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so far it's pretty tight, 16 yes's to 20 no's. xpt is full of dirty hooker fuckers, clearly.

personally, i'll all for legalising prostitution- i'm pretty sure that that's the situation here in australia- but i don't think that it solves too many issues other than reducing criminal records. in terms of safety, i think as long as "dead hooker" is a universal punchline it's always going to be a dangerous industry. and health risks- look at the netherlands, where sex workers have the same legal right as any other self-employed professional, and 7% of them still have hiv. seven percent!

the problem is, i just can't see it ever getting to the stage where the majority of prostitutes are in the industry purely for economic reasons. sure, there'll always be a demand for a sex industry, and thus there'll always be an incentive for sex workers to satisfy that demand. but not all clients can spend hundreds on top class "escorts", there'll always be people who can only afford a ten dollar backseat fuck. and i think therein lies the problem- who's going to service that market? who, without a drug habit, emotional problem or financial desperation, can rationalise that their vagina is worth ten dollars?

sure, legalise prostitution and spend resources trying to prevent underage prostitution, sex slavery and macro issues such as drug abuse and poverty, but understand that unless there's a massive paradigm shift in society, prostitution will remain an industry you probably don't want to be working in.

in my opinion, of course.



I am in 100% percent agreement with you. There will always be sad, desperate people on the dregs of society, and there will always be those who are delighted to prey on them.

I like to use the analogy of wearing seatbelts. Wearing a seatbelt isn't always going to save your life in a car accident, but you've got a better shot at survival. Similarly, there is not a 100% perfect solution to the problem of prostitution, but I think you can see how, for example, a legal brothel with security staff and regular health checks is a much safer environment for a prostitute to work in than a street corner or even a Hyatt. Strength in numbers.