Decriminalization Of Prostitution

One of the oldest and most debated professions in our society today comes forth through the sex industry. It is argues as to whether prostitution should be criminalized, legalized, abolished, or decriminalized. Whatever the standpoint may be, society’s ethical values should not interfere with the situation at hand. The conflicting opinions expressed by liberals and conservatives spark the need for reform throughout the United States of America, as well as other nations globally. Prostitutes are not committing an inherently harmful act. While the spread of disease and other detriments are possible in the practice of prostitution, criminalization is a sure way of exacerbating rather than addressing such effects (Colb). Sex workers can only
Prostitution is a victimless crime in the sense that there are consenting adults involved. These are activities in which all parties participate voluntarily and involve no intrusion on anyone’s person or property. To combat the negative implications that associates themselves with this industry, strict regulation is necessary in order to end much of the exploitation that takes place in the underground economy. Licensed prostitutes combined with governmental administration on health inspections and registration of health status would allow prostitutes to get themselves tested without being criminalized. This would significantly reduce the percentage of prostitutes with sexually transmitted diseases and/or HIV/AIDS. One Australian study in 1998 showed that the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases and infections were 80 times greater in 63 illegal street prostitutes than in 753 of their legal brothel counterparts (Loff). In fact, there is evidence that some systems of legalization provide a relatively safe working environment. Although no system is risk free, women working in legal brothels and window units in the Netherlands experience very little violence. Workers and managers have instituted elaborate procedures to respond to violent customers quickly and effectively. Similarly, in
Criminalizing prostitution is also costly, and often ineffective. “The average cost per arrest is approximately $2,000” (Bovard). The criminalization of prostitution is costly for the US in terms of law enforcement hours, the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, and lost tax revenue. "San Francisco alone spends tens of millions of dollars a year cracking down on victimless crimes like gambling, drug use, and prostitution. The cops arrest sex workers; the Sheriff's Office has to process them and pay an average of $94 a day to keep them in jail. The District Attorney's Office has to pour resources into prosecuting the cases, and since many of the people arrested don't have the money for private lawyers, the Public Defender's Office has to defend them...Law enforcement efforts haven't made a dent in the city's sex work industry and never will. But careful decriminalization, combined with strict regulation, could and would end much of the exploitation that takes place in the underground economy" (San Francisco Bay