Essay, Research Paper: Legalizing Prostitution

A comedian asked why is it illegal to sell sex but its okay to gibe it away. A beautician performs a service when she cuts your hair. The service is taxed, and the beautician makes money on the service she provided. The beautician, in performing this service, is doing nothing illegal, and is well within her constitutional rights. So, why then is it illegal for a prostitute to provide a service to an adult. He or She is well within the boundaries of the constitution just like the beautician is yet this service is for some reason illegal. Prostitution should be legalized because it is no different than any other service provided to the general public,
Prostitution encourages sex out of wedlock, which in many societies is considered immoral. Prostitutes would provide a service of various sexual acts including, but not limited to, sexual intercourse. This service, if legalized, would become more popular, be practiced more freely, and might increase the occurrence of adultery. "It had been said that legalized prostitution will drive cost down" (Liberator 2), if this were to happen, the chance of adultery being committed might be determined by the price.
If a man or woman has made up his or her mind to commit adultery, will the legality of prostitution really influence their decision to go through with it or not? "One out of every three marriages ends in divorce due to one or the other partners committing adultery," said Jennifer Jones (Jones 4). Could legalizing prostitution increase this number? If one were to site cost as the determining factor, evidence would tend to say no. There would be two forces at work on the cost of prostitution. " Increasing the number of prostitutes would increase competition and drive the cost down is how some would reason. In actuality, when you factor in medical cost, insurance, government regulation and taxation, the cost to the consumer would actually skyrocket" (Liberator 2). In the past, prostitutes have solicited on busy street corner, in busy cities and towns. This clutters the streets and intersections making them unhealthy and unsafe areas. Many business and families would like nothing more than to reclaim theses areas as there own. Street solicitation would become all but obsolete if prostitution were legalized. Taxation of the service would make prostitution a true profession taking prostitutes off of the streets and putting them inside business or other such structures. Most importantly, the solicitation of customers could be conducted out of the public eye and away from those who disapprove.
"The taxation of legalized prostitution could fund rehab programs, homeless shelters, drug and health education programs and regulatory agencies" (Prostitution Law Reforms 1). In places where prostitution is practiced illegally like major urban areas or depressed economic regions, the legalization and regulation of prostitution could bring about some much-needed reform. Some of the benefits might include a reduction in the number of prostitutes that live in the streets, teenage dropouts who turn to prostitution, and the occurrence of drug use among prostitutes.
Taxing the services of prostitutes would have other benefits as well. Taxation would force the registration and licensing of prostitutes replacing pimps with legitimate solicitation and security. This would also serve to eliminate the influence of organized crime in the prostitution industry. Of the many benefits, liscncing would screen out criminals, the diseased, the drug addicts and the underage" (French 3). The licensing of prostitutes would force them to submit to regular drug test and medical screenings. Because of government regulation, age limitations could be set requiring prostitutes to reach a certain age before going to work. This would encourage teens that are considering dropping out to enter the world of prostitution to stay in school. If it were legalized, prostitution would become just like any other service industry job subject to all the regulation and benefits of government supervision.
Much work still has to be done to create a framework for such sweeping reform. Often called "the worlds oldest profession", illegal prostitution is well entrenched in many areas of the country and would put up much resistance to government interference. Although places like Nevada and Amsterdam seem to have found a way to successfully legalize and incorporate prostitution into their culture, much of the world
cannot seem to get past the religious blinders that along with common decency prevent a conclusion to this important issue.
Works Cited
The Liberator. Legalized Prostitution Internet site www.mcs.net 1999
Prostitution in the United States-The Statistics Internet site www.bayswan.org 1999
Prostitution Law Reform: Defining Terms Internet site www.bayswan.org 1999