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Adrian Ulibarri Daniel Baird English 1010-093 4/1/2014 Position Synthesis The Legalization of The Sex Trade

There are many respectable professions that a young child might aspire to. They could hope to become an astronaut, accountant, helicopter pilot, chef, or entrepreneur. But what about the ones who want to follow a different path and work in a profession that's as old as civilization itself? What about prostitution? In the United States prostitution is currently illegal with the exception of eleven counties in Nevada. However, there are several Americans who believe that it's time to make a change. Many of the lobbyists pushing for the decriminalization of prostitution have pointed out the flaws associated with the illegality of it. They claim that perusing people for illegal prostitution wastes tax dollars unnecessarily by clogging up our judicial system, and eating up man hours for all parties involved. They argue that we could not only reallocate the resources that we're currently spending on enforcing the law against prostitution and prosecuting offenders on more pertinent matters, but that we could also generate tax revenue. "Legalized Prostitution would pay: We could tax prostitution in the same way we tax hospitality, often higher than normal sales tax" (Gittleson). This hospitality tax is a tax already applied to businesses like restaurants and bars in several states throughout the country. The money generated is used to fund tourism related activities and improvements. The same lobbyists who argue that there are financial benefits to the decimalization and legalization of prostitution also believe that by decimalizing prostitution and giving sex workers access to healthcare would help to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases that are

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prevalent in the unregulated and illegal prostitution rings that exist today. They argue that under a legal system, laws and regulations could be written to ensure that sex workers are properly and frequently tested for sexually transmitted diseases. These same regulations could require all sex workers to use condoms and ensure that they practice safe sex. "Illegal street prostitutes might face pressure from pimps and johns to forgo condoms. But states that legalized prostitution can require sex workers to use condoms and get tested for sexually transmitted diseases" (Fuchs). They claim that having businesses with these laws would ultimately improve the health conditions of sex workers and help remove the stigmas associated with the use and possession of condoms that have formed from our own governments use of condoms as evidence in criminal prostitution cases. Sex workers also have a voice that they want heard. Back in 2012 anti-sex trafficking measure Proposition 35 passed in the state of California. The proposition imposed harsher punishments for sex traffickers, punishments such as forcing sex traffickers to register as sex offenders. Many sex workers argue that while this may seem like a step in the right direction from an outside point of view, it actually makes existing sex workers who freely chose their line of work less likely to report an assault for fear of legal retribution. One prostitute named Holly has expressed her distain for Proposition 35 by stating that "The difference between human trafficking and prostitution is coercion...I'm not a victim. I'm not being coerced. But the law doesn't see me that way" (Weissmueller) Sex workers believe that legalizing prostitution would do more good than any of the current anti-trafficking laws ever could. Pro-Prostitution lobbyists claim that all we are doing by making sex work illegal is driving prostitution underground. "It can't be prevented: There's a reason it's called 'the world's oldest profession. It's always been around, it always will be. We might as well bring it out into

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the open" (Gittleson). Many lobbyists believe that all laws against prostitution serve to do is make criminals out of people who freely choose it as a line of work, and that making them criminals won't stop them from working. Now I have talked an awful lot about the pros of legalizing prostitution, but what about the cons? There are several countries throughout the world who currently have legalized prostitution. These countries include Germany and Australia. While many people in these countries believe that they are flagships for reform in the area of prostitution many antiprostitution activists believe that the legalization of prostitutions in these countries has allowed sex trafficking to flourish. "Large brothels have popped up in various cities, packed with women and girls lured by human traffickers from poverty-stricken Eastern Europe and handed over to pimps upon arrival" (Lane). These sex workers can be coerced to have sex against their will. While there are still laws in place to prevent sex trafficking in these countries many of these sex workers are coached on how to respond so that they can prove that they are willfully selfemployed. This completely undermines the system that these governments tried to create. When prostitution was legalized in Germany the intent was to help sex workers by establishing healthcare, pension plans, and a guaranteed regular 40 hour work week. It also allowed sex workers to unionize and sign contracts with their clients. These contracts allow the government to withhold a portion of their earnings to pay for social benefits; however, across Germany sex workers are still reluctant to sign contracts with their clients, or report their earnings to the government. "Across the country, no more than a dozen contracts have been signed. Prostitutes, who often have to share their income with brothel owners and other parties, are reluctant to pay taxes" (Pommereau). If sex workers don't participate in the program by

