to think that truely feminist stance on prostitution, is to support legalisation?

[StuckInTheMiddleWithYou]

I recently moved to an inner city area.

There is a known brothel here and a homeless shelter.

I have seen some very sad, desperate sights walking past our home lately.

I wouldn't want any child of mine involved in this trade, however this does strike as something which desperately needs regulating - for the sake of the women, girls and boys involved.

Prohibition has failed miserably.

AIBU?

I'm interested in the English Collective of Prostitutes being Marxists. Are there any links for that?

I sway towards the idea of legalising it, as I do towards drugs. But I am concerned about the grey areas legalising it could lead to with regards to advertising and general acceptance of it.

I dn't know a lot about it, it seems so obviously out there that surely it's not clamped down upon as strongly as it should be, for an illegal activity.

Human nature and the fact that it still exists so strongly as a market makes me think that the best way to protect the vulnerable is to legalise it. I think the majority of people, despite any personal misgiving, would rather live somewhere that abortion is legal, rather than criminalised.

Hmmmm.....I hope that remark isn't aimed at me..I spent a long time as a volunteer outreach worker working with street workers with addiction issues.

I care very much about protecting those women, I also care very much about harm minimisation, and believe the legalisation is the way to go.

Who conducted and paid for the study/studies btw?

But what if a woman WANTS to sell her body?

What if she's an intelligent woman with no social issues who wants to take advantage of the fact that men will pay her for sex?

Are you saying she can't do it?

Or that men shouldnt want sex so badly they're willing to pay?

Because they do...and they are! It's a fact of life!

Can I just point out, at this rather late point, that prostitution is not illegal in the UK.

Soliciting in the street is illegal, as is kerb/curb-crawling. Running a brothel is illegal, but it is not illegal to work in one as a prostitute, and it is not illegal for a punter to visit a brothel.

So all this talk of legalizing, or even decriminalising, prostitition is way off the mark.

What would be good for discussion is how we reduce street prostitution, where the abuses are greatest, and protect those women who choose to work as prostitutes, and how to deal with trafficked women/bonded labourers. (Who may or may not be willing to work as prostitutes, but where there is a high chance of coercion.)

Differnce to me Dittany is that she is ACTIVELY trying to help the women, rather than just spouting statistics about how all men are bastards.

Old lady - I was going to ask that!

I know someone who has visited a brothel on occasion and it has a website where there's no doubting what goes on.

That is quite interesting, and makes me question my way of thinking.

Anc certain groups of people will ALWAYS exploit other, more vunerable groups of people. It has gone on since time immemorial. If you criminalise the activities of the vuneralble eg drug takers, prostitutes etc, you make them unable to seek help.

It is the pimps and the drug sellers - the ones who exploit and profit that should be penalised. Always. If you remove their ability to exploit, you hit them where it hurts the hardest.

But the new laws in England do go after punters who are using the (forced) services of (unwilling) prostitutes; why should guys who buy from consensual workers also be criminalised?

If its legal and regulated its no longer supplied by the black market.

Overnight you will see the majority of rape/abuse/slavery cases disappear.

It also allows those women who CHOOSE to be prostitutes to be legal, which is fair as there are a lot of them.

The way they've been cracking down on prostitution in England lately is targetting two women working together (for safety) and then doing both of them for pimping each other. Then the Police get to invoke the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Nice, innit.

Actually its not that astonishing because I have seen the issues first hand and I know what I am talking about.

I was also a drug and alcohol outreach worker with young people and am all for legalisation of illicit drugs.

OK - and a lot of the vulnerable selling their bodies on the street....they are their because of their drug habits. Now if they don't need to earn the cash to pay for the drugs, because there is an alternative, legal way, with help and medical advice on hand, well then they wouldn't need to go on the street in the first place, would they?

Dittany, since when did prohibiting anything stop the black marketeers? Don't you know that gangsterism in the US was largely kick-started and effectively funded by the Prohibition on booze?

Nothing is black and white - these are highly complex issues we are talking about here and also we are all forgetting we are talking about adults here - who choose to take drugs, turn to street work and are actually responsible for their own actions and the consequences they bring.

I fully support the legilisation and control of drugs such as heroin. I think it makes complete sense and would take away the criminality and hidden factor and people would be more likely to come forward and be able to be helped by professionals. I agree with portofino and ladyanonymous. I think if it was all legal it would make a big difference.

Demand for things doesn't increase because it is legal though. People don't really care about the laws, which are ineffectual in many cases. If I wanted to score some coke, I could make one call to a friend of a friend and get some.

I don't want to, because I am aware of the dangers of it. If I did want to, the legal consequences to me are pretty non-existant really. But coke is a class A drug. People in the supply chain are murdered and arrested/imprisoned all the time. Because the very illegality/danger of selling it makes it rare and expensive and the profits are worth it to some.

I could still get some though. The fact that is illegal didn't make it go away.

TheButterflyEffect

Because it's not fair! Here's the goods...waving their bodies at you....telling you that if you pay you can have it....but then slapping the cuffs on if they do!

"I know quite a few women who have escaped prostistution and not one of them wants to see it legalised." I say again, prostitution is not illegal. What changes would these women like to see made, to assist them and others like them, while not interfering with consensual sex workers? In what way would "legalising" it (legalising what?) make things worse for slaves?