Why is prostitution illegal?
 

Sex is not illegal. You can take someone out for dinner, or buy them jewelry, even pay them straight cash if you are making a porn movie, but still prostitution is, for the most part, prohibited in almost all places, in almost every country. What is the deal with that?

Because its messy and creates a crime/drugs/violence situation around where it thrives. Who wants a ho and a pimp on the sidewalk in front of their $20mm apartment? If there were more rules in place, I would be for it. (legalizing it, that is).

I've asked the same question. Never have paid for it and hope to never have to pay. I would support legalization, though.

We ARE talking about chicks,right?

Hard to tax

It is legal in parts of Nevada. Or it was, I presume it still is.

I have never seen a hooker I would want to pay for anything at all except to maybe go somewhere else far away from my sight.

It is illegal only because the lawmakers deem it a horrible thing. Of course most people know it is the oldest profession with the possible exception of a politician.

That is really why it is illegal. Politicians don't want the competition.

It is kind of weird to me that so many people think it should be illegal.

What happened to a woman's "right to choose" what she does with her own body?

Why do people believe the govt has the right to say what 2 consenting adults can do in their own bedrooms, or what terms they do it on?

When third parties (like pimps) are involved, I can see other issues - coersion, fraud, etc.

But what 2 adults want to do is their own business.

Also, why is it if a woman accepts a $100 dinner in exchange for sex, that's dating, but if she just cuts to the chase and takes the $100, that's prostitution?

Also, why is it legal for a woman to be paid for sex, as long as it's being filmed? But she can't do the same in the privacy of her own home with it not being filmed. Bizarre.

No different than Escort Services (with the exception of the happy ending;))

To answer Toby, the reason why it's not legalized all over is the same as the reason why some States/municipalities do not sell liquor on Sundays.

Puritanical influences, social engineering.

I've never understood the rationale. There are plenty of professionals that provide human physical product for compensation. Why is sex any different?

My understanding is that before WWI it was more or less condoned throughout the US. Many a city had their "Red Light" district. When the mass of soldiers showing up for boot camps all over the country started contracting STDs at an alarming rate the military leaders decide to shut them all down. You know, a war emergency, so they got away with it. This added to the general atmosphere in the country of a moral crusade against all vices, be they booze, drugs whatever. Booze was eventually allowed again but much of the other banned stuff never came back.

There are still many counties that don't allow the sale of any alcohol at all on any day. Dry counties are still around.

Yet, Florida State and Arizona State are still allowed to operate.

Government doesn't like competition

So you have never been on a date?

LOL, so true!!

Wives hate competition.

Morality issues. America is so diverse between religions, ethnicity and culture, plus levels of laws - Fed., State, local. The mish mash makes havoc and pissing matches. Even if liberal, I'll bet the majority of married woman would hate it.

Walk Berlin and you can't help not notice incredibly young woman with stiletto heals and mini-skirts to the v-jj working the street while you'll also see a young family- father, mother pushing child in a stroller. Its no big deal to them.

Although, and I realize where legal, they're to file taxes, so one would think it be a boon to Fed gov. rev's if legalized and with proper auditing.

When I was a prosecutor one of the student practice clinics specialized in defending prostitution cases. They had a phenomenal record of success. The professor who headed the program told me that the secret to their success was that they struck from the jury anyone who lived near the neighborhoods affected by prostitution. He said that to anyone who was not directly affected, prostitution is a complete non-issue but to anyone who lives close enough to it to be impacted it is their number one quality of life complaint.

I think that pretty much explains the attitudes toward prostitution. People who aren't close enough to see it don't think it's much of a problem and don't really understand why it's illegal. People who have seen behind the curtain consider it a scourge on humanity.

There are a lot of good reasons. I can go over a short list of some of the big reasons. Prostitution is rarely an arms-length transaction between consenting adults. There is almost always an element of compulsion on the prostitute's part. Healthy women do not repeatedly exchange sex for money with strangers. Almost all prostitutes were abused as children and almost all are either chemically dependent, mentally ill, or both. At some point all prostitution is controlled by some organized criminal gang, right down to the corner street walkers. Prostitution spreads disease and johns will pay extra to not use protection. By the nature of their transaction, whether legal or not, both prostitutes and johns are vulnerable to violence by the other. The secondary effects on neighborhoods are well known and prostitution leads to other crimes and property degradation. That doesn't even get into the whole human trafficking issue.

But as a practical matter, you can't run a massage parlor, outcall business, brothel, or even a streetwalker gang without human trafficking. You just don't have the numbers necessary to keep the business operating. That means that you have to kidnap, buy or drug and coerce enough people to staff your business and keep them from going somewhere else or escaping. Even the most benign looking bath house or massage parlor is staffed by prostitutes who were trafficked. That's how they get they and that's why they stay.

If prostitution was in practice an arms-length transaction between fully consenting adults with equal power, it would have more arguments in its favor. But it isn't.

The temperance movement got rid of it, along with drinking, gambling, and anything else that was fun back then.
Basically, sex was cheap so crabby old ladies (WCTU) banned it so their men wouldn't have other options.

Really? None, NADA, no beer? Being serious cause I never realized we still had completely dry areas.

They must be sad places.:D

Touche.

and I am married so, you know.....

Where ever prostitution is legal, young women are exploited or even enslaved. If money can be made, heartless people will work the system. Thailand and Vietnam have legal prostitute and have a terrible sex slavery trade.

Costa Rica and Columbia seem to have a solution by legalizing prostitution in certain designed bars and casinos, but the "sex workers" must register, pay an annual fee for the ID card, and get blood tested monthly. Pimping is a felony. Anybody caught organizing or controlling prostitutes is subject to long prison time.