Legalized Prostitution

[Rodders]

But when we legalise and regulate prostitution...the women doing are still selling themselves off, a thing most of them hate to do. Put them in a safe envrionment and keep them clean, but the goal should be to ultimatly eliminate it....not keep it going under gov't control.

No women wants to be a hooker, they are forced into it somehow. Help the ones who are find alternate employment and get them back into a normal (dare I say moral) job and away from such a de-humanising and humiliating job..legal or not.

Geez, that sounded all idealistic of me.

I think that for the most part you are correct. However I think the following posts are also correct. Most women(and men) who are prostitutes would rather be doing something else to earn their money. However, making it illegal has done nothing to get people out of this life, unless you consider prison an option.

My opinion on this is similar to my view on the legalisation of marijuana. A war on drugs or a war on prostitution is doomed to failure because so long as the demand exists, their will be those willing to offer a supply. Now someone might suggest making penalties so extreme that few would dare attempt such a legal transgression. However, I think life imprisonment or execution for possession of marijuana or engaging in prostitution would be terribly extreme and ridiculous.

Therefore I think the next best option is to legalise it. Something which is legal is always easier to control than something which is strictly illegal. For the most part, you eliminate the higher-end criminal element. In the case of prostitution, you eliminate the role of the "pimp". If a woman or man wants to earn money by selling their bodies, who's business is it but theirs? We live in a society where 5-year-olds are tarted up and entered into beauty contests. I find that much more repugnant than an adult willingly having sex for money.

There is also the pro of collecting taxes on said transactions, some of which can be directed at programs aimed to reduce such activities.

Just my opinion. I'm sure there will be some rebuttals.

 

[geo]

Piper,
On some points we might agree but..... a lot of em are doing it
and if you don't want to be seen by your school mates, you do your business 100km away in another town.

 

[Sig_Des]

No one in their right mind wants to do such a thing to make a living. You can make decent coin doing it sometimes, but still...

What about people in Porn? They perform sexual acts for monetary compensation, hmm, just like prostitution!

If it's acceptable for that, then why not make prostitution safe, clean, and regulated?

Personally, I don't ply for sex with money (unless you count dating), but if that's what someone does to put food on the table....

Do I personally agree with it? no, but prostitution has always been around, and it always will be, so lets keep it safe

 

[Rodders]

[quote

No one in their right mind wants to do such a thing to make a living. You can make decent coin doing it sometimes, but still...[/quote]

Well I wouldn't do it, but as had been said, you can't get in another person's head. Some people would not go skydiving or scuba diving if you put a gun to their head. I'm not comparing these to prostitution. I'm just trying to suggest that we not believe that everyone shares our own perspectives or personal values.

 

[Guy. E]

Who's to say that these people may not love what they do. Having sex and getting payed for it.

Hell, if i had the kind of body and opportunity I'd probably pose for play girl. That would be pretty cool for me.


(hows that sound now?)

 

[Thirstyson]

That would be amazing in my eyes.

I know what you mean to say there, but it just doesn't come off right

 

[muffin]

I find it interesting that this thread focuses on women - of course there are male hookers, strippers, escorts, etc as well.
I wonder if anyone ever thinks "oh - that poor Chippendale" or "I feel so bad for Seymour Butts"

But seriously - I think the first step should be the safety of anyone in any sex trade. I think increased support would allow people in the trades to more easily transition back to "normal society" (as we call it) IF they choose to.

Perhaps the solution isn't in the selling - but the buying. They couldn't sell it if there wasn't anyone there to buy it.

muffin

 

[camochick]

Piper, have you ever talked to a stripper or a hooker. Some of them genuinely like what they do. I think if we clean it up, get help for the drug addicts, make it safe for them, then why the heck not let them do it. I know girls who work in a "massage parlor" they make awesome money ,one of them saved 60 grand in six months and also lives in a nice house and has two brand new cars she bought with cash and she liked what she did. . I live in a neighborhood known for prostitutes and I feel scared for them because a few have ended up in dumpsters here in Edmonton. Wouldn't we rather see them safe than dead. Long live porn, strippers and prostitutes. To each their own . >

 

[Pea]

I find it interesting that this thread focuses on women - of course there are male hookers, strippers, escorts, etc as well.
I wonder if anyone ever thinks "oh - that poor Chippendale" or "I feel so bad for Seymour Butts"

But seriously - I think the first step should be the safety of anyone in any sex trade. I think increased support would allow people in the trades to more easily transition back to "normal society" (as we call it) IF they choose to.

