petty prostitution and why we should legalize it

This is a sculpture at the Yale University Art Gallery

For my final thesis paper for my American Studies class, I was to choose anything I was interested in and write a thesis driven paper on it. As easy as it was, it caught my attention. While researching facts about prostitution, I really got to thinking about it. The only reason it is not legal is because it is considered immoral. Please, do not get offended for what I'm about to say, and if there are other reasons, feel free to leave them in the comments down below, but I believe that we should most definitely legalize prostitution.

Now before you get your panties in a twist, hear me out. Prostitution is defined per the Oxford American Dictionary as, the practice or occupation of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment.  The following are excerpts from my paper with the thesis being "Legalizing prostitution would be advantageous for Americans and their society".

 Reason number one:

"According to The Stats Behind Prostitution, for every 100,000 prostitutes, 204 are murdered annually, making it the most dangerous job in America.  On average, a prostitute is beaten 12 times per year, or once every month (Knickerbocker, Brad).  Legalizing prostitution would “open the door to unionization” and give the prostitutes the employment rights that they deserve (Gittleson, Wendy).  “Many prostitutes are at the financial mercy of their pimps, who often take more than half their income.  Legalization would protect their rights [while unions] would help ensure that under the radar (illegal, non-taxpaying, non-health exam participants) would stay off the streets” (Gittleson, Wendy). By decriminalizing prostitution, prostitutes would be able to report, and seek help for such abuse without the fear of backlash from an illegal profession, which could in turn stop any violence before it escalates to murder."  

Reason number two:

"Typically prostitutes have unprotected sex over 300 times every year (The Stats Behind Prostitution).  Unwanted pregnancies resulting from this could lead to severe emotional trauma for the mother and the unwanted children.  Legalizing prostitution would allow for regulations and contraceptive laws that would help to prevent unwanted pregnancies, and in turn unstable households."

  

Reason number three:

"Our lives are effected both directly and indirectly by prostitutes whether we are a customer or not. Being that every 1 in 5 female prostitutes have an sexually transmitted disease, STD testing could minimize risks for both the prostitute and the customer (Knickerbocker, Brad)."

Reason number four:

"According to The Stats Behind Prostitution every year around 80,000 American citizens are arrested for prostitution, costing taxpayers around 200 million dollars in court and jail fees. With the decriminalization of prostitution our taxpayers money that would otherwise go to prostitution would be able to be spent on more useful things, such as education or sex trafficking."

Reason number five:

"...the purpose of taxation."

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I hope that I have not offended you in any manner by the posting of this post. I do not wish to transpose my beliefs upon you, I simply wish to express my own beliefs. If you would like to contact me or ask questions about this topic, feel free to email me at blueeyedridgway@gmail.com

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–Sources–

Gittleson, Wendy.  “10 Reasons We Need to Legalize Prostitution.” Examiner.com.  AXS Network, 
          n.d.  Web.  10 May 2014. http://www.examiner.com/article/10-reasons-we-need-to-have-  
          legalized-prostitution.

Knickerbocker, Brad.  "Prostitution's Pernicious Reach Grows in the US." The Christian Science 

Monitor.  The Christian Science Monitor, 23 Oct.  1996.  Web.  26 Mar.  2014.  http://www.csmonitor.com/1996/1023/102396.us.us.5.html.

"The Stats Behind Prostitution." Onlineschools.org. Online Schools, n.d. Web. http://   
         www.policeprostitutionandpolitics.com/pdfs_all/GOVERNMENT%20REPORTS%20US      
         %20Justice%20Dept%20stats%20SEE%20ALSO%20TRAFFICKING%20ALL/The     
         %20Stats%20Behind%20Prostitution.pdf.