Prostitution is the Ultimate Victimless Crime
By Cathy Young
Prostitution is currently legal in virtually all developed nations, though often surrounded by restrictions and regulations. It is illegal everywhere in the United States except Nevada and, by a legal quirk, in Rhode Island if all transactions are conducted in a private residence.
Yet prostitution is perhaps the ultimate victimless crime: a consensual transaction in which both parties are supposedly committing a crime, and the person most likely to be charged—the one selling sex—is also the one most likely to be viewed as the victim. (A bizarre inversion of this situation occurs in Sweden, where, as a result of feminist pressure to treat prostitutes as victims, it is now a crime to pay for sex but not to offer it for sale.) It is sometimes claimed that the true victims of prostitution are the johns' wives. But surely women whose husbands are involved in noncommercial—and sometimes quite expensive—extramarital affairs are no less victimized.
Another common claim is that prostitution causes direct harm by contributing to the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. However, that may be the reddest herring of them all. In Australia, where sex for money is legal, the rate of HIV infection among female prostitutes is so low that prostitution has been removed from the list of known risk factors in HIV surveillance. In the U.S., reliable data are more difficult to come by, but a 1987 Centers for Disease Control study likewise found very low infection rates among prostitutes.
It's the criminalization of prostitution that does take actual victims. Take Brandy Britton, briefly notorious as "Madam Professor." In January 2001 the 41-year old Britton, who had taught sociology and anthropology at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County until quitting in 1999 amidst conflicts with colleagues and allegations of falsifying research, was arrested on prostitution charges. Britton had allegedly advertised on the Internet as "Alexis Angel," "a very passionate full-service, GFE (girl friend experience) escort and erotic masseuse," stressing her intelligence and education and charging from $300 an hour to $2,500 a day for her services. A year later, the week before her scheduled trial, Britton committed suicide.
While Britton may not have led an admirable life—her last occupation aside, her academic career seems to have been undone by professional misconduct and a habit of making unsubstantiated sex-discrimination charges—surely her death was a needless tragedy. It's hard to see who benefited from the fact that the authorities in Maryland spent a lot of taxpayer money to investigate and prosecute a woman for discreet and private sexual encounters with men—encounters that would have been perfectly legal if, instead of directly paying her for sex, those men had spent an equivalent amount on dates and gifts.
As with other victimless crimes, the criminalization of prostitution creates a vast breeding ground for corruption, hypocrisy, and morally dubious law enforcement tactics. Thus, open advertisement of escort services is widely tolerated under the flimsy pretext that clients are paying for companionship, "modeling," "role play" and other non-sexual activities, and that when sex occurs it's by mutual choice unrelated to any fees. Selective enforcement is the norm, as is entrapment. Anti-prostitution campaigns are also frequently accompanied by the Big Brother-ish practice of state-sponsored public shaming. Not to mention how black market constitution makes it more difficult to police the sex slave trade, where the prostitutes really are victims.
Unlike some defenders of prostitution such as "Mayflower Madam" Sydney Biddle Barrows, I do not believe that selling sex should ever be seen as an empowering or liberating way of life, or an affirmation of female sexuality. (If anything, it perpetuates the notion that sex is something women do for male enjoyment.) I do not believe, as sex-positive feminist Susie Bright has written, that "sex-work professionals are [among] the future's largest contingents of the new het-sex liberation front." Nor do I think that disapproval of sex for profit invariably stems from a residual notion that sex is bad, or that "sex work" should be destigmatized as just another career. But there is a vast difference between social stigma and criminal prosecution, between personal moral judgment and the nanny state.
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This should be outlawed and enforced. I am hurt every time I see more and more young people turn to prostitution because there family can not or will not support them.
If a woman can strip naked legally and can have sex for free legally why is sex for money illegal? Think about it, a woman sleeps with 40 people, totally legal if it was free. Then a woman sleeps with 1 person for money, totally illegal...WTF people?
are you going to post what I wrote? alaynastaggers@yahoo.com
Comprimise never leaves one victimless, only used and abused. I challenge you to go out and take some more surveys. Ask the prostitutes how they feel about their jobs . Go out into the streets and ask them how happy they are. Get some good info going. I want data. I want results. I want to hear from the girls who walk the streets after dark, wondering if they will be the next victim of a murder . Ask them if they have any hope for their future or goals. Ask them if the want a husband and children . Ask them where they will end up. Give me the stastics on the value of prostitution as a career and how it affects a woman's life. Ask them how they like catering to the desires of perverts. Prostition erodes the value of family.
