English

Name: Oyewamide Akinro

Date: 9-5-2021

The exchange of sexual activities for a fee is known as prostitution. Age, early home departure, childhood sexual abuse, drug addiction, and poverty are just a few of the reasons why individuals turn to prostitution. Physical and sexual abuse, drug addiction, poor self-esteem, and increased susceptibility to sexual illnesses are just a few of the issues that come with prostitution.

Is it appropriate to make prostitution legal? This is a topic that has been debated for a long time. Some individuals think that legalizing prostitution has potential advantages, such as improved human rights protection and health precautions. They claim that prostitution has always existed and will continue to exist.

Legalization will encourage healthy sex habits and reduce the spread of HIV, AIDS, and other sexually transmitted infections. Furthermore, it is said that prostitutes have the right to choose how they make money. Opponents of prostitution legalization say that most prostitutes are forced into sexual servitude and that legalization would create a dangerous and cruel black market.

Prostitution, according to some opponents of legalization, is an evil practice that would become moral if legalized. Legalizing prostitution has recently been seen as the greatest solution for limiting the spread of AIDS. When the government controls the business, certain kinds of prostitution become legal, while others, such as street prostitution, stay illegal.

Regulations such as licensing or registration, zoning of street prostitution, legal brothels, obligatory medical examinations, and specific business taxes are all part of the process of legalizing prostitution.

Legalizing prostitution by enabling it to be performed in a secure and regulated setting while preserving prostitutes' freedom of choice is the greatest option, given that it has existed since ancient times and is likely to continue to exist in the future (Jeffreys, 2010).

Some feminists believe that prostitution is a right to freedom of choice, and that women have the ability to do anything they choose with their bodies. However, the issues surrounding prostitution impact not only the prostitute, but also the society in which he or she works, as well as the family members of those who use his or her services. The increased incidence of sexual illnesses, traffic congestion and noise in the neighborhood, and resident harassment all have an impact on the community. Families of individuals who use prostitutes incur financial losses, mistrust, mental distress, and breakups. As a result, it is clear that something must be done to combat prostitution. Criminalization, decriminalization, and legalization are the three legal alternatives available (Swanson, 2016).

Criminalization leaves offenders with a severe stigma, while decriminalization provides prostitution an official position as employment and encourages its development. Second, in response to the claim that legalizing prostitution would increase the number of prostitutes, if it were confined to one or a few places, it would certainly draw an inflow of prostitutes, but if such legal sites were widespread, each area would have less appeal to outside workers.

Prostitutes oppose legalization because they see no advantage in complying with the new regulations or because they see it as an infringement on their freedom. These must be cleared by giving them with knowledge about the advantages of legalizing and ensuring that they have freedom within their community. The last thing is that they will always be accountable for their actions and will not require to harm their lives as they try to earn a living.

References

Jeffreys, S. (2010). “Brothels without Walls”: the Escort Sector as a Problem for the Legalization of Prostitution. Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society, 17(2), 210-234.

Swanson, J. (2016). Sexual liberation or violence against women? The debate on the legalization of prostitution and the relationship to human trafficking. New Criminal Law Review, 19(4), 592-639.