buy sex? These are questions I will endeavor to answer which are informed by the lived realities of women who make their living through prostitution. Prostitution or the selling of sex is, as some would call it, one of the oldest professions in the world as it has been there since time immemorial. Criminalizing prostitution seems to be a futile exercise as it is failing to achieve the intended results that of deterring other possible perpetrators; instead it just frustrates the women who engage in it as they are essentially constantly harassed by the police without any prosecution. Why are there double standards as regards prostitution; why is it that it is only the sellers and not the buyers who are penalized? Criminalization creates a culture permitting violence against sex workers and sanctions violence and discrimination against them. Sex workers are also afraid to report crimes against them, knowing that police may arrest them or may not take their claims seriously.

A generation ago, most people did not know how ubiquitous and grave human trafficking was. Now many people agree that the $35.7 billion business is an appalling violation of human rights. But when confronted with prostitution, many people experience an odd disconnect because prostitution is shrouded in myths, among them the claims that ôprostitution is inevitable,ö and ôprostitution is a job or service like any other.ö In Not a Choice, Not a Job, Janice Raymond challenges both the myths and their perpetrators. Raymond demonstrates that prostitution is not sex but sexual exploitation, and that legalizing and decriminalizing the system of prostitutionùas opposed to the prostituted womenùpromotes sex trafficking, expands the sex industry, and invites organized crime. Specifically, Raymond exposes how legalized prostitution in the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, and Nevada worsens crime and endangers women. In contrast, she reveals, when governments work to prevent the demand for prostitution by prosecuting pimps, brothels, and prostitution usersùas in Norway, Sweden, and Icelandùtrafficking does not increase, women are better protected, and fewer men buy sex. Raymond expands the boundaries of scholarship in womenÆs studies, making this book indispensable to human rights advocates around the world.

Never before have prostitution, strip clubs and pornography been as profitable, widely used or embedded in mainstream culture as they are today. How society should respond to the rise of the sex trade is shaping up to be one of the Twenty-First Century's big questions. Should it be legal to pay for sex? Isn't it a woman's choice whether she strips for money? Could online porn warping the attitudes of a generation of boys? An increasingly popular set of answers maintains that prostitution is just work, porn is fantasy, demand is inevitable; so fully legalise the sex trade and it can be made safe. Kat Banyard contends that these are profoundly dangerous myths. Sexual consent is not a commodity, objectification and abuse are inherent to prostitution, and the sex trade poses a grave threat to the struggle for women's equality.Skilfully weaving together first-hand investigation, interviews and the latest research, Pimp State powerfully argues that sex trade myth-makers will find themselves on the wrong side of history.

This book examines one of the most contested issues facing feminists, human rights activists and governments around the globe – the international sex trade. For decades, the liberal left has been conflicted as to whether pro-prostitution activists or abolitionists hold the correct view, and debates are ongoing as to who holds the key to the solutions facing the women and girls involved. Over the course of two years, Bindel conducted 250 interviews in almost 40 countries, cities and states, traveling around Europe, Asia, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and East and South Africa. Visiting legal brothels all around the world, Bindel got to know pimps, pornographers, survivors of the sex trade, and the women being sold by men classed as ‘business entrepreneurs’. Whilst meeting feminist abolitionists, pro-prostitution campaigners, police and government officials, and the men who drive the demand, Bindel uncovered the lies, mythology and criminal activity that shroud this global trade, and suggests here a way forward for the women seeking to abolish the oldest oppression. Informed by the lived human experience of those interviewed, this book will be of great interest to feminists, students, criminal justice advocates, criminologists and human rights activists.