Game on! (Should prostitution be legalised?)

Member Name: TheDrowningMan

Product:	Should prostitution be legalised?
Date:	24/01/01 (162 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gives support to unqualified men/women, provides a service to some people.

Disadvantages: Can look bad, can be dangerous, morally wrong.

I'll start by saying that prostitution has been around for centuries, so no way is it a new thing, so why hasn't it been dealt with before, why has it not been mentioned to legalise this trade in the past? My view is Britain's ever increasing liberalism towards the great taboo, sex.

Prostitution provides a service, same as a taxi service, or restuarant does, but the service it provides is a little more 'adult' than the others, so why, if not exposed to the younger generation, is it not legalised?

Well, there are many issues to be dealt with. STDs are occuring in ever increasing numbers, and if carriers go out looking for sex from a prostitute, or a prostitute him/herself carries an STD, then the spread of these will be ever increased. But who's to say that legalising the trade will increase the numbers using it? I think it is not so much the legality of prostitution that pushes people away from it, but more the moral issue, such as, 'I have a wife and kids', or 'this woman is so much younger than me', or something like that, and the embarrassment of being caught with a prostitute may discourage people from using the trade as well.

Prostitution, on the other hand, provides valuable income for women/men, who cannot find work elsewhere, and maybe have a family to support. Without this trade, these people may have to live on the streets, and suffer far more than if the person was involved in prostitution. There is always an issue of safety involved as well, how safe is it to hang around in dark areas of London on your own?? Well, do you think that legalisation will increase the amount of crime committed against prostitutes? I don't.

After considering the points, I feel that prostitution should be legalised. Although there is always a risk of Britain becoming a sex haven, such as areas of Amsterdam, I don't think it will go that far, as us Brits are far less liberal that the Dutch.
As for STDs, as I said earlier, I feel the legali
ty of the trade is not the main issue that discourages people from using prostitutes, and therefore numbers of people using prostitutes will not increase, and therefore there will be no greater risk after legalisation than there is now.
As long as the streets are patrolled by police, as they are now, protecting the prostitues, rather than arresting them, and there is an age limit, of something such as 21 for the prostitutes, I don't feel it will do any harm. Also, if these people can continue to work, rather than being held in prison, they may be able to support families a bit better.

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