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It is ridiculous to say that because a problem will never go away that we should either ignore it or sanction it. Murder will also never go away as child abuse, spousal abuse, lying, cheating, stealing, or any number of things will never go away. To say that we should just give in to this as a solution is no solution at all.
I do think, as another person wrote in, that there is a difference between being a self employed call girl and being a street walker with a pimp. I had a friend who was a call girl who liked being in the business and it was relatively safe and "high end" for this profession. did it do anything good for her life? No. Even after getting out of the profession, her relationship with men continued to be business--even when living with someone--mostly financial. Was it her choice to make? I guess. She felt that since she was such as slut anyways, she might as well get paid for it. Does she have anything to show for her career now that she's 50? No. Now she works at Walmart. Did it do anything good for the men? No. I don't think there's a good side to this profession in terms of positive contributions to people's lives or society in general. I do think police action should focus on the street walking to get illicit sex off the streets, out of our neighborhoods, and to help those girls who are clearly in the business because they are disadvantaged.
Having "health checks" as a safeguard is ridiculous. I am a doctor and worked in a clinic focused on homeless patients. Much or most of the prostitution was in trade for drugs or a place to stay or quick cash (it was not a career). Everyone had clamydia, some had other STDs as well. What good does a health check do when you are simply telling them that they have an infection or disease? by that time they've already given it to 10 or 20 other people. Even if they get treated for the treatable ones, they're just going to get it again in the next weeks to months. These lead to infertility, more low self esteem, and sometimes death. To say we can "take care" of people in the profession and make their lives healthy is ridiculous.
Making it legal would also make it harder to prosecute pimps and kidnappers who force girls into it (which happens alot--more than you think). I don't see any good to sanctioning this practice.

posted 4 years, 8 months ago
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