The Question of Legalized Prostitution

Interesting discussion in the New York Times presenting many sides of the debate on legalized prostitution. In terms of the legal definition of trafficking, if a person is over age 18, then there must be force, fraud or coercion present if the person partakes in the commercial sex industry. If a person is under 18, lack of consent is presumed. Read on.

Is Prostitution Safer When It’s Legal?

DEBATERS

Labor Laws, Not Criminal Laws, Are the Solution

CAROL LEIGH, BAY AREA SEX WORKERS ADVOCACY NETWORK

Legality Leads to More Trafficking

RACHEL LLOYD, AUTHOR, "GIRLS LIKE US"

Criminalize Only the Buying of Sex

MAX WALTMAN, STOCKHOLM UNIVERSITY

Ignore the Stigma and Focus on the Need

MARTHA C. NUSSBAUM, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO

Nevada’s Legal Brothels Make Workers Feel Safer

BARBARA G. BRENTS, UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS

Legality Brings Protection and Better Care

CHIKA UNIGWE, AUTHOR, "ON BLACK SISTERS STREET"

Such Oppression Can Never Be Safe

NORMA RAMOS, COALITION AGAINST TRAFFICKING IN WOMEN

Nevada’s Legal Brothels Are Coercive, Too

STELLA MARR, SURVIVORS CONNECT

INTRODUCTION

Jim Wilson/The New York Times

Prostitutes wait for customers at a legal brothel in Nevada.

Some say laws against prostitution unfairly victimize women. A Canadian court recently ruled that laws preventing brothels endangered prostitutes by forcing them to work on the streets. And as the recent Secret Service scandal makes clear, in Colombia, prostitution is legal in “tolerance zones.” But in Spain, prostitution is essentially legal, and the nation has become a magnet for sex trafficking. Can legalized prostitution ever be safe and free of exploitation? Or should laws against prostitution remain?