Would legalization "fix" prostitution or make it worse? Or is another way needed?

[LazurusLong]

There have been numerous threads on the topic of making prostitution legal. Pros and cons. What appears to be good points for an against.

But I stumbled onto this article the other day and it shows how Sweden has done something very different from what has been tried before and now the success rate is amazing.

The solution they put into law was based on the premise that buying sex is a form of violence against women.

So arresting the vendors of sex was like punishing the victims.

But aggressively arresting and punishing the buyers (who they claim are actually perpetrators of violence against women) should work.

From the article:
"In Sweden prostitution is regarded as an aspect of male violence against women and children. It is officially acknowledged as a form of exploitation of women and children and constitutes a significant social problem... gender equality will remain unattainable so long as men buy, sell and exploit women and children by prostituting them."


http://esnoticia.co/noticia-8790-swe...ed-this-before

Very good article and if you think about it, part of what the Dallas Police have been trying to do for a while now is to offer diversion programs for women who want out. On Backpage, there are always ads for agencies targeted at women who want out.

To me, the bigger problem is not just the definition of prostitution as defined by laws as sex acts, but how society world wide has been using women of all ages to market and sell everything. The anticipation of the annual Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. The annual Victoria Secrets lingerie show on TV. Bikini contests, calendars, you name it. Images of women are marketed and sold 24/7. Beautiful actresses that may be dumb as a bag of rocks make millions in movies for corporate profits.

After reading the article, I cant really object to the claims they make or the results they have attained (I did not fact check the results they state but if someone finds them not to be true, please let us know).

BUT, one undeniable truth that I have seen the results of first hand is how many young, and sometimes underage, females, are tricked or forced into prostitution by men who ARE committing violence against women by how they get them into the life and how they keep them in the life and what these low life men do to the women they feel they have ownership of if a woman ever tried to leave.

Too many women in this world we are involved in are harmed all over the country. The stories about dead prostitutes rarely make front page news but if that same woman was portrayed as someone who had been forced into prostitution after being raped and hooked on drugs and then murdered, THAT might make the front page for a day or 2.

[LazurusLong]

From the article, discussion about legalization and the results of doing so:

This Swedish experiment is the single, solitary example in a significant sized population of a prostitution policy that works. In 2003, the Scottish government in looking to revamp its own approach to prostitution enlisted the University of London to do a comprehensive analysis of outcomes of prostitution policies in other countries. In addition to reviewing Sweden's program, the researchers chose Australia, Ireland, and the Netherlands to represent various strategies of legalizing and/or regulating prostitution. The researchers did not review the situation where prostitution is criminalized across the board as it is in the US. The outcome of that approach is already well known. The failures and futility of the revolving door of arresting and rearresting prostitutes is all too familiar the world over.

But the outcomes, as revealed in the Univ. of London study, in the states under review that had legalized or regulated prostitution were found to be just as discouraging or even more discouraging than the traditional all round criminalization. In each case the results were dramatic in the negative.

Legalization and/or regulation of prostitution, according to the study, led to:

A dramatic increase in all facets of the sex industry,
A dramatic increase in the involvement of organized crime in the sex industry,
A dramatic increase in child prostitution,
An explosion in the number of foreign women and girls trafficked into the region, and
Indications of an increase in violence against women.
In the state of Victoria, Australia, where a system of legalized, regulated brothels was established, there was such an explosion in the number of brothels that it immediately overwhelmed the system's ability to regulate them, and just as quickly these brothels became a mire of organized crime, corruption, and related crimes. In addition, surveys of the prostitutes working under systems of legalization and regulation find that the prostitutes themselves continue to feel coerced, forced, and unsafe in the business.

[doug_dfw]

And what are you suggesting for us in DFW to consider?

[catbanger]

A bit of a flaw in that study:
1) This is the U.S. and not kangaroo land.
2) Brothals have been legal in Nevada for a good while and there hasn't been a major influx if child prostitutes or foreign women. The numbers of child prostitutes and women forced into the business won't change much because no law passed will create leniency towards compulsion of child prostitution.
3) The open southern border could bring in more child prostitutes so that may throw the current statistics off by a good bit but none of these children are on a run to Nevada to join a Brothal.
4) it's a state issue, not a fedral issue and not a U.N. issue. I really don't care what goes on in other country's.

[Guest092216]

Originally Posted by catbanger

A bit of a flaw in that study:
1) This is the U.S. and not kangaroo land.
2) Brothals have been legal in Nevada for a good while and there hasn't been a major influx if child prostitutes or foreign women. The numbers of child prostitutes and women forced into the business won't change much because no law passed will create leniency towards compulsion of child prostitution.
3) The open southern border could bring in more child prostitutes so that may throw the current statistics off by a good bit but none of these children are on a run to Nevada to join a Brothal.
4) it's a state issue, not a fedral issue and not a U.N. issue. I really don't care what goes on in other country's.

Kangaroos in Sweden???

[threepeckeredbillygoat]

Originally Posted by thathottnurse

Kangaroos in Sweden???

Them mother fuckers can jump a loooong way... it could happen.