Perhaps the solution isn't in the selling - but the buying. They couldn't sell it if there wasn't anyone there to buy it.

muffin

Muffin, and Camo...  I agree whole heartedly!

We know it will continue to occur, and as said above, they don't all hate doing it. Some of them in those "massage parlours" make a killer living and many are qualified to do other things. This tells me they enjoy their job, and choose to stay at it.

It bothers me how so many look down on women prostitutes, (hey it's your own opinion) but don't think anything of the John who is soliciting her service. How is he any different than she? He is also having the sex, but is instead paying for it. She is getting paid. To me, they are on the same level. (She probably gets the better deal, she walks away richer)

But, we all know how dangerous this situation can be. Like Camo said there have been quite a few women prostitutes who have gone missing or have been found dead over the past year or so just in Edmonton alone. (who knows about everywhere else) So I say lets legalize it, and make it as safe as we can for both the prostitute and the john. Then we can work towards helping those that need help, and want out.

 

[Guy. E]

Can I ask you how much court time and tax payers dollars are being held up in the courts prosecuting these individuals for they’re ‘crimes’? At what point is it a crime to do what you please with your self? Tattoos are legal, body piercing is legal and so is plastic surgery. Why shouldn’t these individuals be free to do what they please with they’re body’s? Isn’t that the reason we are here? To fight for and protect the rights and freedoms of the people who live in out country?

You say it is a vile and terrable job? There are people who pick up road kill from the highways, there are people who inspect sewage systems for a living. I have had jobs shoveling horse shit, working on highway construction 14 hours a day 12 days out of 14 behind a paver, I have even washed filthy dished all day non stop at a restaurant for minimum wage. The thing is I didn’t like those jobs, so I quit and moved on to better.

If these people have an addiction/ substance abuse problem that they are need these ‘jobs’ to pay for and cant get help other wise, why cant or shouldn’t there be more government funded programs to help rehabilitate them partially if not completely funded by what taxable revenue they help to bring in? If they enjoy what they do, again who are we to say “You cant do that!” ?

Again, prostitution always has and always will be regardless. How ignorant are we to say no to all the financial benefits as well as attempting to help those who truly need it?

 

[muffin]

At what point is it a crime to do what you please with your self?

Illegal Drug Use,
Suicide,
Selling organs on Ebay
Selling "deflowering" on Ebay


;D

 

[Guy. E]

Illegal Drug Use,

I was under the impression it was illegal to posses, purchase and sell the substances.

Suicide

Highly debatable under what circumstances you are speaking of.

Selling organs on Ebay

With a doctor again saver then the black market and a subsequent repercussion of an independent medical system. It is legal to donate an organ, why not sell your spare kidney or lung to someone about to die?

Selling your "deflowering" on Ebay

Nearly what we are discussing right here in this topic.

 

[muffin]

I did not mean to appear as though I was arguing with you - quite the contrary.

I am not saying that any of those things were any more or less right than selling sex itself - I was just listing other things that are illegal to do to ones self.

I was under the impression it was illegal to be "high" but perhaps it is not. Maybe it is one of those bizzare laws like it is not illegal for those under 18 to smoke, but it is illegal to buy, or posess tobacco products.

There are a number of laws that govern what a person is able to do to his/her self - and I don't think any of them are any better than the one at question here.

