Selling Body for Money: Yes or No

“Prostitution stripped me of my life, my health, everything,” said a victim of prostitution who was interviewed by Coalition against Trafficking in Women (CATW). Prostitution is a behavior of having sex with someone to earn money. Legalizing prostitution refers to the permission for buying and selling women in prostitution; meaning to say that putting prostitution in a system of work which is legal like other general business, such as culinary business, handy-craft business, clothing business, and so on, are acceptable. However, legalizing prostitution makes dilemma because it is profitable for the government and some people who work in it but it also makes the women in this system suffer. There are four major reasons against legalization of prostitution; it increases street prostitution, it still makes the women in the system feel stigmatized, it keeps the women away from prosperity, and it threatens the women by Sexual Transmitted Diseases (STDs) spread.

Whoever stands for legalizing prostitution may assume that the legalization will stop street prostitution, a prostitution system in which the prostitutes spread around the street to wait the clients. It is said that there is no more street prostitution; if it is legalized, there would be more brothels to accommodate the prostitutes. So, the prostitutes must work there and they are also registered as the workers. In fact, legalization of prostitution in Nevada, Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands, according to Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, has been increasing street prostitution. It happens since the prostitutes do not want to be controlled by the brothel system. Consequently, the women prefer being street prostitutes to registering as sex-workers. This finding leads Germany and the Netherlands to reconsider the removal of legal prostitution because in fact it does not decrease street prostitution. So, the legalization does not decrease street prostitution but it instead increases the number of street prostitutes.

Some people believe that the legalization would monitor and control the prostitution as well as other business. As the effect, it may cause an assumption that prostitution is a well-organized job which is recognized by government and the law. Despite this, legalizing prostitution cannot lose the stigma of prostitution as a disrespectful job since many people assume that being a prostitute means being a person who works as a slave of men’s desire. Prostitutes are also assumed as women who have no dignity. If it is monitored and controlled, it tends to include the name of the job in the identity card. It would make the society are easy to recognize anyone whose job is a prostitute. Even though prostitution is legal, it does not guarantee the stigma of prostitution itself being gone. Furthermore, the society will lower or look down the women who work as prostitutes. Actually, nobody wants to be looked down and not accepted by the society because it hurts psychologically.

Adherents of legalizing prostitution claim that legal prostitution can be developed as a big business opportunity which can be taxed to support assessable income for government. Through the industry, prostitution can be organized. In this system, there must be the boss, the employees, and the clients. The women work for the sex industry or brothel and then the industry pays them. Besides, the industry must pay the tax to the government. Hence, all of them get the profit. Even though it can be a big business opportunity and income for government, it does not take the women in happy lives. From the angle of the women, not all women feel happy with their job as prostitutes. The prostitution is just close to exploit them rather than giving them prosperity. Many of them do not want to survive in this way. They do not choose their profession. Instead, some prostitutes are forced to have the profession because of the economic needs with no or few alternatives [Phil B on Philforhumanity.com]. In the other way to earn income, government can develop other industries, such as textile, telecommunication, and nature resources which do not victimize women to work in the sex-industry. It would be better than exploiting women to be sex-workers.

Some supporters also state that legalizing prostitution provides a good access to health check up and contraceptives (in this case: condoms) in order to prevent sexual transmitted diseases (STDs). In countries and states where prostitution is legal, the risk of STDs is lower than in the countries where prostitution is illegal because prostitutes have better access to doctors, medicines, and contraceptives that prevent and reduce STDs [Phil B on Philforhumanity.com]. However, working in the sex-industry is close to the spread of STDs. In one of CATW's studies, U.S. women in prostitution interviewed reported the following: 47% stated that men expected sex without a condom; 73% reported that men offered to pay more for sex without a condom; 45% of women said they were abused if they insisted that men use condoms [Prostitutionresearch.com]. Based on those phenomena, providing better access to health check up and contraceptives are not effective. It does not protect and guarantee the women from STDs’ attack as long as the clients do not care about it.

To sum up, legalization of prostitution gives more bad impact and less profit for the women in this system. The legalization will increase hidden prostitution since the women do not want the society know about their job. Legalizing prostitution is about taking the women in this system to people’s stigma in which they believe that prostitution is a disrespectful job; and the legalization cannot change this. Furthermore, it keeps them away from prosperity because there is women exploitation beyond the income from prostitution. To top it all off, it threatens the women by Sexual Transmitted Diseases (STDs) spread since legalizing prostitution does not guarantee the women to be avoided from the diseases. One more important thing is that most women suffer in prostitution psychologically and physically. People in general realize it but do not know how to help them out from this sex industry. The government should be aware of this problem. Making strong laws to ban prostitution and punish whoever takes a role in this industry can be one of the solutions. Furthermore, the government also should supply more job opportunities in order to avoid women to choose prostitution as the last choice. All in all, selling body for money should not be legalized since there are other wiser ways to earn money.

[revise it for a better writing]