Legalizing prostitution is not a good idea. Not on moral grounds but for practical reasons. I was completely pro legalizing it before because it meant that it would give so many prostitutes their rights. They could live like respectable people in any other profession, take advantage of insurance and health benefits provided by the government etc and freely approach the police for help in case someone forced them or tortured them in anyway. They could also go in for legal help in case they were denied their pay. So they would basically be treated like employees in any other profession with the same rights such as minimum wages etc. Most importantly, this would help control trafficking because it would mean that only women who wanted to join the profession would and the police could easily crack down on pimps forcing women into the trade.
But reading this article changed my view . Let me give you a background - Germany legalized prostitution in 2002. Thereafter the data is not very good (refer to the article). Nisha Lilia Diu writes in her report - "Germany has more prostitutes per capita than any other country in the continent, more even than Thailand: 400,000 at the last count, serving 1.2 million men every day. Those figures were released a decade ago, soon after Germany made buying sex, selling sex, pimping and brothel-keeping legal in 2002. Two years later, prostitution in Germany was thought to be worth 6 billion euros – roughly the same as Porsche or Adidas that year. It’s now estimated to be 15 billion euros." . She explains, that the whole purpose of legalizing prostitution has been defeated, because prostitutes aren't registering themselves with the government (maybe out of fear that it may be a permanent record next to their name). Thus most of them have not been able to take advantage of any of the pension, insurance or health benefits the government is offering. But the most shocking things of all is that human trafficking had increased by a HUGE number. While statistics are incomplete, it is estimated that 70% of trafficked victims are forced into prostitution and Germany and Netherlands are top offenders on the list. This shows that there is a correlation between prostitution and trafficking because the increase in demand has led to an increase in supply as well - but the women brought into the trade are often times forced, trafficked from countries all over Europe, especially from poor localities. In case they complain of course the police will rescue them, but often times their passports are taken away and they are trapped in the brothel and kept under 24x7 surveillance.
In fact, the situation has gotten so bad, that Netherlands is now planning to repeal the law legalising prostitution. By experience it has served no purpose, only made matters worse. The chief reason behind legalising it - reducing trafficking, has itself backfired, because we now have increased trafficking in these countries. Men actually CROSS OVER the border of neighbouring countries everyday just to visit the brothels and go back. Many of the women are not there out of choice, are paid paltry wages, and have been unable to use any of the government channels available to them to improve their lives.
So the answer to your question is, it would hurt women.
I think when we are enacting laws, we should not look so much into morality because morals maybe a reflection of what the society thinks, which may not always be right. For example, once upon a time Dowry and Sati were acceptable practices in India, but now over the years, by criminalising such customs and empowering women, the society's perception towards these practices has changed, and they are now condemned. So looking at this from a practical point of view, considering only the rights of the stakeholders involved - i.e. the prostitutes, legalising prostitution has not been a viable solution. It's a failed plan. If we want to empower women and reduce trafficking we need to concentrate of eradicating other things - government corruption at lower level, poverty, illiteracy, and unemployment. Some people are also of the view that as long as there is demand, there will be supply. That may be so, but how do you crackdown on demand? By making it illegal to visit brothels? No! That won't help because this will only ensure that the activity goes underground. We cannot control demand. It is impractical and difficult. The only way is to cut off the supply (the demand will go down). Women, when empowered, have a right to choice. It is basic human rights that every person be allowed to choose their profession (as long as their choice doesn't hurt others of course) - ensuring they are empowered enough to have that choice, that they are not forced into anything, that they have alternatives to choose from - that is the responsibility of the government. Whether the government chooses to repeal the law legalising prostitution remains to be seen, since the government earns millions in taxes from this trade. It's like tobacco in India, everyone knows its harmful, everyone knows the government can control it, but everyone knows the government will never illegalize its purchase because of how much they are earning from taxing tobacco users!
