In many cities throughout our country, the police direct their energy, time and resources on arresting men and women involved in prostitution. A careful analysis of the affects of this practice, show a large reduction in the quality of life in society.
First and foremost, prohibition of prostitution is a violation of human rights. The issue of prohibition involves a person’s fundamental right to control their own bodies and decide the best way to live their lives. So long as no one is being abused, either mentally or physically, then it makes no sense for the federal government, in a free society, to prohibit people from charging a fee for services that they are at liberty to give away.
Enforcing the prohibition of prostitution is a misallocation of police time and, energy and resources. Using law enforcement resources against prostitution substantially reduces the resources available to combat serious crimes against person and property. The average arrest, court fees and incarceration of prostitutes costs $2000.00 per arrest. Cities spend on average, 7.5 million dollars on prostitution control every year; ranging from 1 million in Memphis to 23 million in New York (Pearl). This money could be easily diverted to fight more serious crimes such as theft, rape and murder.
Prohibition of prostitution leads to social decay. By forcing prostitution out of its natural place, in brothels, the police drive that activity into the streets and neighborhoods where it would not normally exist. This exposes residents of those communities to that activity against their will. On average the smaller the city, the more prostitution you will find on the streets due to limited indoor places.
Another issue is the problem of drug abuse among prostitutes. Depending on the population being studied, substance addiction is very common among street prostitutes, 50% (Alexander). However, substance abuse is rare among women in brothels (James). One study shows that among prostitutes addicted to drugs, most of them turned to prostitution to finance their already established substance addiction (James).
The U.S. Department of Health reports that about 5% of the sexually transmitted diseases in the country are related to prostitution (Lambert). In addition, of the number of prostitutes infected with HIV, Health Department officials report relatively few cases of prostitutes transmitting the disease to clients.
In addition to substance abuse and sexually transmitted diseases, is the very real possibility of physical abuse. The overall risk of abuse for streetwalkers is 80%; of those 60% of the abuse cases result from clients, 20% from police officials and 20% from domestic relationships (St. James). Prostitutes from brothels encounter a lower risk of abuse from clients. Prostitutes from brothels who do encounter abuse, usually suffer from it in the form of domestic violence. Forced to ply their trade on the streets, prostitutes face a variety of dangers including death.
The question now is what to do about the problem of prostitution. Cities and governments are left with two choices in regards to prostitution. The first is wasting resources and employing methods that have thus far have failed in deterring prostitution. The second is to take a more common sense approach and establish a mutually beneficial solution. This solution is to legalize and regulate prostitution. Legalizing prostitution would not only lower crime rates, but would clean up society as well.
The most cost effective, and most profitable solution is to legalize prostitution and restrict its activities to designated brothels. Legalization, by itself, frees up city and police resources to be used in other vital areas. Furthermore, by ending the prohibition of prostitution, cites and government can impose a tax on prostitution and increase city and state revenues. However, by allowing prostitution to exist on city streets, there is no way to regulate its activities and ensure that those activities are reported to the government. There is also no way to ensure that streetwalkers receive proper health care and protection from predators.
Restricting prostitution to brothels where it can be monitored and cleaned up to acceptable health standards can solve the problem of regulation. Establishing a union for sex workers can further regulate prostitution. These unions can establish fair prices for services rendered and can impose strict health and safety standards for its members.
Health standards can be greatly raised by staffing brothels with health care providers. These professionals can perform medical and disease testing to ensure that all parties involved are taking the necessary precautions. Prophylactics would have to be mandatory in any worker to client contact. In addition to health care professionals, drug abuse counselors should be employed to assist those with the problem of addiction.
With prostitution restricted to brothels, the dangers associated with streetwalkers would be significantly reduced. By employing security professionals in brothels, cases of abuse and murder by clients would almost entirely disappear.
In conclusion, it is clear to see that the present system of prohibition has not only failed in that it has not stopped or even curbed the activity of prostitutes; but has demonstrated that continued prohibition is a serious waste of police resources. Clearly a new system is needed that would eliminate the negative side effects associated with prostitution. Such a system would restrict prostitution to specially designated areas and allow for the regulation and taxation of prostitution.
Bibliography
Alexander, Priscilla and Frederique Delacosta
1981 Sex Work: Writings by women in the sex industry, San Francisco, Cleis Press.
James, Jennifer
1977 Prostitutes and Prostitution, Deviants in a Hostile World, General Learning Press.
Lambert, Bruce
1988 Studies Find Aids in Prostitutes not as Prevalent as Believed, Sept. 20 1988 edition of the New York Times.
Pearl, Julie
1987 The Highest Paying Customers: Americas Cities and the Cost of Prostitution Control, Hastings Law Journal, Apr. 1987, pgs 769-800.
St. James, Margo
1980 What’s a girl like you…?, Falling Wall Press.
