Prostitution: Who's the victim?

[countybear]

Ask-the-public topic: Prostitution.

We've all heard of "victimless crime", and prostitution is often described as such. Do you believe that there are victims of prostitution? Who?

[Car 4]

Well....let's ask the 48 victims that Gary Ridgeway pled to killing and the 21 others I think he killed. All of them prostitutes.

I will leave it at that and spare you all my usual "victimless crimes" rant.

Car 4

[Xiphos]

I'm pretty sure selling your body and letting people use you so you can feed your chemical addictions is in fact victimhood.

[Five-0]

Society. If I have to explain further perhaps you should slip outside of your usual comfort zone. Not all prostitutes are female, not all are willing, and if I have to explain further just go to a homeless shelter in any inner city to get the first hand story once some of the folks get to know you.

[Odd]

Just in the interest of getting this new area kicked off... and isn't this more of a legislative topic... anyway...

This is sort of a standard argument where we all have heard the sides many times. Not sure which I wish would go away more, the practice or the debate. Gotta bring up the stale points to have the latter though.

Would three general categories of prostitute cover it? 1) The willing 2) Those forced by circumstance 3) Those forced by another party?

So who is the victim? Well, certainly many of the prostitutes themselves. Category 3 is obvious. Category 1 is mostly the stuff of fantasy and ITV2. Category 2 is the more interesting case.

*insert boilerplate argument about criminalization making it worse, legalization/decriminalization making it better*

Good, now that that's over, we still have people forced into prostitution by circumstance. Legal or illegal, better or worse, this is where they arrive. Now what? That's where I usually wander off in this debate. Say it's legal, regulated, disease free and taxed. (insert reference to some country) So prostitution is now at the level of any entry level [unintended pun] employment.

Lots of people get forced into jobs by circumstances that suck. At the end of the day, some people are going to find they only have one alternative left - if not this, what? Is prostitution a societal inevitably that can only be replaced by elevating it and demoting something else to the bottom?

I don't know, just throwing some seed out there

[Trojan 42]

When I was working in Brazil, we went to a club with our interpreter. It was just a normal place. The interpreter said did any of us want to sleep with any of the girls. When I asked if they were all prostitutes then. He said none of them are, they are secretaries, nurses, shop workers etc., but as wages are so low, if they like the look of you, nearly all of them would sleep with you for money.

Seemed pretty victimless.


And no, I didn't.

[Standard Dave]

The neighbours and local community, where you have brothels there is an associated foot fall of many of societies less desirable members as well as an increase in traffic.
Neighbours also have to field calls knocking on doors and entry intercoms from people trying to find the prostitues. Red light areas become infested with drug dealers also and kerb crawlers proposition any woman who happens to be in the area and in some cases become agressive or threatening.

Even if it was legalised, advertised and away from residential properties you would still have a cheaper illegal street market for all the drug addicts and alcoholics who cannot or would not be licenced. You only have to look at cigarettes to see that a legal drug in that case also has a black market of illegal inferior products and smuggling to avoid tax associated with it.