4 ms·

Buying sex should not be legal

4 points by zabramow 11y ago

noobiemcfoob 11y ago
This article could have been better written, mainly by not writing it from such an incensed position (former child prostitute? While I regret that the author went through such a thing, the call to make sex work legal would hardly have made her experiences legal). The latter half of the article is more substantive, actually pointing out how various approaches have fared around the world. But even this is poorly reasoned and seems to believe we'll agree that the sex trade is just bad out of hand. The bits of Germany having "mega-brothels" or that New Zealand is seeing an industry of "sex tourism" are hardly indictments from where I stand. If those trades are legal and all involved are willful participants working for a livable wage, what's the problem? If that's the case in New Zealand and Germany, then I'd say both laws are working as intended. The goal of legalizing the sex trade is to prevent situations like the author's from happening. A byproduct of that is likely to be a thriving - but legal - sex trade where hopefully everyone is treated as a human being.
- kazinator 11y ago
  Agreed with you. This is full of holes. I don't know what to make of a statement like "because the trade is socially sanctioned [in New Zealand], there is no incentive for the government to provide exit strategies for those who want to get out of it. These women are trapped." I don't see the logical consequence; why isn't there an incentive to provide exit strategies out of prostitution regardless of whether it is legal? It's not illegal to be unemployed, yet governments offer programs to help people get employed. Or: we don't have to make homelessness illegal before we bring in solutions for housing. Protecting minors is a separate issue from whether something is legal or not. Trading cars is legal; selling a car to an eleven-year-old is not. To prevent that, should we make auto trading illegal?

4 ms·

Buying sex should not be legal

4 points by zabramow 11y ago

noobiemcfoob 11y ago
This article could have been better written, mainly by not writing it from such an incensed position (former child prostitute? While I regret that the author went through such a thing, the call to make sex work legal would hardly have made her experiences legal). The latter half of the article is more substantive, actually pointing out how various approaches have fared around the world. But even this is poorly reasoned and seems to believe we'll agree that the sex trade is just bad out of hand. The bits of Germany having "mega-brothels" or that New Zealand is seeing an industry of "sex tourism" are hardly indictments from where I stand. If those trades are legal and all involved are willful participants working for a livable wage, what's the problem? If that's the case in New Zealand and Germany, then I'd say both laws are working as intended. The goal of legalizing the sex trade is to prevent situations like the author's from happening. A byproduct of that is likely to be a thriving - but legal - sex trade where hopefully everyone is treated as a human being.
- kazinator 11y ago
  Agreed with you. This is full of holes. I don't know what to make of a statement like "because the trade is socially sanctioned [in New Zealand], there is no incentive for the government to provide exit strategies for those who want to get out of it. These women are trapped." I don't see the logical consequence; why isn't there an incentive to provide exit strategies out of prostitution regardless of whether it is legal? It's not illegal to be unemployed, yet governments offer programs to help people get employed. Or: we don't have to make homelessness illegal before we bring in solutions for housing. Protecting minors is a separate issue from whether something is legal or not. Trading cars is legal; selling a car to an eleven-year-old is not. To prevent that, should we make auto trading illegal?