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March 18, 2008

What's Wrong with Legalizing Prostitution Keeping Prostitution Legal in Rhode Island, You Ask?

Carroll Andrew Morse

Along with Edward Achorn's Projo op-ed on the state of prostitution in Rhode Island (or maybe that should be on the state of prostitution, Rhode Island), you may want to read this blog item written by Brad Plumer and recommended by Reihan Salam. The post points to a mountain of evidence showing that legalizing prostitution doesn't transform it into just another legitimate business. From Plumer's post…

In 2003, the Scottish government, looking to revamp its own prostitution laws, did a massive report on different policies around the world, and discovered that legalization-plus-regulation comes with its own set of problems.

The study found that, as you'd expect, legalization often led to a dramatic expansion of the sex industry: In Australia, brothels proliferated to the point where they overwhelmed the state's ability to regulate them, and became mired in organized crime and corruption. In many countries, child prostitution and the trafficking of foreign women also increased dramatically. More importantly, surveys found that many sex workers still felt coerced and unsafe even after decriminalization. In the Netherlands—often held up as a model—a survey done in 2000 found that 79 percent of prostitutes were in the sex business "due to some degree of force."

And from one of Plumer's links to an old Insight on the News article
Yet wherever there is regulated prostitution, it is matched by a flourishing black market. Despite the fact that prostitution is legal in 12 Nevada counties, prostitutes continue to work illegally in casinos to avoid the isolation and control of the legal brothels. Even the legal brothels maintain a business link with the illegal pimping circuit by paying a finder's fee to pimps for bringing in new women.

Comments

The brothels in Nevada are 60 miles or more from Vegas (yes I've been to one). If they were right in the city the casino hustlers would dissapear.
Customers wouldn't have to worry about getting ripped off. mugged or killed, arrested or having the "girl's" penis pop out after the act is in progress.

Posted by: Mike at March 18, 2008 8:30 PM