When the comments are better than the original post...

...put them up front. Such was the case with the post about prostitution last week. Feel free to jump into the discussion.

I note that the discussion split on gender lines. The only folks writing in favor of legalizing prostitution were men, those opposed were women. That may reflect the views of my blog readers only, or it may be part of a larger, broader gender gap.

Let me pull up a few particularly powerful bits that focused on legalizing prostitution.

Ginmar writes:

I have to ask the people in favor of legalizing it: ARE YOU NUTS? Hey, way to go on legitmizing the double standard of sex, that men NEED sex, and that a class of women should be provided to do so. I'm sure girls will be lining up in droves to do so---and I'm sure all the nice rich white families won't be checking out the options for that particular future for their daughter. Furthermore, if you legalize the idea that you can buy sex, what about just taking it?
I wish some of the legalizers would come to my neighborhood and see what it's like to have any female get harassed by men who think that any female is a potential prostitute, a sexual servant.

There's a class bias here that just doesn't get talked about. Legalizing prostitution is basically saying, "This is the most sexist thing of all, and we're giving up."

She continues:

If prostitutes didn't come from horrendously abusive backgrounds, you might have an argument for legalization. As it is, you don't. All this is is the opportunity to talk about sexual liberation, when you're just liberating men to take advantage of women yet again.

DJW writes in response:

My support for legalization has nothing to do with the absurd claim that prostitution is a victimless crime, or some sort of libertarian freedom of contract, or anything like that. It's based on the following assumption: Prostitution is part of our (patriarchal) society. Sadly, it doesn't look likely that it's going away any time soon. Given that, how best can we contain and reduce the harm of the practice, and how best can we decrease participation in the practice? I think there are good reasons to believe that legalization, if done right, could lead to a better approach to the first goal above, without much lost in the second goal. I think this is within the power of rational, compassionate and wise policy-makers.

Lynn writes:

So, since my main goal is not to have exploited prostitutes vulnerable to abuse by pimps and unable to get help from the police, the most modest change that would achieve my goal seems to be decriminalizing the prostitutes, but not the johns or pimps. It seems unlikely to me that making that change would lead to an increase in the kinds of problems reported by ginmar and LaLubu, and likely that it would mitigate the harm to prostitutes; for me, that seems like a win-win arrangement.

LaLubu:

Human beings should not be bought and sold. Don't tell me it's not slavery because it happens "by the hour". There is a fundamental difference between a prostitute selling her body (and face it, the pimp or dope dealer is the one walking off with the money, so let's call slavery what it is), and me selling my labor as an electrician, or Hugo selling his labor as a teacher. If you can't see this difference, I have to ask: where is your compassion?!

This is all terrific stuff. A couple of links that may be helpful that were suggested by folks in the comments section:

The Polaris Project : a multicultural grassroots non-profit agency combating sex trafficking and modern-day slavery. We work everyday with women in the sex industry who have endured violence from their traffickers, including psychological abuse, beatings, death threats, and rape.

And locally in Los Angeles, The Mary Magdalene Project: gives women who have been victimized by street prostitution the opportunity to turn their lives around. Through an intensive and comprehensive program, the women face, cope with and then overcome the many obstacles that life has dealt them. New relationships are formed, skills and strengths are discovered. The Mary Magdalene Project is a successful program that begins the transformation.

I don't know much about the Polaris folks, but I've met some of the graduates of the Mary Magdalene Project at All Saints Pasadena. It has become one of my favorite charities. I didn't meet any women who "chose" prostitution. (And yes, I recognize the name irks some people who are bothered by the enduring myth of the Magdalene as a sex worker).

Comments

[Barbara]

A modest proposal: Make prostitution illegal but make the "punishment" for early offenders (like up to five offenses) rehab of whatever stripe they need -- usually drug rehab, but sometimes other forms of protective custody. The first offenses would not be part of a permanent record unless they repeated the offense too many times. (It can't just be first, a first offense is rarely enough to trigger earnest efforts at rehab.) This would be a parallel program to that which has been put in place for drug offenders. Also, continue to prosecute johns and pimps. They really have no excuse.

I know I can't find the link, but there was a series of stories written by a woman on women who are legal prostitutes in Nevada, and what prostitution does to their lives, specifically, the lives of their children, and how most of them are doing it not because they want to but because it serves somebody else's economic interest. There was a particularly powerful story about a woman named "Donna" whose husband "made her" become a prostitute so that they could enhance their standard of living, but refused to ever talk to her about what she was doing. I am sorry, but I believe that the Donnas of the world would be far better off if prostitution remained illegal. I know it's a difficult subject, but reality on the ground, is that there are many women who are coerced by others to make sacrifices against their own best interests. And we haven't even begun to talk about HIV, hepatitis, and STDs that can destroy a woman's fertility, if not her life.

[John]

Well, I'm a man and I think legalisation is insane. Our government did it in 2002, and it's failed already, it's a mess. I support now, as I did then, the Swedish model, which has reduced Sweden's rate by heaps. I've also signed the petition to overturn the Act, at www.stoptheabuse.org.nz. I've taught the children of prostitutes. It doesn't just damage the woman, but the men and their families, and the woman and theirs. Prostitution is a cancer on the soul of human society, and it needs to be killed. Prostitutes need help, not cheer-leading from stupid politicians who have no idea what their loony social engineering will do.