I'd want to track if legalizing it makes human trafficking decrease or increase, but I like the idea of harsh consequences for pimps and johns with treatment for prostitutes.

Having traveled the world a bit, I've met prostitutes who started out way too young when they couldn't consent and I wonder if they're really 100% willing later if that's the best way they know to make a living.

Prostitution needs to be decriminalized. Legalisation only puts a tax on the world’s oldest profession and makes the pocket books of politicians fatter.

It shouldn't be a crime to offer consenual, adult services in order to feed you and your family. I mean, that's basically what the institution of marriage was founded for anayay.

Men used to sell their daughters so that their families could eat. What's wrong with a woman taking advantage of her own body?

I wonder how many of the people who say it is exploitation, or most are doing it against their will, know any sex workers?
Have you talked to a big cross section of sex workers?
Or are you just guessing that it must be that way? Or are you just retyping the government's or religion's moral compass.

As an 18 year old, I worked as a bouncer in a legal brothel. None of the ladies were there against their will. A few were desperate for money and the most enjoyed the service they gave their clients and the lifestyle that the job gave them. Some, were college students working their way through school. They were really happy that they would graduate without big debts.

Fast forward to 2018. I know many sex workers. Again, some are not happy. Some are very happy. But, they are not trafficked, forced or desperate.

Are there ladies that are addicted, desperate, trafficked, abused? Of course there are, but that is not all of them. There are many ladies who are good partners, mothers and friends.

I think sex work should be decriminalized. Then the ones who need help, will be able to get help and the ones who are happy and successful , could live their lives without being treated like criminals.

If you don't like sex work, don't be a sex worker or see one.

I don't think it's a good practice, but it's safer if it's legal. I vote make it legal

It’s not prostitution if you film it with intent to publish.

Who knows if I've already commented, but as a previous part time judge in Scottsdale, Arizona, a city where I can beat you within an inch of your life and get probation but it's a mandatory 15 days in jail for prostitution (and you can carry a gun on your hip), such a ludicrous dichotomy shows the need for at least some recognition of the "oldest profession" if not legalizing this action between two consenting adults. For every man and woman cheating on their spouses, the is a woman and a man helping them. The "conservatives" against prostitution legalized two of the three vices from the old west: Guns and alcohol, but not prostitution. I wonder how many deaths are directly attributable to guns and alcohol vs. prostitution?

I think prostitution should become a legitimized profession, making it illegal has never worked and does nothing more than to oppress and corrupt all those involved with it.
I personally wouldn't employ a woman to help me satisfy my sexual needs, because I want more than just that from a woman.
But I have no issue with a person working in the adult industry as long as they are there because they wish to be there, that they enjoy the work that they are doing and that they are not wasting their hard earned money on drugs and alcohol.
For a lot of us, sex and intimacy are denied to us, so paying for it, is the only way for a lot of us, to have those needs met.

It's not illegal if you own a film company!

no reason it should be.
It is commerce...the worlds oldest profession

This is a tough one for me, because it involves so much more than "person sells sex for money" in so many cases.

I believe that a person should never be prosecuted for being a prostitute, under any conditions, unless they are not disclosing std information, which I have always though should be illegal for anyone to do.

I believe that legalizing prostitution without addressing issues of exploitation and trafficking is tricky business. someone mentioned that it works in countries that have done it, but several of those countries actually have problems with women, and sometimes girls, "imported" for the work that are being exploited. And the stigma will remain for quite some time, so that the legitimate supply will likely never reach the demand, you will not get as many truly willing prostitutes working as you have men who want the service, which is where criminal traffickers come in.

and exploitation comes in many forms. to say a woman "willingly" became a prostitute when she thought that was the only way to feed her newborn is a weird use of "willingly" in my ears. prostitution to keep her drug dealer happy...another example. just because a woman made the choice to work in the sex industry doesn't make her a willing prostitute.

the last issue is abuse. sexual abuse among sex workers, even in legal areas such as the adult film industry and legalized prostitution, have a much harder time with sexual assault, and a much harder time getting the courts to take it seriously when they do report it. and that will likely remain a problem until we as a society start taking all such claims seriously.

all that said, prostitution is going to happen whether we legalize it or not, and leaving it completely illegal leaves it in the hands of criminals alone, so I'm in favor of at least partial legalization.

As I said, first and foremost I don't believe that the prostitute should ever be the one up for legal harassment. I think pimps, traffickers, and exploitive clients (the drug dealer) should be prosecuted, and the people in those situations given aid to help them get out of that life.

I think through legalising... There will be a huge decline in rape cases..

Just look at countries where it’s legal and see that it hasn’t created any higher crime rates and if managed right the level of sexually transmitted diseases are way lower

Of course it should be legal. The Christain idiots are what keeps it illegal here in the US. Some are hypocrites like Jimmy Swaggart who preached about morals and the wrongs of prostitution but frequented a brothel himself.

Unionize and legalize.