I heard something on the radio the other day that made me think of it. The report I heard was talking about an interesting occurrence in Turkey. Or I think it was Turkey. It may have been Greece - I wish I could find it! Prostitution is legal in Turkey (and in Greece) - and it seems that some of these illegal trade rings have been 'exposed' by their customers. As men in (Turkey/Greece) are used to visiting women who chose prositution as their profession, they are rather incensed when they encounter women that are not in the trade by choice. I found that interesting.
Now, the odds of legalizing prostitution in certain areas of this country are pretty slim (think about it - what congressperson do you know wants to yell "Save the whores!" at their pep rally?), but I actually think it would be a healthy thing to do: allow women who prefer the 'escort' business to legalize their business, while continuing to go after the underground ops. Nevada's approach (linked below) could be considered an example.
The whole scene surrounding prostitution in this country is so seedy: it's under the carpet in the corner on the fringes. While I don't want sex front and center in everyone's face, I'm a realist: people have sex, they like sex, and they're willing to pay for it. Even if you argue that "you should only have sex with your spouse" (as an abstinence measure touted as particularly effective in curbing AIDS), I think it must be acknowledged that there are a hell of a lot of single people out there that will not be content getting action only from their own hands. It's just life. Be pious about it if you want to, but it flies in the face of human nature and how life works.
I want women to be safe. I want women to be healthy. I want women to feel they deserve both things. I also think some women choose to be escorts or strippers or prostitutes because they want to. More, I think, choose to be those things because they feel they have to (it's the money). And unfortunately, there seem to be a growing number of women from whom the choice has been stripped entirely.
The demand for a sex trade is there, has always been there, and will continue to be there. Continue to advocate abstinence, continue to teach youngsters whatever you will about family values, and how to use condoms, and whatever else you think people need to know to prevent the spread of AIDS and other STDs - but make prostitution legal so that those practice the trade (in the first two cases) can do so without fearing for their life or being futher victims of physical or emotional abuse. Awareness about legal prostitution may also, as has been seen in (Turkey/Greece) lately, help to expose human trafficing rings involving those women involuntarily forced into the trade.
- Not more feminisim ... [ealasaid.com: 2006]
I found this entry out in the blogosphere, and it actually sums up my view:A woman brought here under false pretenses and forced into prostitution has a world of problems. I am against that, hands down. Why? Not because I'm against men paying for sex, but because I'm against slavery. Women forced into prostitution don't see a dime of the money the men hand over. That's abuse, sure. That's wrong. Wrong.
But I am pro-prostitution insofar as I'm pro-shitjobs in general. I think it should be illegal for pimps to treat their employees like slaves, the same way it's illegal for McDonalds bosses to treat their employees like slaves. That is the injustice there: that many prostitutes are treated badly and some are actually in slavery. Not the fact that a horny guy brings some dough and offers it to a woman willing to have sex with him. We should fight to make the "choice" so many women have an actual, real choice. - Prostitution in Nevada [wikipedia]
- Greece Now: Human Traffic [www.greece-now.org: 2001]
- FBI urges human traffic co-operation [news.bbc.co.uk: 2001]
1 comments:
I had an economics professor when I was an undergraduate who argued for legalized prostitution on regulative grounds, using prostitution in Paris (I think) as an example. The upshot being that you'd rather the industry were above-board and regulated rather than under the table and unregulated.
And if I remember my "History of Sex," there was at least one example of a base commander during WWII who ordered local prostitition to be legal and regulated. Of course, this commander was mostly concerned about whether his soldiers would get sick, rather than about the health and safety of the prostitutes. Apparently his method worked, to the extent that fewer of the soldiers got sick from venereal diseases.
At the risk of stating the obvious, though, most legislators these days are not so practical about recognizing human nature. Even worse, I'm very sure that the American public isn't ready to even discuss legalized prostitution in a sensible manner. I can reasonably predict that the Religious Right in particular would have kittens.
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