SHOULD PROSTITUTION BE LEGAL?

[frodo]

Provocative question posed by the cover story in the New York Times' Sunday magazine, on-line now.


http://nyti.ms/26WF0wG

[1blackman1]

Yes and taxed and regulated. Then people wanted to illegally traffic kids could be caught easier and that can be heavily criminalized.

[salo]

Yea I just heard that this is going to be the topic on the Diane Rehm show Monday morning on npr.

[joesmo888]

even if it was legalized you would still have street walkers, pimps, pedo's like Jarded looking for kids to screw, hoodrats, and addicts etc. this is America, not the Netherlands. different culture and mentality

not like it would suddenly clean up the industry.. see Nevada. its legal in certain parts but guys still get arrested in vegas picking up hookers, and hookers get arrested all the time. go figure

[salo]

In Nevada aren't the ladys, in a manner of speaking, victims of the "ultimate pimp?"

[~Ynot~]

Being its the oldest profession known to man Duh...

[Clark W. Griswold]

As a guy who has been to both Amsterdam and the Nevada brothels I would say yes. When it's done properly and the lady is not forced into it, it works. There is nothing wrong with a man wanting to spend time with a beautiful woman and a beautiful woman using her looks to make some cash. In the case of Amsterdam, however, depending on where the lady is from (think Eastern Europe) she may or may not be there on her own free will. Lookup the "Loverboy" issue. In Nevada all of the girls are free to leave whenever they want. Some may take issue with the fact that the house takes a 50% cut. Some of the girls I've spoken with are alright with it, others not so much. When you take into consideration that the brothel is a safe place with a security team, a medical staff that does STD testing, etc that need to be payed, it all levels out. This results in higher prices, of course, but to me it's worth it.

[Clark W. Griswold]

Originally Posted by joesmo888

even if it was legalized you would still have street walkers, pimps, pedo's like Jarded looking for kids to screw, hoodrats, and addicts etc. this is America, not the Netherlands. different culture and mentality

not like it would suddenly clean up the industry.. see Nevada. its legal in certain parts but guys still get arrested in vegas picking up hookers, and hookers get arrested all the time. go figure

Absolutely true. The thing about the brothels is they will typically charge prices that the Average Joe wouldn't be able to afford. There's no set prices. Girl A may charge something completely different from Girl B for the same exact request. And if the price is too high, that's when they decide to go back to the Vegas strip and look for it illegally. Whereas in Amsterdam the price is fixed at 50 Euros. I love both the brothels in Nevada and Amsterdam. I like Amsterdam's system better, but Nevada is more convenient for me.

[salo]

Will any of the ladies still be able to work independently or will they all have to work in a brothel type setting?

[Clark W. Griswold]

Originally Posted by salo

Will any of the ladies still be able to work independently or will they all have to work in a brothel type setting?

I've seen ladies who work in a brothel as well as the independent scene. As long as she can pass an STD test when she comes back to the brothel I guess it wouldn't matter. One thing that could cause problems in the future though is if they get busted working independently. One of the ladies explained to me that you can't work in a brothel if you have a record.

[CharismaCaptures]

Yes they should make it legal ,tax it ,tested ,license it ,Oh and I forgot Its mostly about OUR safety .Us ladies if someone ripped us off ,kidnap ,rape etc,,,we got attack on an out call ,any thing can happen to us because its not legal

,When I was living in RI and it was legal as long as it was behind closed doors cops turned there heads The hobbyist knew not to pull any bs because it was legal ,and if something happened we felt safe that we could call them knowing we wouldn't have fear picking up the phone ,There was hardly any crime on working girls ,hardly any street walkers ,less bs at spas ,women were doing appts in their own domain and people in general were minding their own Beezwax


We have a voice we are human we have feelings ,families , emotions too .

[Solitaire]

This was also posted to our regional board... I'm simply copying my reply here:

"Prostitution" is a crime of semantics only.

"Prostitution" as a defined term, exchange of sex for money or some other benefit, has always been legal - the legal form being by contract and referred to as Marriage.

Any married person who has been thru marriage counseling can tell you that the first thing that is discussed is His Needs and Her Needs.

His Needs are usually expressed semantically as Devotion/Admiration - but when you get down to the crux of it, it is not about how clean the house is, how ordered the finances are, how well-behaved the kids are, or how good the food tastes - a man will feel most admired/devoted to when he is getting lots of sex.

Her Needs are usually expressed semantically as Safety/Support. She wants to not have to worry about a roof over her and her children's heads, food in everyone's mouths, and freedom to pursue hobbies and interests... which is generally provided for by $$$.

Marriage is a money/sex exchange... it always has been, always will be. Marriage is legal prostitution.

So, many will argue, NO, it more than that!

And I would agree, and say that it is the SAME for ALL male/female interactions, because every time I meet with one of my gentleman callers, it is ALWAYS more than that, but because I am single and polyamorous, society only wants to focus on the sex and money...

So, either we only focus on the "sex/money only" on ALL fronts and call ALL spades a spade; or we recognize that each and every interaction between men and women is negotiated as a mutual benefit exchange, unique to each coupling, regardless of those benefits, and allow private personal matters to remain private, regardless of what semantics we use.

[AdamBomB]

Absolutely should be legal . Porn stars do the same thing for money except that's classified under the guise of art . Most are not even stars , just prostitutes and a pimp with a camera to sell and make even more money . Thing is we do it out of sight , privately for the most part yet porn can do it out in the open legally in the dirtiest nastiest kinds of ways and saturate the internet with it and kids see it all over . Talk about twisted morals of society and the legal system . If this were legal people could live out their own porn and fantasies . But no , we're not suppose to have that type of fun . Just watch other people have it .

[Fancylady]

Yes. All states should jump on bandwagon

[ronrocket]

....to put on a hooker meet up board! You already answered the question by being here.

Every answer will be some variation of YES!

There will always be independents - Backpage exists in countries all over the world, and there are plenty of other sites, reviews boards, etc. as well (consider the famous JACKSON). The internet has made it possible for someone to decide to go into the business for themselves and have a platform to reach customers directly, and for customers to find what they are looking for. The difference is that where things are legal you have some legal protection and a recourse against being the victim of crime (as long as you don't have to worry about people finding out what you have been up to).

Regarding victims and trafficked workers, that will always exist as well, whether prostitution is legal or not. But at least where things are legal, a person can go into sex work and not fear being put in jail (potential social shame is another matter) and a hobbyist can find legit providers and not worry about being arrested (with social risk if found out as well). Beyond that, if you don't want to contribute to abuse and feed criminals, be very careful that you find independents who are not being pimped and have at least some control over their own destiny.