But making it illegal will not stop the pain and the hurt and the violations and the degradation of doing a job like that. Give them the opportunity to come out of the darkness where prostitution sits today, and afford them the civil protection you and I can legally demand from the police , and you will see far better results from these poor girls than we can ever hope to see now. Don't you see that by forcing them into the darkness we are actually harming them more? What the profession does to a person should be secondary to what we as a society do to them by forcing them underground. If they were in the legal light, think of the opportunities that would present themselves to these girls. The ability to meet regular people and actually begin to believe that they can change their lives. Keeping them where we can't see them forces them to live in the gutters of our world, and guess what you will find there. I can certainly tell you there are no wonderful grandmothers such as yourself in the dark streets. Love your picture btw! I have to small daughters who have made it a point to kill their father before they turn 5. LOL. Seriously though, I am not arguing FOR the profession, I am arguing for the women who are in it and are not seeing a way out because we force them back into the dark. WE as society need to turn on their light. Legalizing them will do this.
I see your point. Are we going to make it ok for pimps to own these women and if so, are there going to be restrictions on how they can be treated. Will they have health insurance ? Will the places they operate in be segregated so they are away from schools , churches and places where people don't want to observe this activity. Will the men who come and go feel comfortable as though they were going to Walmart?
My biggest questions are will the women be treated well and will they gain in self respect and what type of retirement will they have? I want to know how the prostitutes feel so let's ask them if they had the opportunity would they choose another lifestyle.
Self respect is in a large part created by the values and attitudes of the people, community, and society around us. For example,if you as a mother communicate in some way to your child that being a garbage collector means being "less", then your child would feel "less" if he/she becomes a garbage collector. If you communicate to them that any sex except that between married heterosexuals is "less", then they will feel "less" if they engage or feel desire to engage in any other kind. If you communicate to your child that being "gay" means being "less", then he/she will feel "less" if they are. If you communicate to your children that certain consensual sex acts between adults -- for example, cunnilingus or anal intercourse -- is "perverse", then they will feel "less" if they engage or desire to engage in those activities. If you communicate to your daughters that having sex for money is "less", then it is YOU who have lowered their self respect -- it is actually you and whoever else has judged them as engaging in an "unapproved" choice who has made them feel "less".
Prostitutes (and here I mean only women or men over the age of consent who choose to offer sex for profit) who suffer from low self esteem about being prostitutes do so BECAUSE women such as yourself unwittingly have communicated to them that they are "less" by being prostitutes.
A large part of the solution you hope for lies with YOU changing your attitude about prostitution .
Along with surveying prostitutes, though, surveys are also needed of other low- pay , "demeaning" professions for comparison of attitudes -- lets's ask the kids with no other choices of legal employment except at MacDonalds and WalMart if THEY would choose another lifestyle if they had opportunity.
In case you're wondering...I'm contentedly married 30 years to the same wonderful woman, have six children with her, including three daughters, and have never hired nor had any desire to hire prostitutes.
And to pre-answer the question -- yes, I would fully endorse the deliberated decision of any of my wife or daughters to engage in legalized prostitution .
enjoy!
As its been pointed out, it IS LEGAL!!
Even our own government has run a brothel! (The IRS when they seized the Mustang Ranch for back taxes , they kept running it, until it was made a joke on the Tonight Show.)
The question should be, should prostitution be legal EVERYWHERE.
The answer should be, only if you want to clean up the street prostitution, get rid of diseases that are spread, & be able to regulate it, to guarantee the safety of both the prostitute & her clients.
But by asking whether it should be legal the question is still the same. Should it be legal? Like, legal in those places where it currently is not. I live in Spain, and in Spain, it is legal for example in Barcelona. Legally run brothels there. Those girls have more protection in Barcelona than in Madrid where it is not persecuted, but also not legal. It's all about protection of citizens regardless of their job or profession.
thanks for the view point from Spain, and it gives us something else to consider.
That even places where its not prosecuted, it would be better to have it legal , to better regulate & protect people.
Thanks---
You could not have centered that hammer any better. Nail on the head. Please take a bow.
when I turn off my neighborhood street onto the main thoroughfare, no matter the time of day, I see women of all ages from very young to very old, wearing anything from tube dresses to fanny packs and hauling trash bags or second hand purses they most likely nabbed from the overflow of a goodwill donation box. They are skinny and malnourished and they look exhausted. I think about what their lives must be like. What has pushed them to live on the outskirts of MY reality. I work and go to school and have a family while these women get into cars with strangers, to do god knows what, for god knows how much. Their lives, thier safety is completely in the hands of strangers, strangers willing to have sex with women who do not appear to be healthy or happy in anyway. What kind of person could find enjoyment in sex with someone so desperate, so degraded? I am all for consenting adults having sex with each other in whatever manner they wish, so long as all participating parties remain safe, but that’s just it; “consenting adults” is a relative term and what is safe really; when you are in a situation that can seem inescapable? I will tell you right now that I am stone cold against women thinking that prostitution , for whatever reason, is there only option and I am whole heartedly disgusted by men who exploit those women. Every time I pass a streetwalker, I cringe, thinking about the horrible situations they have to endure. Just look at the number of crime victims that have been prostitutes. Victimless crime my ass. They are easy targets; they appear as a disposable commodity on both sides of the law . If there is a way to ensure that prostitution be a safe industry, where the women are protected and their needs acknowledged, I’ll be the first to support it. But just look at porn these days; It’s filthy, vile, disgusting stuff. We have exceeded our desire for what is taboo or risqué and now we border on the insane. I have seen some sick and twisted stuff out there and I have seen the faces of young women who were not as willing as one in such a compromising situation should be. In my opinion, it just won’t work. We will sink deeper and deeper into sadism and eventually return to a primitive state of mind....unless we can raise our collective morality....and I don’t have any suggestions on how to accomplish that
While you have a right to be against women thinking that prostitution is their only option, you are dead wrong in thinking that in every case, it is their only option. Blaming the johns is no better. Reasons for paying by a john tend to vary greatly.
