Legalizing Prostitution?

[~*crimson_flower*~]

Ok, here is more problems. The percentage of women who've suffered sexual asault will off-course vary regarding where you put the limit. If the limit is set at full vaginal intercourse it'll probably be a whole lot lower than 33%.

Actually that stat refers to any sexual abuse under the age of 18. It's from the UK Zero Tolerance project. I can link it, if you like.

Your just assuming that prostitutes are a damaged group of people who wouldn't do it if they had a choice. There's quite a few very vocal prostitutes in Germany, (where it's legal) who would disagree. The only reason they don't speak up in Brittain or Sweden, is because it'll make their job more difficult.

The rest might not be speaking out publicly, but you can't assume that if they did, they'd be talking about how wonderful it is, particularly given the conditions they work under. One "happy hooker" doesn't negate what prostituition does to women. Some might go in and come out of the industry relatively unscathed, but these can't be held up as proof that all do. See this document for more: http://www.icasa.org/uploads/prostitution.pdf

Particualrly the part which says 96% of prostitutes claimed they entered the profession because they saw no other option.

The reason anybody would work with prostitution is off-course that it's very well paid in relation to the amount of work done.

See above.

But you made your stance pretty clear. You have a moralistic stance where you're saying prostitution is disgusting. But it's no case for anything. You might as well quote the bible.

There's a huge difference between opposing pornography based on a 2000 year old and text and supporting the illegalisation of buying sex for reasons such as these from the document above.

68% of respondents had been raped while prostituiting.
82% had been beaten.

These prostitutes aren't hurting themselves. Those stats say a hell of a lot about the type of man that frequents prostitutes in my opinion, and society as a whole would benefit from those men not being out on the streets.

I hope you agree that in a free society people should be free to make whatever choices they do, no matter how much other people might think it "disgusting"? As long as it isn't rubbed in their faces off-course. Scat sex is legal and is well kept indoors

I don't anyone legal sexual practice because it's disgusting, but instead decide thse things based on whether or not harm is endemic in the act, or the act depends on human desperation and misery.

Yes, but here is the logical gap. If they didn't get money from prostitution, they'd need to get it from somewhere else, right? If they're addicts and they aren't getting rehab they're fresh out of choices. I wouldn't call a man taking advantage of her predicament as preying on her. This is how capitalism work. If your needs are very high, then you need to raise the cash somehow.

And why does that excuse society leaving women in the position where they have to sell themselves to earn this money instead of providing them with benefits/housing/jobs/training? Our own ambivalence? That just isn't good enough.

But this is all assuming most prostitutes are crack-heads. Last year I read a report on prostitution in Stockholm done by our crime prevention govornement agency. It concluded that most Stockholm prostitutes where university students, (that's grad school in USA). And yes they did it out of financial desperation. They didn't want to take loans, or work at McDonalds which is highly understandable.

Thismust be a cultural difference. In Glasgow, the nearest city to my home, well over 90% of prostitutes had substance abuse issues.

Google "Felicitas Wiegmann" if you want to hear what a very vocal German prostitution proponent and prostitute has to say on the matter.

I can give you links to anti-porn accounts, but one person's testimony doesn't prove anything either way.

No, it has no impact what so ever on the number of men who use prostitutes. There's the same problem with drug laws. When both the buyer and seller are willing, they'll do what it takes to circumvent the law. In Iran they have the death penalty for prostitution, but it's just as prevalent there as anywhere else.

All numbers I have access to are in Swedish.
http://www.bra.se/
All there research is available free on pdf and easy to download. The kink is that you need to know Swedish

Just to be clear on this. This is a govornement agency, they're not allowed to have opinions, only publish numbers. The official Swedish govornement line is the same as yours. But it's not based on science.


I think you're being extremly judgemental without any arguments other than just opinons to back it up.

You haven't actually provided much beyond opinion either, actually. I think we maybe reaching a stalemate here. Arguing opinion, spicially when our experiences are based on such different cultures, can only go so far.

From the same govorment agency I read a report on trafficking. ie forcibly taking women from where ever and forcing them to work in brothels for no money. The problem here is that it is all based on what the prostituted women say. If they tell the cops that they're forced to be there, they have everything to gain. They may get permanent visa. But if they came there by free will they'll invariably get sent back as an economic immigrant. Not to mention the social stigma. You have to be very careful when you read statistics. The ones who don't get caught we off-course hear nothing about.

I agree, any statistics can be misleading. From both sides of the argument.

I'm not saying all prostitution is great. But until I find any serious arguments against it I don't understand why we should keep it illegal. Right now prostitutes have very weak protection from the law because of it's illegal status. And all arguments I've heard against it so far are all moralistic.

What's wrong with basing you opinion on morality? I think it's immoral to exploit women in need, so it motivates my opinion. To some extent I think morality influences every ones.

edit: Just so you know. Prostitution isn't and has never been socialy acceptable in Sweden. That's why there's no movement what so ever here toward legalisation. It's not like further south in Europe. No man here would ever at a party suggest going to a prostitute. It just never happens. Not even when they're on holiday in Thailand. They might do it, but they'll never admit to it.

I wish they would: it'd tell me which men to stay WELL away from.