I live in Germany, where legalization didn’t change much, neither for the better nor for the worse. Which is bad, especially for foreign prostitutes. One reason is that our half-hearted legalization was just a first step on a long road, and the present government is quite reluctant to go a few steps further.

Nevertheless, I guess that a decriminalization of prostitution, combined with draconian punishments for pimps and a strict state control of all the third parties profiting from the trade that it can’t do without (like bodyguards, escort agencies, brothels etc) would be a good start. But changing the legal status of prostitution alone wouldn’t by far be enough.

As Mr. Herbert says, many women need help to get out of this trade, and many others need help not to get in. Problems contributing to prostitution, like drug trade, poverty, child abuse, lack of jobs, need to be tackled. There should still be laws allowing authorities to send prostitutes to detox, or separate them from their pimps. And all youth centers (where especially street gangs do a lot of recruiting), strip clubs, escort agencies and brothels should have a mandatory hangout warning about the basic tactics pimps use to entrap and control their girls. A simple means that could save a few.

But other sex workers rather need help to get along in their job, e.g. strong rights and laws to protect them. It should be genuine protection, not pure hypocrisy like in Sweden or the US (the US Government officially states that all prostitutes are victims of abuse, so let’s jail them for that. Do I need to comment on that? In Sweden, there are several laws that make sure that prostitutes can’t call the police if they are raped or exploited). We should take into account that this job is the last choice for most women, so it is often left to the weakest of society - but also that weakness is not a reason to deprave people of their fundamental right to make their own decisions (as many anti-prostitution activists want you to believe). Finally, authorities should actively build up trust and cooperation between them and sex workers.

I guess prostitution is not a social illness, but it’s the last refuge for many victims of social illnesses. It’s like a big Kleenex, and fighting it is like fighting a cold by burning down Kleenex factories.

http://www.BoundNotGagged.com

It also suggests that those who want to argue either side of the legalization question could try something really, really radical. Go to Nevada and look at some actual data. Too bad most of them are too tied to what they believe to be interested in mere facts.