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making legal contracts with their clients then the benefits that they gain from prostitutions legalization are wasted. We must also consider how the legalization of prostitution would play into government funded programs such as unemployment. If prostitution were considered a legitimate form of work then under many state and federal laws here in the United States it would be illegal to turn it down and still collect unemployment benefits. This is a problem that's all to prevalent in Germany. " The woman was desperate to work, although not in a sex establishment. But under a new welfare law aimed at easing the longtime jobless back into the workforce, women under the age of 55 who have been out of work for more than a year must accept any job offered to them or give up unemployment benefits" (Pommereau). This could force men and women into prostitution simply because they have been unsuccessful in finding other work and cannot survive without their unemployment benefits. Another potential con is the social aspect. If prostitution were to be decriminalized in the United States then men who normally would not seek out sexual services due to ethical or moral reasons would no longer feel inhibited. As those moral and legal boundaries that currently portray prostitution as taboo disappear, so too will the way men view women. Rather than viewing them as equal men may begin to objectify women as nothing more than commodities with no more value than a cup of coffee or a gallon of gasoline. "Legalization of prostitution sends the message to new generations of men and boys that women are sexual commodities and that prostitution is harmless fun... Womens reproductive capacities are sellable products" (10 Reasons). This would be extremely counterproductive for the equal opportunity movements that have worked for decades to attain equal rights for women.

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There are several more cons but the most prevalent is that prostitution can lead to psychological problems. According to Ole Martin Moen a PhD at the University of Oslo in Norway "we should consult psychological research on prostitution. When we do, we find that a significant number of prostitutes suffer from panic attacks, eating disorders, depression and insomnia, that many experience guilt, regret and remorse after having sold sex, and the suicide rate among prostitutes is six times that of the average population" (Moen) People who are illegally trafficked in to prostitution, as well as those who choose it as a profession are at a heightened risk of developing these mental disorders. After taking all the pros and cons into consideration I personally believe that prostitution should remain illegal. While I do believe that it can't be prevented, I don't believe it should be allowed to flourish. The cons simply don't out weigh the pros that would come out of legalization. I considered for a moment the fact that we could potentially reallocate tax dollars from enforcing the current law against prostitution to other facets of the government; However, considering prostitutes are more prone to physiological disorders and health risks from STD's any money that we saved in law enforcement costs would eventually be lost in healthcare. It would undermine sexual equality by objectifying women. I believe this objectification would ultimately lead to and increased demand for sex workers thus increasing sex trafficking which I view as little more than slavery. Lastly and most importantly I don't believe it would be morally acceptable to allow our government to view prostitution as an acceptable form of work and require people to work as prostitutes in order to maintain their unemployment benefits.

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Works Cited

Fuchs, Erin. "7 Reasons Why America Should Legalize Prostitution." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 13 Nov. 2013. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. Gittleson, Wendy. "10 reasons we need to legalize prostitution." Examiner.com. N.p., 21 Apr. 2009. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. Lane, Charles. "Legalizing prostitution doesn't make it safer." The Washington Post, n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. Moen, Ole. " . Journal of Medical Ethics, 28 Aug. 2012. Web. 1 May 2014. <http://jme.bmj.com/content/early/2012/08/27/medethics-2011-100367.full>. Pommereau, Isabelle. "Rethinking a legal sex trade." The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 11 May 2005. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. Weissmueller, Zach, and Will Neff. "Legalize Prostitution to Fight Sex Trafficking? Sex Workers Say "Yes"." Reason.com. Reason.com, 14 Jan. 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. "10 Reasons for Not Legalizing Prostitution." N.p., 25 Mar. 2003. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. <http://www.isha.org.il/eng/docs/P180/>.