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Should prostitution be legalized?

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    #61
    Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

    Originally posted by Maria de Luna View Post
    I think some of the sex attitudes, at least in the US are even less conducive to making legal prostitution a reality. When a 16 year old girl does not know how she got pregnant because she did not know that certain positions did not in fact prevent pregnancy, and that birth control is for godless sluts, and what 16 year old girl wants to be one of those? Before this could be considered for the whole country quite a few attitudes regarding sexual education and sex in general would have to change. Not nessecarily in an annonymous sex is totally OK sort of way, because I do believe in the screening of clients, (the prostitute should be allowed to say NO, and still defend herself from unwanted sex.) The issues of human trafficking extend beyond prostitution, but as long as there is no legal way for a woman to go to the police and say "I am a forced prostitute, help me without throwing me in jail."
    Decriminalized prostitution doesn't have to mean totally legal though. It means that it's not illegal for women to be prostitutes, but it's illegal to operate brothels or be a pimp.

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      #62
      Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

      Just to clear this up, I wasn't intending to say it was okay to sleep with complete strangers. Then again, that's still a personal choice. Is there some reason that clients can't be required to have regular testing for STDs as well? I know that's not how it's done now, but hypothetically? And mostly, what I'm trying to say is that there is a stigma against prostitutes and I don't think that's right. Either they're forced to it by circumstance or they do it by choice and either way I don't think it's right to look down on them for that. It's a personal decision as much as anyone's faith is. And when it comes to STD's, as long as they're being as responsible as possible, screening clients, etc. that shouldn't affect the decision either. But a lot of people do look down on them. And legalizing prostitution won't work until that goes away.

      And since I highly doubt society will let it go away any time soon, the direct answer to you question is at this time, no, prostitution should not be legalized. Not until attitudes about unpaid sex in general do change, if ever. Maybe there will come a day when STD's have a cure, a preventative vaccine or something, and people are all accepting, and a prostitute wouldn't have that life-long stigma attached to her by everyone who knows. Then, we can ask this question again and maybe my answer would change, but, for now, no.
      We are what we are. Nothing more, nothing less. There is good and evil among every kind of people. It's the evil among us who rule now. -Anne Bishop, Daughter of the Blood

      I wondered if he could ever understand that it was a blessing, not a sin, to be graced with more than one love.
      It could be complicated; of course it could be complicated. And it opened one up to the possibility of more pain and loss.
      Still, it was a blessing I would never relinquish. Love, genuine love, was always a cause for joy.
      -Jacqueline Carey, Naamah's Curse

      Service to your fellows is the root of peace.

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        #63
        Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

        Ah ok, gotcha.

        I we need to be more open about sex, and make more responsible choices about sex. We need to get to the point where we realize that it's best to know who we're sleeping with and be honest about our needs with our partners and also to be honest about when it's not working. That's not to say everyone needs to be monogamous...some people just aren't, and that's ok. I just think it's important that everyone is on board with what's going on. If you want to sleep with more than one person, be with someone who also wants that, or is ok with you doing it, and make sure the other people you're sleeping with are people you know something about. Also everyone needs to get tested on a regular basis if they're not sleeping with one person, and sex education still needs to improve in a lot of places. Moreover, we need to have more support for mental illness, more support for people from disadvantaged backgrounds, more support for job training when people need to gain new skills, and better access to education. We need more resources for and awareness about rape and other sexual abuse, and more awareness for physical and emotional abuse. Lastly, we need to stop seeing having a personal life as a misdemeanor in the workplace, so that those who are poorest don't have to spend all their waking hours working to support their families and can actually spend time with said families. Most places in the developed world still need a lot of work in most if not all of these areas. When we can get THERE, I might agree that prostitution can be completely legalized, but I also think that if we can get there, people might not be quite so inclined to go to them, and disadvantaged women might not feel like it's their only option.

