Prostitution?

According to ProCon.org (2011) countries like Singapore, Germany, France, Uruguay and United Kingdom (included) Scotland had legalized prostitution. In the contrary, countries like Thailand, North and South Korea, Cambodia, South Africa and also China (included Taiwan) do not agree in legalizing prostitution. Simultaneously, there are countries legalizing prostitution 50 per cent legal. The booming of sex industry brings out red light areas which is the concentration of prostitution.

In such countries like Amsterdam of the Netherland, Mumbai of India and Hamburg of Germany a legal concentrated prostitution area are called red light district. According to ProCon.org, n.d, also “legalising prostitution would reduce crime, improve public health, increase tax revenue, help people out of poverty, get prostitutes off the streets, and allow consenting adults to make their own choices.”  They contend that prostitution is a victimless crime, especially in the 11 Nevada counties where it remains legal. Moreover, according to Dublin (2005), by legalizing prostitution would benefit the government and the society.

But in contrary the cons opinion on prostitution is “Opponents believe that legalizing prostitution would lead to increases in sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS, global human trafficking, and violent crime including rape and homicide. They contend that prostitution is inherently immoral, commercially exploitative, empowers the criminal underworld, and promotes the repression of women by men.” In my own opinion legalizing prostitution can lead to other factors such as use of drug and alcoholism, unwanted pregnancy, breaking the moral of a society and moreover degrading women’s dignity.

So what is the definition of prostitute? A person, typically a woman, who engages in sexual activity for payment or offer.(Oxford Dictionary)

So why prostitution is being legalised? When in fact according to http://www.object.org.uk/the-prostitution-facts , prostitutes would likely escape from their job if they have the chance to escape. Some facts of prostitution are 75% of women involved in prostitution started as children, up to 70% of women in prostitution spent time in care, 45% report sexual abuse and 85% physical abuse within their families (Home Office 2006). Moreover, Up to 95% of women in prostitution are problematic drug users, including around 78% heroin users and rising numbers of crack cocaine addicts (Home Office 2004) and 68% of women in prostitution meet the criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the same range as torture victims and combat veterans undergoing treatment (Ramsey et al 1993). Also proven by statistic and research, more than half of UK women in prostitution have been raped and/or seriously sexually assaulted. At least three quarters have been physically assaulted (Home Office 2004).

In conclusion, legalizing prostituion has more harms to the society than to benefit the society. As we all know, society does not always have to get the source of economy to build the infrastructures, feed on the poors, improve on the education and health care only from the legalization of prostitution. Besides, the spread of unwanted STD (Sexual Transmitted Disease) such as HIV and AIDS is a lot more serious problem that we, as a nation need to be concerned about. In any ways we have to prevent the disease to be more spreadable. It was proven, that even if a prostitute is being tested every week for HIV, she will test negative for at least the first 4-6 weeks and possibly the first 12 weeks after being infected. Most likely the prostitute will quit working as soon as he or she finds out the test is HIV Positive, which is highly unlikely. This is not the best approach for actually reducing harm. Instead, in order to slow the global spread of HIV/AIDS we should focus on our efforts on abolishing prostitution.