Prostitution is defined as the sale of sexual services for money or other kind of return. By making prostitution illegal, the government was hoping to deter women from becoming prostitutes and others from using their services. With so many outside factors to consider, it just doesn’t work this way. So, prostitution continues to soar; as do sexually transmitted diseases.
It is estimated that over one million women in the United States earn their living by full-time prostitution. An even more alarming fact is that engaging in sex with a prostitute is the third most common way for an American male to contract AIDS. Sadly, the fight against prostitution is futile. There is just no way to close down a market between willing buyers and sellers.
Prostitution is one of the most controversial subjects in today’s society. It isn’t “right” to sell sex is probably the most common argument. Of course, it isn’t “right” to smoke or drink either. It’s all depends who you talk to and you just can’t make everyone happy no matter what is done.
Consider this scenario: A prostitute is watched closely by two police officers for a number of days, possibly even weeks until she is arrested. Meanwhile, the man-power is being used to closely monitor her actions and another 8 people are murdered within a 20-block radius. Prostitution is very time consuming and very expensive for police departments to monitor. And, once a prostitute is arrested, they are shuffled through the legal system only to be let back out onto the streets to continue their endeavors. The law has little or no effect on the amount of prostitution and the money spent on those individual arrests could be put to use for other reasons. Sadly, the real cost is made by other citizens. These public resources could be used to protect law-abiding citizens from real criminals.
Other crimes, such as murders, thefts and organized crime are not getting the attention they need to try to correct the problems causing them. We need more man-power to reduce the number of these crimes in today’s society and when so much time and money is being spent on prostitution, that man-power just isn’t in the budget.
Prostitution should be legalized, case in point. The government should require each prostitute to be registered and tested on a regular basis for any sexually transmitted diseases. They could be subject to zoning laws, so that citizen’s wouldn’t need to worry about them in more family oriented areas of each city. Also, the government would play a part in ensuring all transactions are voluntary. There are a number of good points to legalizing prostitution.
First off, there would be a decline in the number of sexually based crimes. Those who feel they are unable to get sex, will legally be able to receive services from a prostitute and would then be less apt to rape.
Fewer man hours would be needed to monitor prostitution rings and those officers could devote their time to other problems such as murders, thefts and organized crime. Consequently, there would be a decline in other crimes across the country.
Lastly, the legalization of prostitution would boost the economy. The money made, of course, would be taxed and would put more money back into the government. Prostitutes would become more productive members of society and with regular testing done for each, the number of sexually transmitted diseases would decline considerably.
Yes, implementing this would be difficult. There would probably be a sudden influx in the use of prostitution services upon their legalization. But with regulations set by the government, we would be able to more closely monitor each individual and make it safer for everyone.
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