Street prostitutes often service as many as ten to fifteen men a night; little wonder that they age rapidly and get tired out and used up. Often they end up drug-addicted, bruised, and battered, often at the hands of their pimps, who take most of their earnings and get rich. Prostitutes call their work "paid rape" and note the friends who "didn't make it out alive." Nearly half of the women in prostitution attempt suicide.
Most (90%) desperately want out.
Any discussion of prostitution must center on a basic fact: Control and exploitation of another person is slavery. Pimps control 80%-95% of all forms of prostitution. Nearly 70% of those in prostitution entered before age 16. In the U.S., the average age of entry is 12. Twelve!
Whether that's totally accurate or a bit of an exaggeration there is some truth in it. Lets assume its totally true. Note that this is what happens in the context of prostitution being illegal in many places, including most of the US, and heavily restricted in most places where it is legal.
Legalization creates greater demand for younger girls, who the johns think are less likely to have an STD.
That's a totally unsupported comment, and something that's very unlikely. If johns think younger girls are less likely to have an STD, or have some other reason they prefer them, than they will have a demand for them when prostitution is illegal, and a pimp working outside the law, is more likely to offer them, than a legal business.
My opinion has nothing to do with the "Pretty Woman" myth, it involves recognizing the reality that black market prostitution causes.
When prostitution is illegal, prostitutes have less protection from law enforcement and the rest of society and are more likely to be abused. Also if its made legal it would be possible to take the resources (or some fraction of them, saving some money for the taxpayer) used to crack down on prostitution and use it to crack down on abuse, trafficking, etc. |
