Pros:
1) If legalized, sex workers would then be able to enjoy full protection of the law. This is huge, and something that is often overlooked. If a patron is abusive, threatening, or generally just wrongs them in a way that is unlawful, current day sex workers have nearly no options. If they go to the police, they must first admit they committed a crime before accusing the person who wronged them. It is incredibly unlikely that their accusation will lead to anything, but the fact that they admitted to a crime will almost certainly lead to consequences for them. This is an insane and unfair imbalance in power.
2) Personal bodily autonomy means that we’re allowed to do with our bodies what we like, and with whom. If I want to have sex with someone and charge them money, interfering with that is stripping me of my right to do what I want with the one thing that is more mine than any other thing.
Cons:
1) Legalized prostitution seems to lead to an increase in sex trafficking anywhere that it’s implemented. I’m not going to speculate no the whys or the hows, but this is obviously incredibly bad.
2) Sexual consent in situations where someone is financially forced into sex work is nebulous at best. The patron of a sex worker doesn’t need to be coercing the worker for the worker too be coerced. If the sex worker lacks the money for food or shelter and sex work is their only option to survive, meaningful consent seems impossible to establish. Their patron might not be holding a gun to their head, but their well being still hinges on having sex with people who they likely would not otherwise be willing to.
[democracy id=”160″]
