My Case for the Legalization of Prostitution

Throughout my entire childhood I have always been pro choice, and I have always preached the motto “ your body your choice”. But living in New York State I learned this is not always the case. Prostitution is defined as the “Practice or occupation of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment”(Merriam-Webster). This is currently illegal in New York State and if found guilty of this you can be punished from 3 months in prison and $500 in fines to 8 Years of prison and $5,000. This to me is completely absurd and over the top. As adults in todays society we should be able to consent to make own choices and do what they desire, as long as it is not hurting anyone.

When you bring up the topic of legalization of prostitution you are going to spark a contention no matter who you are with. The main topics being related to the areas that most people are concerned, but are not well educated about how something can easily be prevented in many ways. Usually the first concern will be most likely to be around the ongoing issue human trafficking and violence to women, that with legal brothels traffickers can get away with much more than they already are, and women will be more likely to be treated in a sense that they are just goods on the market to be sold over and over again. Then when that is discussed it will lead into how it is believed by many New York state residents that HIV/AIDS will become another uproar in Manhattan and the surrounding burrows. And the grand finale of the debate is always about how the money and taxes that we would impose, will apparently never be seen by the New York State government and will be regenerating back into the illegal markets in which we are trying to take it from, and help benefit the state ...

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... because of the incubation period even if she is a positive candidate for HIV. According to Jeffrey Barrows a Health Consultant this can be very bad for possible clients of the workers. “The average prostitute services between 10-15 clients per day. This means that while the test is becoming positive and the results are becoming known, that prostitute may expose up to 630 clients to HIV”(Barrows). But at the same time, the prostitutes can be up for exposure as well. If a client comes into the brothel looking for paid sex, and he is swabbed using the oral HIV kit and he is positive but in the incubation period, he is at risk of spreading the virus to the sex worker even though his test came up negative. So because of the lack of technology to identify HIV quicker this will always be a big argument of the New York State Department of Public Health and state officials.