A topic that has been popular among Democrats and Libertarians for some time now is the concept that “sex work is real work,” and that prostitution should be legalized and treated/regulated much like any other business in the realm of transacted commodities.
Outside of the arguments revolving around consenting adults participating in purportedly harmless commerce, proponents of prostitution genuinely think that not only is the act harmless – but that legalizing prostitution will suddenly make all the problems associated with the practice essentially disappear.
**Let’s Connect! Join Our Community**
This is, of course, completely misguided nonsense.
When it comes to claims that legalizing and regulating all facets of prostitution will somehow lessen the harm that comes with it and that such a vocation can be liberating, these ill-conceived notions are likely from the sort who envision prostitution as being something akin to the 1990 movie “Pretty Woman.”
But there’s nothing glamorous about whoring oneself out, with or without the government’s blessing, and the harms that come with it won’t simply dissipate just because the government suddenly takes the place of the pimp.
To normalize sex as something that can literally be purchased by any would-be consumer is the epitome of objectifying women, and codifying prostitution as a legal trade would make many of the problems associated with the destructive market more complex to address.
Take for example the already-existing issues of violence, rape, and human trafficking associated with prostitution on the black market. If prostitution were legalized nationally, these criminal acts fostering under prostitution wouldn’t magically vanish – and they would arguably become more difficult to pursue/prosecute.
In a scenario where a legal prostitute is raped by a paying client, it would be the prostitute who would have to file the complaint against the offender and harbor the burden of proving she was forced during the act – all the while, the act itself was preceded by a transaction for literal sex.
If a sexual assault occurs following such a sordid transaction, how would a prostitute be able to convincingly prove they were forced to have sex when the very nature of their working conditions involves sex in exchange for money? To imply that decriminalizing or legalizing the entire industry will safeguard prostitutes is debatably a cruel falsehood. Someone whose very source of income makes them vulnerable to the possibility of being raped cannot be protected by making the transactional aspect of the market legal.
And then there’s the human trafficking aspect of the argument, where some proponents of legalized prostitution think that if the act is legalized then victims of sex trafficking will somehow cease to be – but again, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
As numerous prostitution busts over the years have shown, underage victims of human trafficking are often found to be linked to or in close cohorts with larger networks of adult prostitutes. If prostitution were suddenly legalized, this wouldn’t weed out the organized crime industry trafficking in young victims – instead, it would give these traffickers an opportunity to conduct their exploits under the façade of a legitimate business front with arguably a lot less police oversight.
Of course, there are some who proclaim that legalizing prostitution would be great for increasing tax revenue. This is another misguided thought, as Germany legalized it back in 2001 and Julie Bindel from Justice for Women noted back in 2013 that the sought-after tax money wasn’t pouring in like expected.
“The Dutch government hoped to play the role of the honorable pimp, taking its share in the proceeds of prostitution through taxation. But only 5% of the women registered for tax, because no one wants to be known as a whore — however legal it may be.”
And with legalization of prostitution would also come the reality of it becoming the target of litigious opportunists and even legitimate lawsuits, such as lawsuits alleging various forms of discrimination against would-be consumers or allegations of false pricing/overcharging. In a legalized context, every time a prostitute refused service to a would-be consumer could expose the prostitute to potential litigation if the declination of services was perceived as discriminatory.
Then there are those who would argue that legalizing and regulating prostitution would pose a net positive in the arena of STD prevention. Once again, a concept that fails the sniff test at every level. Indeed, there are countries that have legalized prostitution and have instituted the likes of health check cards for prostitutes to show they’ve been screened for STDs. However, getting a full panel of STD testing results takes about 48 hours in the most favorable of circumstances, meaning that a prostitute’s health check card showing they’re in the clear for STDs is about as reliable as a pregnancy test taken two days before someone sleeps with a few dozen guys.
Another very real line of consequences that will come from legalized prostitution are issues surrounding prostitutes becoming pregnant by clients and the messes that would spill out into the family courts. Aside from there having to be a whirlwind of paternity tests issued in the wake of a prostitute becoming pregnant, there would then be ensuring legal questions of whether a client could be compelled to pay child support to a prostitute who carried his child to term.
The idea that prostitution should be legalized is simply wrong on all fronts. Sex work isn’t real work, it’s not “liberating” for women, and it’s certainly not good for the next generation of men to be conditioned into thinking it’s a normal and innocuous thing. As for the people who would contend otherwise under the guise of some of the common arguments mentioned in this article, their ilk clearly have not taken the time to earnestly examine the merits of their talking points.
This piece was written by Gregory Hoyt on October 10, 2022. It originally appeared in RedVoiceMedia.com and is used by permission.
Read more at RedVoiceMedia.com:
Traditional Vaccines Now in Question: Dr. Harvey Risch Loses All Trust in the CDC and the FDA [VIDEOS]
20 Million Dead from the Jab, 2.2 Billion Injured – Analyst Estimates [VIDEO]
Washington State Congressional Candidate Using Fake Name For Campaign, Registered To Vote In Two States
The opinions expressed by contributors and/or content partners are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of LifeZette.
Join the Discussion
COMMENTS POLICY: We have no tolerance for messages of violence, racism, vulgarity, obscenity or other such discourteous behavior. Thank you for contributing to a respectful and useful online dialogue.
Looking at the other comments of bogus BS, I’ll respond with something along to this thread. If Lobbying is a legal profession THEN prostitution should be as well. BOTH are: 1) not regulated, 2) they both exchange money &/or goods, 3) for services rendered at a later time, 4) and it’s always the middle class man that seems to get screwed over, and 5) the corporated big wigs/pimps seem to get richer.
as a consultant for venereal diseases I thoroughly agree with this assessment.
I do not need to read the article, it wouldn’t decrease human sex trafficking it would INCREASE it. Whorehouses would be legal with increased traffick which would require more women.
I gets paid about $ 500 a day working on street corner. I amkes my hours.
I wonder if the author of this article has ever lived in any place where sex work is legal.
Rupert Murdoch was 85 when he married Jerry Hall, who was 29 years his junior. I’m sure it was a love match.
Rupert Murdoch was 68 when he married Wendy Deng, who was 30 years his junior. I’m sure it was a love match.
Another super-wealthy person with a number of love matches is George Soros.
President Trump.