You have seen some sick and twisted stuff? Were you forced to? Under what circumstances?
Come on people, discussing a subject based on pure assumptions is not a discussion. Certainly deciding what other people may or may not do with their own bodies should never be done under assumptions. Hell, we all assume no one would like to walk into a crowded place with a bomb strapped to our asses and hit the button don't we? But hundreds and thousands of people are totally willing to do it, and do.
There is no way to ensure that prostitution is a safe industry any more than ensuring that a doctor will not catch aids, or ensuring that a truck driver will not crash. But guess why there are ways to lessen the risks for doctors and truck drivers? Because their activity is legal . Make their activity illegal and watch them become very dangerous professions indeed.
Were prostitution not driven underground, these women could practice their chosen profession under the color of the law , and they would receive much needed protection from the police as well as proper medical treatment and vd prevention assistance. Force them into the back alleys and what do you have? Abortion clinics of the 19th century. THAT's what makes it dangerous.
While I agree with you that if it were legal prostitution could be better "standardized", I fear it would bring with it other factors that are not being mentioned. You have to be licensed to provide a service, I'm sure taxes , classes, certifications, trainings, etc. would be required both for practitioners of pleasure and for the people hired to monitor their practices. These things require money ; money that an old crackhead on the corner ain't gonna have! You ask "You have seen some sick and twisted stuff? Were you forced to? Under what circumstances? " Seriously? The world is rife with sick and twisted stuff, just open a newspaper, turn on your TV, stumble the internet , it can't be avoided. Anyway, avoiding the information that's out there doesn't change the fact it exists. I don't want to watch a young girl get into a car with a stranger, but I honestly just have to drive down certain streets at night to witness it. The notion of the possibilities of what might happen to her are enough, I don't need to see it. "discussing a subject based on pure assumptions is not a discussion"....I'm not making assumptions, I am stating the obvious, relaying what I have heard or seen first hand. "deciding what other people may or may not do with their own bodies should never be done under assumptions." Again, people are allowed to do what they want with their bodies, but who is setting the precedent? Are you sure that everyone has the capacity to make educated and informed decisions, or does the world at large play a part in setting standards for its citizens, allowing and supporting behaviors that are offensive and degrading to some? I don't know the answer, and I doubt anyone does, but I know what I believe and I believe that while women have the right to chose how to use their bodies, we also, as a society have a responsibility to raise our children with the idea that our bodies are not for the selling, we should respect ourselves and recognize our worth. I have nothing against women who enjoy having sex getting paid for it, I wish my husband would buy me new shoes every time we did it, that would be the best of both worlds. But I do have a problem with women using their bodies as a last resort, and most of all the men who take advantage of that.I'll say it again, "If there is a way to ensure that prostitution be a safe industry, where the women are protected and their needs acknowledged, I’ll be the first to support it."
I agree that working girls expose themselves way more than they should. But the realities of this world are such that it doesn't really matter whether we can give our nod to a certain lifestyle or not. Bad things will happen to people who expose themselves. I think about all the criminal activity that goes unpunished and unreported precisely because these girls are forced to live on the fringe of society . Providing them a chance to within that world, legalize themselves and partake in the benefits of our society will give them a boost in many ways. Provide them with the same expectation you would have of the police if accosted on the street and you called 911. Or if God forbid, during a nighttime drive you were attacked or threatened. The fact that you do not live on the fringe allows you a certain security these poor women do not have. Legalization would give it to them. Nobody needs a class on how to perform the sexual act. All they need is a tax number and a license to identify themselves with. This is something anyone can afford. This would make these girls members of the society they live in and afford them protection you and I can demand from our police forces as tax paying legally abiding citizens. Something legalization would give them immediately. That's all I am saying. I don't agree with their choice, but if I were tasked with their protection the first thing I would do is bring them out of the darkness which society has forced them to live in.
