Should Prostitution be Legalized?
September 11, 2007 by Michael van der Galiën
Bob Herbert writes for the New York Times:
I must have hit a nerve. While in Las Vegas last week, I interviewed the mayor, Oscar Goodman, who enthusiastically explained how legalizing prostitution and creating a series of “magnificent brothels” could be a boon to his city’s development.
Vegas is already a paradise for pimps, johns and perverts, and I accused the mayor in a column of setting the tone “for the systematic, institutionalized degradation” of women.
Mr. Goodman was not pleased. He snarled to the local press that he had no use for me, and added, “I’ll take a baseball bat and break his head if he ever comes here.”
The mayor, who made a name for himself as a defense lawyer for mobsters, loves to slip into a clownish, tough-guy persona. (He never lets anyone forget that he had a walk-on as himself in the movie “Casino.”) But behind his bluster is a serious issue that should be addressed.
A lot of people more thoughtful than Oscar Goodman believe that prostitution should be legalized as a way of protecting and empowering the women who go into the sex trade. I’ve lost patience with those arguments, however well meaning. Real-world prostitution, in whatever guise, bears no resemblance at all to the empowerment fantasies of prostitution proponents. I have never seen such vulnerable, powerless women as those in the sex trade, legal or illegal.
If you haven’t signed up for Times Select I suggest you do so now. I realize that many people refuse to pay for the columns, archives, and other features of Times Select (and frankly I think it was a mistake for the Times to ask people to pay for this), but it’s well worth it. If you don’t sign up for it you’ll miss out on some great columns, written by very smart and informed people.
Back to the subject at hand, prostitution. In this regard, I’m quite libertarian. It seems to me that the government has no business telling people that they can or can’t pay for sex. Sex is something extremely private, the government should stay out of it. That is, at least, my initial and automatic response. When I was reading the rest of Herbert’s column I understood his point of view better and realized that, once again, it might not be as simple as I’d like to think it is.
His main point: ‘The first thing to understand about prostitution, including legal prostitution, is that the element of coercion is almost always present. Despite the fiction that they are “independent contractors,” most so-called legal prostitutes have pimps — the state-sanctioned pimps who run the brothels and, in many cases, a second pimp who controls all other aspects of their lives (and takes the bulk of their legal earnings).’
Furthermore, most prostitutes are pushed into ‘the trade’ (I’ve got great difficulty talking about prostitution in those terms) by men when they, the future prostitutes, are in their early teens. “A large percentage are victims of incest or other forms of childhood sexual abuse. Most are dirt poor. Many are drug-addicted. And most are plagued by devastatingly low levels of self esteem.” In other words, it’s not a case of equals doing business together.
Herbert goes on to write ‘That a city, a state or any other governmental entity in the U.S. could legally sanction the sexual degradation of women and girls under any circumstances, much less those who are so extremely vulnerable, is an atrocity. And if you don’t think legalized prostitution is about degradation, consider the “date room” at Sheri’s. That’s a small room where a quiet dinner for two can be served. Beneath the tiny table is a couple of towels and a cushion for the woman to kneel on.’
He concludes that all theories aside, if one looks at the reality of prostitution one sees that it’s one ugly business. It’s not only a trade in which women are abused and forced to have sex for money by men who are stronger and more powerful, it’s also a trade in which the customer himself is degrated (spiritually). This might not be a popular message these days, but it’s most certainly true.
Lastly, there are those who argue that legalizing prostitution makes decreases illegal prostitution. Sadly, the facts prove differently. Where prostitution is legalized, illegal prostitution increases. “And the recent explosion of prostitution in all its forms promotes the sexualization of girls at ever younger ages.”
Herbert’s last paragraph is catchy and impressive. “As a society, we should be offering help to the many thousands of women who would like to escape prostitution, and providing alternatives to those in danger of being pulled into it.”
And, I’ve got to say, that it’s hard to argue with Herbert on this point. The right to oppress and abuse women doesn’t exist, nor should it exist. And this is what prostitution often boils down to.
Before making up one’s mind on this complex issue, perhaps you might wish to look at things from a sex worker’s point of view. There are several sex worker’s blogs out there.
Sorry for the doublepost, but here’s somewhere to start: http://www.myspace.com/jillbrenneman
I habve to wonder if Mr. Herbert is aware that Las Vegas is in one of only two counties in the State of Nevada (the other is the one where Reno is located) where prostitution is NOT legal. So it may be that the mayor of Las Vegas is merely trying to get his city’s exception tot he general state-wide law removed. That may not have much impact on the merits of legalizing prostitution. But it does suggest a slightly different take on what Herbert was seeing.
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.
The NYTimes will stop charging for “Times Select” in the near future. Either way, you can easily find “Times Select” articles without having to pay for them. Just Google the title and the first paragraph (which is usually shown for free). Somewhere on the intertnet at least one person has copied the entire article to their blog, lol
[...] found this article over at the Michael Van Der Galien Gazette. Basically he asks the question I pose in my [...]
See this for sex worker’s take on Herbert’s story:
http://www.BoundNotGagged.com
I guess the problem with prostitution is that whatever you hear about it is true. There are callgirls proud of their occupation, there are such for whom each time feels like rape. There are women enjoying the freedom and money prostitution gives them and there are such enslaved by pimps. There are streetwalkers for whom it’s just a job, there are high-end prostitutes who go crazy over it. What is not there are reasons to punish any of them, at least not for selling sex.
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.