...................................................................................................................................
http://euromaidanpress.com/2017/08/20/russia-now-has-more-prostitutes-than-doctors-farmers-and-firemen-combined-and-other-neglected-russian-stories-euromaidan-press/
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But reading this article changed my view . Let me give you a background - Germany legalized prostitution in 2002. Thereafter the data is not very good (refer to the article). Nisha Lilia Diu writes in her report - "Germany has more prostitutes per capita than any other country in the continent, more even than Thailand: 400,000 at the last count, serving 1.2 million men every day. Those figures were released a decade ago, soon after Germany made buying sex, selling sex, pimping and brothel-keeping legal in 2002. Two years later, prostitution in Germany was thought to be worth 6 billion euros – roughly the same as Porsche or Adidas that year. It’s now estimated to be 15 billion euros." . She explains, that the whole purpose of legalizing prostitution has been defeated, because prostitutes aren't registering themselves with the government (maybe out of fear that it may be a permanent record next to their name). Thus most of them have not been able to take advantage of any of the pension, insurance or health benefits the government is offering. But the most shocking things of all is that human trafficking had increased by a HUGE number. While statistics are incomplete, it is estimated that 70% of trafficked victims are forced into prostitution and Germany and Netherlands are top offenders on the list. This shows that there is a correlation between prostitution and trafficking because the increase in demand has led to an increase in supply as well - but the women brought into the trade are often times forced, trafficked from countries all over Europe, especially from poor localities. In case they complain of course the police will rescue them, but often times their passports are taken away and they are trapped in the brothel and kept under 24x7 surveillance.
In fact, the situation has gotten so bad, that Netherlands is now planning to repeal the law legalising prostitution. By experience it has served no purpose, only made matters worse. The chief reason behind legalising it - reducing trafficking, has itself backfired, because we now have increased trafficking in these countries. Men actually CROSS OVER the border of neighbouring countries everyday just to visit the brothels and go back. Many of the women are not there out of choice, are paid paltry wages, and have been unable to use any of the government channels available to them to improve their lives.
So the answer to your question is, it would hurt women.
I think when we are enacting laws, we should not look so much into morality because morals maybe a reflection of what the society thinks, which may not always be right. For example, once upon a time Dowry and Sati were acceptable practices in India, but now over the years, by criminalising such customs and empowering women, the society's perception towards these practices has changed, and they are now condemned. So looking at this from a practical point of view, considering only the rights of the stakeholders involved - i.e. the prostitutes, legalising prostitution has not been a viable solution. It's a failed plan. If we want to empower women and reduce trafficking we need to concentrate of eradicating other things - government corruption at lower level, poverty, illiteracy, and unemployment. Some people are also of the view that as long as there is demand, there will be supply. That may be so, but how do you crackdown on demand? By making it illegal to visit brothels? No! That won't help because this will only ensure that the activity goes underground. We cannot control demand. It is impractical and difficult. The only way is to cut off the supply (the demand will go down). Women, when empowered, have a right to choice. It is basic human rights that every person be allowed to choose their profession (as long as their choice doesn't hurt others of course) - ensuring they are empowered enough to have that choice, that they are not forced into anything, that they have alternatives to choose from - that is the responsibility of the government. Whether the government chooses to repeal the law legalising prostitution remains to be seen, since the government earns millions in taxes from this trade. It's like tobacco in India, everyone knows its harmful, everyone knows the government can control it, but everyone knows the government will never illegalize its purchase because of how much they are earning from taxing tobacco users!
...................................................................................................................................
http://euromaidanpress.com/2017/08/20/russia-now-has-more-prostitutes-than-doctors-farmers-and-firemen-combined-and-other-neglected-russian-stories-euromaidan-press/
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- 02-07-2017
Putin allowed the FSO to classify information about the property of officials
Vladimir Putin signed a law that allows the Federal Security Service (FSO), and to classify information about the property of officials. The document is published on the official portal of legal information.
4-23-18 Prostitution: https://prostitution.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000772Now the FSO has powers that ensure the protection of personal data of persons under state protection.
Also, the FSO will be able "temporarily to restrict or prohibit the movement of vehicles and pedestrians on the routes of public security objects." The Office will be free to use airports, airfields, heliports and other landing sites legally.
A number of restrictions will be introduced for state security officers. In particular, they will not be able to report on the fact of their belonging to the FSO in the media and in social networks and publish photo and video materials about themselves and their colleagues. https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://www.kasparov.ru/material.php%3Fid%3D5958C3CF625DE&prev=search
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Legal in 53; Limitedly Legal in 12; Illegal in 35; Total: 100
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