Nowadays, people are experiencing difficulties in life due to economic instability that caused by unemployment. This case motivates other individuals to go on prostitution in order to meet up their daily needs and have a “job”. But is this the right answer for starvation and unemployment? Do these reasons behind prostitution are enough to legalized it? Certainly not! It is an immoral act; an act that demoralized one’s dignity. Prostitution is the performance of sexual acts with another person in return for the payment a fee. Prostitutes may be female or male. Acts of prostitution generally are performed by women for men, but are sometimes done by men for men. Persons who make a living or supplement their income from prostitution usually are willing to engage in sexual activity with most persons who can pay them, although prostitutes sometimes have been known to impose hygiene, age, health, or racial and ethnic criteria on their acceptance of customer (Davis, 1993).
Arguments for the removal of criminal penalties from prostitution include: (1) Decriminalization would end the meaningless and degrading system under which prostitutes repeatedly arrested, fined, and released to go back to work. (2) Decriminalization would free the police and the courts from involvement in a “victimless crime” and allow greater enforcement efforts against serious threats to public safety. And (3) there would be a considerable reduction in police corruption, because prostitution often involves payoffs to law enforcement personnel (“MPs: Now Is the Time to Legalize Prostitution”).
In addition, issues of constitutional importance have been raised regarding statutes outlawing prostitution. For example, proponents of decriminalization claim that enforcement of laws banning prostitution involves intrusion into areas of private behavior. They also insist that such laws violate standards of equal protection, since they almost always are aimed at the prostitutes rather than at both participants in the sexual exchange (Nelson, 2004).
Opponents of decriminalization feel that the immorality of prostitution justifies its designation as a criminal offense. They believe that decriminalization would encourage more persons to enter prostitution and would eliminate any possible incentive to end a career as a prostitute. It is also argued that prostitution goes hand-in-hand with other crimes, such as assaults and theft, and that by arresting and harassing prostitutes the police can reduce the occurrence of more serious crimes (“NEW PROSTITUTION LAW DOOMED TO FAIL; Kerb-Crawling Blitz Won’t Work, Say MSPs”).
Hazards. Prostitution should not be legalized because there are many hazards involve in doing this “profession.” The hazards encountered by prostitutes include the possibilities of arrest and venereal disease. Many prostitutes ate mistreated by customers and exploited by pimps. In addition, the illegality of prostitution forces prostitutes and their customers into the underworld of crime. Prostitutes are also stigmatized as “social outcasts,” making it even more difficult for them to return to a more normal life.
Reference:
- Davis, Nanette J. (1993). Prostitution: An International Handbook on Trends, Problems, and Policies Greenwood Press.
- Nelson, William F. (2004). Prostitution: A Community Solution Alternative. Corrections Today, Vol. 66.
- “MPs: Now Is the Time to Legalize Prostitution.” The Evening Standard (London, England), December 13, 2006.
- “NEW PROSTITUTION LAW DOOMED TO FAIL; Kerb-Crawling Blitz Won’t Work, Say MSPs.” Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland), January 9, 2007