(ANS) This is a massively contentious subject area, should prostitution be legal or illegal? Because its a morally (ethically) difficult issue there are many wide ranging opinions.

**I am definitely and totally against ANYONE being forced against their will, or coerced, or tricked into sexual slavery. I am against people from any country being trafficked or treated as goods or a commodity in order to make money from them.

**On the other hand I don’t think the problems associated with prostitution can be or will be solved by making sex in exchange for money illegal.

**May be one of the very few solutions is to make legalized red light districts, in large towns & cities located away from residential areas, a place where sex for money can be conducted legally (or with the authorities turning a blind eye) AND where the sex workers can be licensed and have to prove where they came from and as condition of working be made to have regular health check up’s etc.

**I think banning prostitution will almost certainly make the whole sex industry a far more dangerous and send both workers & punters underground. I think it would make it far more difficult to control too.

**I’ve seen several TV documentaries about Polish & Latvian girls kidnapped into the sex trade but eventually rescued. ALL of the stories were dreadfully shocking, upsetting, very disturbing & heart braking. You wouldn’t wish this kind of treatment on an animal let alone a young girl or woman. YES! some attempts must be made to stop the trade in young women & girls from other countries into the sex trade.

Ivan

As it is, sex workers can have untreated sexually transmitted diseases putting clients, and more importantly, the regular partners of those clients (if any) at risk. Legalising it, like it is in Holland can result in better sexual health and also restrict the sex slave industry.

Put it this way, it is a damm sight harder to force someone to work in a legal and regulated industry, than it would be now.

Where a commodity is in demand, but restricted by law, that is the green light for organised crime to make millions. Whether it’s drink, drugs, sex, whatever – if the public want it, and the government say they can’t have it, the criminals will supply it.

The pragmatic postion would be to legalise, regulate and control the industry. If you make it legal, you can put the criminals out of business, protect those selling the commodity and ensure a safe supply of the commodity to the consumer.

If that is not acceptable for the sex industry, perhaps applying laws which already exist more rigorously would be the answer. It is already illegal to supply drugs to people, to force them to take illegal drugs, to imprison them unlawfully, to assault them, to live off the earnings of prostitution. The explotative elements of prostitution are already illegal.

Many of the women involved are in the country illegally and fear for what might happen to them if they come to the attention of the authorities – perhaps a more humane approach to their asylum / immigration status might enable them to come forward safely?

While I would not want to suggest that “KEYPOINT” is a user of prostitutes, his quote:

“I think prostitution means sexual and economic freedom for all those who take part in it by choice – which is the majority of sex workers.”

is complete and utter rubbish, and the sort of nonsense that men who use these women come out with to salve their own consciences.

The vast, vast majority of women in prostitution are prisoners – prisoners in fact, prisoners of poverty, prisoners of drugs, prisoners of abuse. Perhaps men who use prostitution could be shown the conditions leading to their ‘hosts’ situation and shown how little of the money they pay, if any, goes to the women.

Perhaps a couple of well-publicised trials where customers of imprisoned girls stood trial for rape – after all, do the girls actually consent to sex? If the answer’s no, how isn’t it a rape?

I think KEYPOINT is over-estimating the extent of the “escort / callgirl” side of the sex industry – men paying serious money for companionship and sex, where the women have more control; and underestimating the extent of the “street whore” side of the industry where for the price of a few pints, the back of a car or a back room in a massage parlour is the setting. It is the latter case where the desparate women are truly prisoners. Most are so broken that they don’t regard themselves as anything, let alone victims – which means KEYPOINT has no need to worry about them.

joyeux noel Mon Ami’s

There is clearly a market for it, so there should be legalised brothels that can be controlled by local authorities.

No one should be force to sell sex, but those who choose to should be allowed.

prostitution being made illegal will not stop the sex slave industry, that is a separate issue all together. it has nothing to do with the legal sex industry.
i for one do not approve of whats legal now, but people have a right to do as they please so long as they cause no one else harm.
sex slaves are not prostitutes they are SLAVES forced to do what they do. it is not a choice. the two are not connected in anyway other than the media or politicians needing a vote or women’s groups willing to impose their idea of morality and women’s rights regardless of others opinion.

And Women like LILLY (answer 2 above) who think men make women want to be prostitutes and we exploit them. utter pug-wash. i respect women so don’t include me in your radical feminism.

What ever is eventually decided it will not change the facts