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          #64
          Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

          Originally posted by Shahaku View Post
          Maybe there will come a day when STD's have a cure, a preventative vaccine or something
          The bacterial diseases, like gonorrhea and syphilis, can be cured. There's a vaccine for HPV & hepatitis A & B (I got the hepatitis A/B vaccines because I wanted safer tattoos, lol). A lot of the ability to successfully treat STDs/STIs lays in early detection and access to treatments, much like any modern illness.

          Of course, along with removing stigmas for sex work in general, there needs to be widespread removal of stigma for seeking treatment for STDs/STIs. And education, education, education. And making vaccines & treatments widely available in third-world countries.
          The forum member formerly known as perzephone. Or Perze. I've shed a skin.

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            #65
            Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

            Originally posted by perzephone View Post
            The bacterial diseases, like gonorrhea and syphilis, can be cured. There's a vaccine for HPV & hepatitis A & B (I got the hepatitis A/B vaccines because I wanted safer tattoos, lol). A lot of the ability to successfully treat STDs/STIs lays in early detection and access to treatments, much like any modern illness.

            Of course, along with removing stigmas for sex work in general, there needs to be widespread removal of stigma for seeking treatment for STDs/STIs. And education, education, education. And making vaccines & treatments widely available in third-world countries.
            Yes, yes, and more yes.

            I also have the Hep B vaccine. We got it in school in grade 6. Yay Canadian health care!

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              #66
              Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

              Originally posted by perzephone View Post
              The bacterial diseases, like gonorrhea and syphilis, can be cured. There's a vaccine for HPV & hepatitis A & B (I got the hepatitis A/B vaccines because I wanted safer tattoos, lol). A lot of the ability to successfully treat STDs/STIs lays in early detection and access to treatments, much like any modern illness.
              Not so fast. That statement is changing thanks to more drug-resistant strains.
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              "...leave me curled up in my ball,
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                #67
                Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

                I'm pretty sure I've been immunized against everything that Americans still get immunized for. Like, I've never had a smallpox shot cause that's just not done anymore, but I've had both Hep shots (those were done before I even reached middle school), and the HPV which I got when it first came out. My mom was big on getting vaccines.
                We are what we are. Nothing more, nothing less. There is good and evil among every kind of people. It's the evil among us who rule now. -Anne Bishop, Daughter of the Blood

                I wondered if he could ever understand that it was a blessing, not a sin, to be graced with more than one love.
                It could be complicated; of course it could be complicated. And it opened one up to the possibility of more pain and loss.
                Still, it was a blessing I would never relinquish. Love, genuine love, was always a cause for joy.
                -Jacqueline Carey, Naamah's Curse

                Service to your fellows is the root of peace.

                Comment


                  #68
                  Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

                  Originally posted by Shahaku View Post
                  I'm pretty sure I've been immunized against everything that Americans still get immunized for. Like, I've never had a smallpox shot cause that's just not done anymore, but I've had both Hep shots (those were done before I even reached middle school), and the HPV which I got when it first came out. My mom was big on getting vaccines.
                  Yeah same, minus the HPV one because I was already living here and I can't afford it. I think most people in Canada get them. I also didn't get small pox. I don't think anyone in Europe gets that one anymore either because there's also no smallpox here.

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                    #69
                    Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

                    Originally posted by Caelia View Post
                    Not so fast. That statement is changing thanks to more drug-resistant strains.
                    Yeah, but it's not localized to just STDs - everything's getting more antibiotic resistant. Gonorrhea's just another entry on that list.

                    People still run on a relatively outdated notion that once you get any STD/STI, your life is over because they think none of them can be cured. It doesn't help sex workers or buyers to still have the fear that if they get trich or chlamydia or gonorrhea that they are going to be stuck that way for the rest of their lives. And in some parts of the world, people still try and self-medicate STDs with dangerous substances, or suffer with the illnesses, because they are ashamed to walk into a clinic or there are no clinics available in their part of the world.