... but this could take this thread off in another direction - so I digress

 

[zipperhead_cop]

The reason that the johns get stung in sweeps is that it is one of the few instances where deterrence is effective.  Once you get piped in a hooker sting, you will definitely be saving up the extra for an escort. 
My most recent prostitution story:  Patrolling in a crappy area (Villages for you that know the area) notice a car driving slowly, seeming to be eyeballing homes.  Pull up and speak to the driver:
ME:  "Where you trying to get to?"
DRIVER:  "I'm trying to find an address"
ME:  "At 4:30 in the morning?"
DRIVER:  "My wife is an escort, I have to drop her off for a date"
PASSENGER:  "I won't be long, he usually just waits for me.  Is that okay?"
ME:  "Enjoy your evening"

Clearly, they are not too concerned about any relationship stress in the "arrangement". 
By and large, girls looking to put themselves through school will either strip or work a rub-and-tug (massage parlor).  The ones on the street are by and large wrecked people with a substance abuse problem.  The reason to keep after them is that they are so overflowing with diseases that they can potentially be a strain on health care.  And though it is easy to say "too bad if a john catches some Hep C, his problem" in about 70 percent of the arrests that we make, it will shortly be the guys wife's problem too.  Plus, crack whores are some of the best snitches, so if you are serious about going after the "source" guys, then this is where you start.
Arguing against the prosecution cost isn't really a great argument, only in that there is so much waste in the whole legal system the cost generated by this "victimless" crime is negligible.  This problem is also very different from the weed issue, but I am sure there are whole threads dedicated to "bud" arguments. 
As a generality, I am for legalizing it.  Whore houses, catalogues, the whole nine yards.  Then at least, the Fed and Prov could make a killing on sin taxes applied, and the hookers would have to declare their income and would not be able to dip into welfare, like they do now.

 

[zipperhead_cop]

Yes actually. Like the one who came here from Hungary, speks 10 words of English, has been stripping for 10 years and thats all she will ever do. I disagree with you, most don't. Some do, but they are the minority.

It's always going to exist and whatnot, that does not make it right.

So what ten words does she know, and is one of them "Piper"?  ;D

 

[GO!!!]

Piper,

You stated earlier that you "cannot imagine that anyone wants to be a prostitute" and "they are all forced into it, somehow".

I won't ask you to relate your vast and learned experience with the ladies of the night, but think of it this way....

I recently had conversation with a member of my extended family as to why I do what I do, it ended up with them saying;

"So you don't make as much money as you'd like to, you can be posted to remote locales, your peers are being killed and terribly injured in a war 62% of the public opposes, your wife hates it and you are often given vacation time at inopportune times, on short notice"

I said, "Yup"

Without getting into my rebuttal, I do this job voluntarily, and it REALLY sucks at certain times, so why can't a hooker do hers by choice? Just think, lots of tax free income, welfare too, sleeping in every day, and you get to ride in nice cars!

Think of a prison guard, or police officer who must work with the drug and disease addled bottom 2% of society every day! They are there by choice too! Just because you find it incomprehensible, doe'snt make it so....

 

[GO!!!]

I stay away from Vanier when in Ottawa, being more of a Minglewoods type of guy. 

If you think prostitution is wrong, don't sell or buy any of the product. I think many things are wrong (wranglers, telemarketers, brussels sprouts), but all of these things are businesses, and since money is being exchanged, the government should tax it, morality be damned.

These prostitutes will suck untold amounts of money from our health care, social assistance, law enforcement, welfare and prison systems over their lifespans, we should try to get every penny possible from them, in order to offset this cost.

To do any less is to shortchange the taxpayer, who is, in effect, subsidising a chosen lifestyle.

 

[Cloud Cover]

These prostitutes will suck untold amounts of money from ... 

I'm still trying to decide if you should get points for artistic merit on that one ...

 

[Sig_Des]

I stay away from Vanier when in Ottawa, being more of a Minglewoods type of guy. 

Minglewoods? Ewwwww...

I hope you mean the new Minglewoods, and not the old 3 story one...

and Piper, why not compare soldiers to hookers? We're both 2 of the oldest trades around, the public doesn't like yet tolerates us, politicians are always making empty promises about both of us....

and we'll probably both be around for a loooong time ;D

 

[TCBF]

"To an extent I agree with you (if they take out money, tax it back from them), however, again, try to get them out of the business as soon as possible and persecute those who use/aid it. "

- They are performing a public service, and probably contributing to society to the limit of their abilities.

- Leave them alone, and leave the Johns alone. too.

Tom