Re: Legalize Prostitution
I agree with legalizing prostitution. (It is legal in Denmark to a certain extent and yes - prostitutes do pay taxes. Being a pimp is not legal and the sentence can be severe). I have no romantic illusions about a trade that can be hard on both body, mind and social life, I don't believe in the "happy hooker" sort of concept, and I realise that quite a few women are being exploited this way. However, in my eyes this has more to do with social issues - drug abuse, unemployment, bad education, cruel parents etc. - than with the act of prostitution itself. Let's just pretend, if only for a second, that prostitution could be stopped totally by a ban. Would the social problems then disappear? Certainly not.
Quite a few university students where I come from make a living from high class prostitution as expensive call girls or escort girls. It is not a thing I would recommend - some of them find it difficult to have a normal relationship with a man afterwards - but most of the girls know this and just do it for the almost obscene amount of money that an equally obscene hour or to can provide them with.
Sweden has tried to cope with prostitution in quite a radical way: The prostitutes are left alone. But it is illegal for any man (or woman) to be a customer. If a government really wants to send a signal that prostitution is unwanted, there is some sense to this method, in the way that it is not the women but the customers that are made out to be the criminals.
Regards, Susanne
