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(JD) · Jul 07, 2010, 02:35 PM

The one-on-one sexual encounter is not the full issue. The street prostitution, as it would be made "legal" is.

From a 2001 article:

Quote:

The problems associated with street prostitution affect not only the prostitute, but also the community in which he or she works and the family members of the people using his or her services. Prostitutes often suffer physical and sexual abuse, drug addiction and low self esteem. Residential and commercial areas often experience traffic congestion, noise, litter, harassment of residents, declining property values and business loss. Families of those who procure the services of prostitutes can suffer financial hardship, distrust, emotional suffering and family breakdown.

JOHN HOWARD SOCIETY OF ALBERTA

Quote:

One of the most serious problems associated with prostitution is the fact that the sex trade is surrounded by illegal, abusive and dangerous activities.[citation needed] One view insists that such situations occur because prostitution is kept illegal and the industry operates on the black market.[citation needed] Another, however, believes that legalizing and regulating prostitution does not improve the situation, but instead makes it worse

Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution

From: http://child-abuse.com/childhouse/ch...ion/part1.html

Quote:

n the USA, the source of a good deal of the literature is part of the university sector that specialises in 'objective' non-judgmental studies of AIDS awareness and/or delinquent psychology (Nightingale n.d.; Baizerman et al 1979; Davidson & Loken 1987; Widom and Ames, 1994). In the USA much emphasis is placed on the 'runaway' phenomenon, first noted in the 1960s and now closely tied to the prostitution discourse (Lloyd, 1977; Sereny, 1984; Schaffer & Deblassie, 1984). The current prostitution problem continues to be seen as having its roots in the alternative culture movements of the late 1960s, with a special emphasis on the hippie communities in San Francisco (Weisberg 1985). It is claimed that many children ran way to join these communes but, on leaving them, found themselves unable to make any money other than through prostitution (Schaffer & Deblassie, 1984).

Quote:

To combat the problems associated with prostitution: trafficking, violence, and the objectification of women, two approaches are generally promoted. While advocates of prostitution as a form of employment suggest that legalization will ameliorate these problems, policy makers tend to recommend penalties as a means to deter prostitution.
The immediate problem with legalization is that it provides state sanction to the assertion that women are sex objects, while concurrently failing to eradicate illegal prostitution. Women working in legal brothels in the U.S., Europe and Asia are forced to turn over forty to fifty percent of their profits and may be required to remain in the brothel for up to ninety percent of their time, in a given seven-day work week.
In addition, women may have to justify the refusal of a customer, and in some cases may not be able to refuse at all.18 Concurrently, women are often documented as prostitutes, an act that can result in future job loss and "blacklisting", forced medical tests from hostile clinical staff, and harassment by police officers.19
The costs of legalized prostitution such as rent to the brothel owner, medical examinations, and any registration fees are paid by the women involved in prostitution, thereby increasing the number of sexual encounters they must have in order to make a profit. Due in part to these costs, illegal prostitution has flourished in legalized areas as clients seek cheaper sex, and women determined to increase their income, or avoid psychological/drug tests, circumvent the legal system. In Germany, for example, there are three times as many non-registered women involved in prostitution as registered women. In Greece the ratio is more than 10 to 1.20
Prostitution that did not place women in danger would require private medical coverage, unions to demand fair profit sharing, and some form of prostitute controlled security system to ensure complete discretion over customer selection. The cost of all three would have to be passed on to the taxpayer to remove the incentives for illegal prostitution. Even then, the demand for illegal prostitutes in the form of minors or kidnapped foreigners would continue to be strong, as male 'buyers' often have a desire for the 'exotic'.
In short, the best imagined version of legalized prostitution has all of the current problems of international trafficking in addition to increased taxes, which most citizens would refuse to pay. Perhaps most damaging is the fact that doing so would provide state legal sanction and financial support to the objectification of women.

http://www.menstuff.org/issues/byiss...stitution.html

Here's an interesting article: http://www.associatedcontent.com/art...ion.html?cat=9