Thursday, June 09, 2005
In Defense of Prostitution
The world's oldest profession is prostitution. It is illegal in the USA. Yet it happens thousands of times a day all over the country. Why is this a problem? Two consenting adults entering into a verbal contract for sexual favors in exchange for money are not violating anyone else's rights in any possible way.
So you think it is a moral issue? I agree. And there is no reason why it should be illegal. Morals should not be legislated. A woman can sell her body as a model. She can put on various clothes and have pictures taken and walk down a runway and show off her body in those clothes and be paid for it. She can sell her time as an escort and provide companionship for a man for money. She can even have sex with this man and it is still legal. But once she accepts money in return for any sexual activities, then it becomes against the law. This makes absolutely no sense to me.
Who is being harmed in this transaction? The man wants sex. The woman wants to give him sex in exchange for payment. The two agree and involve no one else in their tryst. Who is getting hurt? Whose rights are being violated? Who is being deprived of life or liberty or property? No one. Why then is this illegal? It isn't illegal if there is no money involved. Why does that simple fact change the equation?
A man and a woman can even have sex on camera and each of them is paid for their time and actions. This time the payment comes from a third party who is doing the filming in return for selling the film to others who want to watch such activities. Alll of the parties are agreeable to what is happening and this is legal. Maybe not in all of the states but it is legal in many. How does this differ from sex between two consenting adults? Should all prostitutes install a camera in their boudoirs and film each sexual episode? Would that make it legal? Har dee har.
A prohibition on prostitution is stupid. Our military knows this and has responded accordingly. When I was in the Navy and took a WestPac trip to Japan and the Phillippines we were all educated before we pulled into port about STDs and the local prostitution houses. In the Phillippines, all prostitutes were required to undergo physical checkups every 2 weeks to ensure they were free from disease. Each one carried a card, which a sailor was instructed to ask the woman to show him, that proved she was current in her checkups. No card, no sex. Repeat violators, no cards, from the same house caused that place to be declared off-limits. Any sailor frequenting a joint that was off-limits would be going before the Captain and would spend some time in the brig or at least be fined and have his shore leave taken away.
This sytem worked wonderfully. No one on my ship of 700-800 people caught an STD and everyone had a good time. And the local economy was much better off because of it. Not to mention safer. The Navy knew that boys will be boys and girls will be girls. So why try to stop something that WILL happen anyway? Why not simply regulate it and ensure some safety measures instead? What a novel idea! An idea that can work in the US.
There are some counties in the state of Nevada where prostitution is still legal. They do follow pretty much the same rules as the military set up overseas to ensure customer and call-girl safety. These places are well run and profitable. And no one is harmed in the operation.
You may believe it is against God's laws to have sex with a prostitute. That's fine. God's laws are not the United States Government's laws. There is a big difference. Government's job is not to be a moral watchdog over its' citizens. Everyone must decide for himself what morals he will follow. Let us make those decisions. Keep government out of the bedrooms and let prostitutes be prostitutes.
OH
So you think it is a moral issue? I agree. And there is no reason why it should be illegal. Morals should not be legislated. A woman can sell her body as a model. She can put on various clothes and have pictures taken and walk down a runway and show off her body in those clothes and be paid for it. She can sell her time as an escort and provide companionship for a man for money. She can even have sex with this man and it is still legal. But once she accepts money in return for any sexual activities, then it becomes against the law. This makes absolutely no sense to me.
Who is being harmed in this transaction? The man wants sex. The woman wants to give him sex in exchange for payment. The two agree and involve no one else in their tryst. Who is getting hurt? Whose rights are being violated? Who is being deprived of life or liberty or property? No one. Why then is this illegal? It isn't illegal if there is no money involved. Why does that simple fact change the equation?
A man and a woman can even have sex on camera and each of them is paid for their time and actions. This time the payment comes from a third party who is doing the filming in return for selling the film to others who want to watch such activities. Alll of the parties are agreeable to what is happening and this is legal. Maybe not in all of the states but it is legal in many. How does this differ from sex between two consenting adults? Should all prostitutes install a camera in their boudoirs and film each sexual episode? Would that make it legal? Har dee har.
A prohibition on prostitution is stupid. Our military knows this and has responded accordingly. When I was in the Navy and took a WestPac trip to Japan and the Phillippines we were all educated before we pulled into port about STDs and the local prostitution houses. In the Phillippines, all prostitutes were required to undergo physical checkups every 2 weeks to ensure they were free from disease. Each one carried a card, which a sailor was instructed to ask the woman to show him, that proved she was current in her checkups. No card, no sex. Repeat violators, no cards, from the same house caused that place to be declared off-limits. Any sailor frequenting a joint that was off-limits would be going before the Captain and would spend some time in the brig or at least be fined and have his shore leave taken away.
This sytem worked wonderfully. No one on my ship of 700-800 people caught an STD and everyone had a good time. And the local economy was much better off because of it. Not to mention safer. The Navy knew that boys will be boys and girls will be girls. So why try to stop something that WILL happen anyway? Why not simply regulate it and ensure some safety measures instead? What a novel idea! An idea that can work in the US.
There are some counties in the state of Nevada where prostitution is still legal. They do follow pretty much the same rules as the military set up overseas to ensure customer and call-girl safety. These places are well run and profitable. And no one is harmed in the operation.
You may believe it is against God's laws to have sex with a prostitute. That's fine. God's laws are not the United States Government's laws. There is a big difference. Government's job is not to be a moral watchdog over its' citizens. Everyone must decide for himself what morals he will follow. Let us make those decisions. Keep government out of the bedrooms and let prostitutes be prostitutes.
OH
# posted by OH @ 9:11 AM 