Where would these sex workers work from? Their homes? What if they don't have homes? Can you get a license if you have a criminal record? Would there be physical exams, blood tests, etc? What is the cost of all this and what percentage is paid by taxpayers? When I think about making this an actuality I think of women who work the streets, not women who are listed in the phone book as escorts and work out of hotels. I imagine women who have NO other options, no skills, no experiences, no resources, who would be intimidated by the legal process that licensing would entail. When a program is created to do all of what you mention, I will be a believer. But there doesn't seem to be a clear cut answer. And until then I will focus on raising my daughter with a strong sense of self worth and teaching the young men in my life that respecting yourself includes respecting others. Maybe someday people will stand up against the objectification of women and the degradation of healthy sexual relationships.
...a sex change can turn casually a man into a woman and nobody will be able to spot the difference.
Imagine how many men would do tricks when they can turn a woman in a 4 day surgery and recovery looking like angelina afterwards and turn back with another 4 days of surgery and recovery.
Oh right, in ten years we'll be there, with full VR, And in 30 with full medical nanoids.
I have a better question: Why should prostitution be illegal?
The way the original question is stated mis-frames the entire debate and predisposes a clear bias. In matters of ETHICS, the status quo - the fact that it HAS BEEN made illegal - should have no influence on the debate at all. The weight of history should be left at the door when ethics are at issue. I won't even waste my time trying to argue or answer that original question.
Who am I to say that it should not be. As long as it stays in its place and children are not involved, makes no difference to me what someone does to their own body.
and prostitiution is a viable income source, well, society can start to change. forget waiting tables, just blow. who cares, mommy did it, so did the neigbors, and my kinder garden teacher quit her job.
imagine a world where 90% of our female students turn to prostituion to suppliment their income. What not legalize everything. Let the rich have no restraints.
"imagine a world where 90% of our female students turn to prostituion to suppliment their income."
Why would 90% of women turn to prostitution? Do you really think that such a massive number of women would want to be prostitutes if it was legal ? All those women who become doctors , lawyers, teachers, and such were just taking their second choice?
Certainly, not all exchanges of sex for some other value besides the act itself, be it money or other "compensation", are called " prostitution ", but they are nevertheless prostitution in nature.
I might also add , not all acts of presently illegal prostitution are without desireable emotional content between the parties involved. If one has sex with an individual labeled a "prostitute" for nothing more in return than sex and emotional fulfillment, has one committed an illegal act? If one not necessarily labeled a "prostitute" has sex with one or more other persons as compensation for something other than pure cash, has one committed a legal act?
Why single out those who receive pure cash from those who receive some other type of barter in exchange for sex? I have no doubt the percentages are very high for those men who have given something of value other than sex in exchange for sex and those women who have given sex in exchange for something else entirely. If I had to guess, it has been and already is at or above 90% on both counts.
Perhaps culture picks on those officially labeled "prostitute" for their lack of subtlety.
"Certainly, not all exchanges of sex for some other value besides the act itself, be it money or other "compensation", are called " prostitution ", but they are nevertheless prostitution in nature."
Not at all, prostitution is an act by an individual, not a property of that individual. If an individual who works as a prostitute has sex with someone else but does not do so in exchange for monetary compensation then they are not engaging in prostitution.
"Perhaps culture picks on those officially labeled "prostitute" for their lack of subtlety."
Not in a legal sense. Prostitution in a legal sense is defined rather strictly, and it is that definition that we are working from in this discussion.
Prostitution is allowed in Neveda in rural counties, counties of where the populaiton is less then a certain number, I belief either 200,000 or 100,000. These Brothels are not at all close to schools, churches and or parks, (thus not exposed to children or families spending an afternoon),The girls that work there are all adults, they have choosen to performed that kind of work, they have not been forced and/or coerced into being sex workers. By Law they received monthly medical check-ups, to detect S.T.D.'s. The girls live on the premises where there is more then enough supervision and security to assured a smooth business transaction between two consenting adults, the brothels in Neveda consitute a "Controled Environment". I have never heard of and or read any reports of Criminal Activity in and arround the Neveda Brothels, criminal activity and other problems usually associated with "sreet level prostitution" in the inner cities, criminal activity such as (1) the use and abuse of drugs (2) "Forced Prostitution" by pimps and other human trafficers, (3) S.T.D's. (4) Furthermore in large cities such as Los Angeles, Street Gangs sometimes charge the girls a weekly "tax" for working the streets, streets which those gangs claimed as their own.
most of the women go to pimps so they can have protuction from the police . they when they want out they can't get out.so if we made prostitution legal they no need for pimps
I find it interesting that you say they are all adults and yet you refer to them as girls. I thought the same thing when traveling through Las Vegas and noticed all the ads are for "Girls direct to your room."
What does it say about the objectification of women and the victimization of women that we call even adult prostitutes girls?
I'm sure men are not objectified by the use of the word "boy."