                    There are some surprising places (like eastern Asia - including Japan) that have extremely high numbers of HIV/AIDS cases simply because it is that socially unacceptable to tell anyone, including a doctor, that you believe you may have picked up an STD.
                    The forum member formerly known as perzephone. Or Perze. I've shed a skin.

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                      #70
                      Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

                      Originally posted by perzephone View Post
                      Yeah, but it's not localized to just STDs - everything's getting more antibiotic resistant. Gonorrhea's just another entry on that list.

                      People still run on a relatively outdated notion that once you get any STD/STI, your life is over because they think none of them can be cured. It doesn't help sex workers or buyers to still have the fear that if they get trich or chlamydia or gonorrhea that they are going to be stuck that way for the rest of their lives. And in some parts of the world, people still try and self-medicate STDs with dangerous substances, or suffer with the illnesses, because they are ashamed to walk into a clinic or there are no clinics available in their part of the world.

                      There are some surprising places (like eastern Asia - including Japan) that have extremely high numbers of HIV/AIDS cases simply because it is that socially unacceptable to tell anyone, including a doctor, that you believe you may have picked up an STD.
                      I didn't deny the stigma of uncleanliness is a major hindrance, just the misconception that STI's are something that's still easily curable.
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                      My blog


                      "...leave me curled up in my ball,
                      surrounded by plush, downy things,
                      ill prepared, but willing,
                      to descend."

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                        #71
                        Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

                        They even recommend HPV for boys...both our kids will get it when they are older.
                        Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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                          #72
                          Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

                          Originally posted by Caelia View Post
                          I didn't deny the stigma of uncleanliness is a major hindrance, just the misconception that STI's are something that's still easily curable.
                          But it's not a misconception. Out of the forty or so STDs/STIs, there are currently only 4 STDs that are outright incurable (HIV/AIDS, genital herpes, hepatiis B & HPV) - and two of the four are preventable.
                          The forum member formerly known as perzephone. Or Perze. I've shed a skin.

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                            #73
                            Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

                            Originally posted by perzephone View Post
                            But it's not a misconception. Out of the forty or so STDs/STIs, there are currently only 4 STDs that are outright incurable (HIV/AIDS, genital herpes, hepatiis B & HPV) - and two of the four are preventable.
                            When it's immune to known treatments what do you call it?
                            my etsy store
                            My blog


                            "...leave me curled up in my ball,
                            surrounded by plush, downy things,
                            ill prepared, but willing,
                            to descend."

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                              #74
                              Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

                              Originally posted by Caelia View Post
                              When it's immune to known treatments what do you call it?
                              Antibiotic resistance and immunity are not the same thing...for example with gonorrhea, not all gonorrhea is drug resistant, and even the gonorrhea drug-resistant strain is only resistant, not immune, and there are other treatment moralities. Antibiotic resistance overall (look at TB) would be less of an issue if a) antibiotics were prescribed more sparingly and b) if people took them properly when they were prescribed them.
                              Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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                                #75
                                Re: Should prostitution be legalized?

                                Originally posted by thalassa View Post
                                Antibiotic resistance and immunity are not the same thing...for example with gonorrhea, not all gonorrhea is drug resistant, and even the gonorrhea drug-resistant strain is only resistant, not immune, and there are other treatment moralities. Antibiotic resistance overall (look at TB) would be less of an issue if a) antibiotics were prescribed more sparingly and b) if people took them properly when they were prescribed them.
                                The strain I addressed is growing immune to almost everything pretty quickly, as with other STD's / STI's, not to mention other diseases. In the case of this gonorrhea strain they really don't have much to counter it, and the last-ditch efforts aren't looking good. It's just the most recent example.

                                Now, I guess it should be noted I'm not saying prostitutes are dirty since there are now an ungodly amount of thread posts insinuating otherwise. I just addressed that we can't wave those away anymore. Use protection and don't be stupid about sex, ladies and gents.
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                                "...leave me curled up in my ball,
                                surrounded by plush, downy things,
                                ill prepared, but willing,
                                to descend."

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