Should Prostitution Be Legalized in The United States?

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Prostitution, the act of selling sexual services for money, has been around for thousands of years. Prostitution is found on in Sumerian records dating back to 2400 BC, earning it the nick name of “oldest profession in the world”. Prostitutes’ rights are also mentioned in Hammurabi’s Code in 1780 BC. ("Historical Timeline") More recently, prostitutes were an integral part of the United State’s westward expansion; New Orleans even had a red light district called “Storyville” up until 1917. Prostitution is now illegal in the United States with the exception of eleven counties in the state of Nevada, and is often associated with a myriad of problems. Problems such as increased crime and presence of drugs in areas known for prostitution are the most apparent to society. Prostitutes often find themselves stigmatized and in physical danger. Even with these problems, prostitution does not seem to be going anywhere anytime soon; what is a country to do? One could argue that the best way to deal with this would be to legalize prostitution for the benefit of the sex workers, in a physical and social sense, and society at large.
In the current system, prostitutes are subject to such physical dangers as violence from clients and pimps, as well as a much higher risk of HIV/AIDs infection and other sexually transmitted diseases. Under the current system, prostitutes must work in the shadows; many work for pimps or in illegal brothels, meaning they must give up a large portion of their earnings as well as the freedom to refuse clients. They are living in constant fear of assault and arrest. (Klinger) The fear of arrest keeps these women from asking for help from authorities which makes them prime targets for physical violence, rape, and murder...

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...rrence of “regulars” and spend more time with their clients. Some of these clients have said “time with a call girl is superior to the dating scene”. This is helpful when it comes to my “no ability/want for a mate” argument.
Monto, Martin A. "Why Men Seek out Prostitutes." Sex for Sale: Prostitution, Pornography, and the Sex Industry. Ed. Ronald John Weitzer. New York: Routledge, 2000. 67-84. Print.
This essay talks about early flawed studies, and explains that still we do not have a very good representative sample to study for clients of prostitutes. There are multiple tables that give demographic information and statistics on the sexual behaviors of customers, such as, sexual orientation, frequency of pornographic exposure, and common activities with prostitutes. This essay finds through their research that clients do not accept rape myths more than other men.

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