4 ms·

When prostitution is illegal, they are not able to receive the protection of society and the police. They are not able or discouraged from taking advantage of

When prostitution is illegal, they are not able to receive the protection of society and the police. They are not able or discouraged from taking advantage of social welfare programs. We are taking an already vulnerable and preyed upon population and essentially throwing them to the wolves. I'm agreeing with you, just want to add that dimension which you touch upon but is the core of my belief.

nickpsecurity 10y ago
Oh yeah, what you said is consistent with what I learned from them.
kalleboo 10y ago
> When prostitution is illegal, they are not able to receive the protection of society and the police I always thought the Swedish approach was pragmatic. Prostitution isn't illegal, but purchasing sexual services is. So the prostitutes have nothing to fear, only the johns.
- wsc981 10y ago
  I think the Swedish approach is not reasonable at all. Either make both purchase and selling of sexual services illegal or neither. The Swedish approach makes no sense to me. Basically the Swedish approach marks the johns as the 'bad guys'. While many consumers of prostitution are just your average Joe that might have an unhappy marriage and needs to blow off some steam once in a while. Or a john might be an ugly or disabled guy that has big trouble finding a girlfriend. Also, I believe in the whole prostitution legalisation discussion, the opinion of the prostitutes is almost never asked. There might be help groups (perhaps with a Christian, feminist or other motive) that are asked their opinions on legislation, but the prostitutes themselves seem to be ignored. Perhaps they are too often viewed as damaged goods. As people that can't make good choices by themselves. On Twitter I follow a prostitute[0] that _seems_ to be an engineer during daytime and prostitutes herself in the evenings and weekends, more like a hobby. I also know another woman in The Netherlands that is a secretary during daytime, but in the weekends she often prostitutes herself, mainly to a group of regular customers (she doesn't advertise much, AFAIK). Also in The Netherlands there's an interesting blog [1] by a woman that prostitutes herself at home, but in the past worked at various locations. All of these woman seem to be perfectly fine with their choices. --- [0]: https://twitter.com/kanstaandpijpen?lang=en https://twitter.com/kanstaandpijpen?lang=en [1]: http://zondares.blogspot.com http://zondares.blogspot.com
  - nickpsecurity 10y ago
    The prostitutes you mentioned would be fine under the Swedish system since they're under no risk and their johns under very low risk. That's the benefit of it. The system in my country keeps prostitutes in fear for what police or johns might do to them. I'd definitely take the Swedish system as a compromise if they wouldn't legalize it straight-up. I prefer the situation in Nevada where they did legalize it. There's generally specific places (brothels) where you go for the prostitutes. They might invite you at bars. The women have a nice location, everyone gets STD checks, and there's security on-hand in case of unruly customers. Owner and state obviously makes money. Customers that are pro-prostitution are happy. Those anti-prostitution at least know the stuff is at a distance from them. If not decriminalization, it's the compromise I push in the U.S. with something like Swedish model if other side is dominated by hard liners.
- umanwizard 10y ago
  So they have a service that's illegal to buy, but not to sell? How is that pragmatic at all?
  - nickpsecurity 10y ago
    It hurts the buyers instead of the often-desperate women. Also, keeps the women from being vulnerable to attacks that happen when it's illegal on their side. It's not ideal but it's better than the current system in the U.S.. Also, depending on area, police might leave buyers alone subject to conditions like it staying out of the open (e.g. red-light districts).

nickpsecurity 10y ago

Oh yeah, what you said is consistent with what I learned from them.

kalleboo 10y ago

> When prostitution is illegal, they are not able to receive the protection of society and the police I always thought the Swedish approach was pragmatic. Prostitution isn't illegal, but purchasing sexual services is. So the prostitutes have nothing to fear, only the johns.

wsc981 10y ago
I think the Swedish approach is not reasonable at all. Either make both purchase and selling of sexual services illegal or neither. The Swedish approach makes no sense to me. Basically the Swedish approach marks the johns as the 'bad guys'. While many consumers of prostitution are just your average Joe that might have an unhappy marriage and needs to blow off some steam once in a while. Or a john might be an ugly or disabled guy that has big trouble finding a girlfriend. Also, I believe in the whole prostitution legalisation discussion, the opinion of the prostitutes is almost never asked. There might be help groups (perhaps with a Christian, feminist or other motive) that are asked their opinions on legislation, but the prostitutes themselves seem to be ignored. Perhaps they are too often viewed as damaged goods. As people that can't make good choices by themselves. On Twitter I follow a prostitute[0] that _seems_ to be an engineer during daytime and prostitutes herself in the evenings and weekends, more like a hobby. I also know another woman in The Netherlands that is a secretary during daytime, but in the weekends she often prostitutes herself, mainly to a group of regular customers (she doesn't advertise much, AFAIK). Also in The Netherlands there's an interesting blog [1] by a woman that prostitutes herself at home, but in the past worked at various locations. All of these woman seem to be perfectly fine with their choices. --- [0]: https://twitter.com/kanstaandpijpen?lang=en https://twitter.com/kanstaandpijpen?lang=en [1]: http://zondares.blogspot.com http://zondares.blogspot.com
- nickpsecurity 10y ago
  The prostitutes you mentioned would be fine under the Swedish system since they're under no risk and their johns under very low risk. That's the benefit of it. The system in my country keeps prostitutes in fear for what police or johns might do to them. I'd definitely take the Swedish system as a compromise if they wouldn't legalize it straight-up. I prefer the situation in Nevada where they did legalize it. There's generally specific places (brothels) where you go for the prostitutes. They might invite you at bars. The women have a nice location, everyone gets STD checks, and there's security on-hand in case of unruly customers. Owner and state obviously makes money. Customers that are pro-prostitution are happy. Those anti-prostitution at least know the stuff is at a distance from them. If not decriminalization, it's the compromise I push in the U.S. with something like Swedish model if other side is dominated by hard liners.
umanwizard 10y ago
So they have a service that's illegal to buy, but not to sell? How is that pragmatic at all?
- nickpsecurity 10y ago
  It hurts the buyers instead of the often-desperate women. Also, keeps the women from being vulnerable to attacks that happen when it's illegal on their side. It's not ideal but it's better than the current system in the U.S.. Also, depending on area, police might leave buyers alone subject to conditions like it staying out of the open (e.g. red-light districts).