Argument in Favor of Legalizing Prostitution
Argument in Favor of Legalizing Prostitution
Prostitution is defined as the engaging in, or agreeing to engage in, sexual conduct for a fee. Women are pushed into entering prostitution for many reasons including lack of education, poverty, and personal choice. Prostitution is currently illegal, but there is much controversy surrounding this issue. There are approximately 1.3 million prostitutes in the United States today. However, there is only an arrest figure of about 100,000 prostitutes in 1995, and the number of arrests has been fairly consistent since then. The General consensus has shown that law enforcement has been generally ineffective in the removal of prostitution from our society. There are many people involved in prostitution, seventy percent of which are female, twenty percent male, and ten percent customers. Quite a large amount of citizens are actively fighting against prostitution. On the opposed side, many are fighting to legalize it.
Picture in your mind this scenario: Jane is a 26 year old single woman who makes her living working the streets as a prostitute. She is clean, and is tested regularly for diseases. Jane is standing on the street, dressed promiscuously. Within minutes she is picked up by John, a lonely single man looking for a quick fix. She rides with him to a nearby hotel and they engage in sexual activity. When they finish, John hands Jane one hundred dollars and he takes her back to the corner where she had been picked up a few hours earlier. Immoral as some may see it, this was a victimless crime. No one was injured, hurt or put in danger, not until she is walking back to her car and is stopped once again. This time, however, she is stopped by police who arrest her for prostitution, a crime in most areas of the United States.
Jane was simply trying to make money the way she chose. Prostitution is a person's own choice. As many see it wrong because they think women are forced into it and that it gives people with a lack of education a ‘way out' this is not always true. There are many ways to make money taking the easy way out. They could be dealing illegal substances, working at McDonald's, at a strip...