[cinderbella]

I literally started out in this business by accident. I lost my job and had to pay my bills fast. I put an ad up on Craigslist under theraputic massage, thinking I was going to hear from people who had cancer or chemo or health problems. I was surprised at all the calls I got from guys. I read up on sensual massage and soon had repeat clients. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be that interesting to men. I never thought I was that hot.

My clients are responsible and all around good people, just like me. We are not criminals and I live in fear all the time of being caught in a sting and all the problems it would create. Then I think about all the nice guys I know and how easily they could be caught in a sting and have their good names drug thru the mud because the local politician or head of a dept. decided to increase funding by making criminals out of non criminals. There is always that delicate balance of what is considered criminal activity and what is not. The laws are written in such a way and justice is blind. One law fits all and that's not a good thing for those of us who are not technically criminals.

I think the United States is just too large and populated to be governed by such conservative measures that not everyone agrees with. I have been to Europe 3 times and was very impressed with the way the government allowed for decriminalization of so called soft vices such as this. If I could, I would probably live in Europe. I am so tired of being afraid of police. I can think of a few things that should be decriminalized and this is one. I really wish my government didn't see my clients and I as criminals. We just plain are not. This has been the only way I have been able to support myself work wise. I pay at least 20% of my income to the IRS. I could work alot more and see more clients and pay the IRS alot more if I were not so scared of getting in trouble for it.

[Prolongus]

"There is a charm about the forbidden that makes it unspeakably desirable."
-Mark Twain

[DownForWhatever]

I lived in Northern Germany and Scandinavia during my late teens and most of my 20's...and the hobby was legal...but strictly regulated by the State and local governments.

Although it was legal...the hobby wasn't near as "fun" as when I returned stateside.

When you combine the elements of competition between providers and now the online tools for verification and reviews...we actually have a better "self regulated" system than they do over there...or in Vegas, for that matter.

In a perfect world, all the Gov't would need is proof of a P411 and Eccie account. Then let LE have all the street walkers they want.

But...as in all things there are too many vested interests on both sides of the equation to ever see any common sense prevail.

[blue3122]

I look at it just like drug legalization.

How many of you would do an illegal drug if it suddenly became legal? Same parameters as alcohol like no driving under the influence, etc..

I just don't think that many people would suddenly decide they needed to try something because it was no longer illegal. If I wanted to do illegal drugs, the law wouldn't stop me from trying.

I don't think suddenly non-hobbyists would convert. The only issue would be how to tax it and regulate it. (Like Nevada).

[Kimberdoll]

I think it should be decriminalized so that if the provider wanted to get out of the business and seek other employment it does not hinder her chances. Even fast food runs background checks and with the stigma attached the lady is less likely to get hired.

Utilize my tax money to go after predators of children and other human beings that are being victimized by pimps and other trafficking entities.

Adults who are engaging in the hobby willingly are NOT criminals, well they are technically, but well, you know what I mean.

[daty/o]

Originally Posted by LazurusLong

From the article:
"In Sweden prostitution is regarded as an aspect of male violence against women and children. It is officially acknowledged as a form of exploitation of women and children and constitutes a significant social problem... gender equality will remain unattainable so long as men buy, sell and exploit women and children by prostituting them."

There's a bible belt worthy statement if ever I heard one. Prostitution has been labeled the "world's oldest profession" for a reason. It has been around since the dawn of man and will survive, in spite of man. Sex trafficking and child abuse should be the primary focus of law enforcement. Targeting the consumer as a method of saving women from being exploited is a ludicrous concept that even most prostitutes won't support. While legalizing it might do more damage than good, blanket criminalization certainly would.

[Alastair]

Originally Posted by Kimberdoll

I think it should be decriminalized so that if the provider wanted to get out of the business and seek other employment it does not hinder her chances. Even fast food runs background checks and with the stigma attached the lady is less likely to get hired.

Utilize my tax money to go after predators of children and other human beings that are being victimized by pimps and other trafficking entities.

Adults who are engaging in the hobby willingly are NOT criminals, well they are technically, but well, you know what I mean.

100% agree. It should be decriminalized, not regulated. The government would just screw it up like they do everything else.

[!!Sexy Erotic Morgan]

If decriminalization were even proposed, we would have to deal with those bitch "feminists" groups talking really long and loud about something they don't know the first thing about. They would call us names and talk about us like we are less than human in the same breathe they talk about having respect for women.

I read stories from Australia and England about the on-going battle between sex-workers and "feminist" groups. It would be way worse here. Personally, I might be down to fight (with words of course), I don't think many girls would find it to be worth the trouble.

So lets just be really super quiet so maybe soon they will forget about us completely! That sounds like a better goal.

[Glenn Quagmire]

Nobody could fuck it up like the United States could!

Prices would go up and that would be bad. Ladies, don't get your panties in a wad about that statement because if prices went up, it is not like you would get more money; your cut would probably go down. Anybody who has worked at the Bunny Ranch in Nevada would support that statement.

The best we could hope for is decriminalizing it for the ladies and increase penalties and enforcement for the pimps and the johns and use any increase in revenues to help ladies who want out to get out and learn some new skills.


Laz, maybe we could get a grant to study the idea!