Comment by kgermino | Hacker News Reader

Comment by kgermino | Hacker News Reader

Serious Question: Why does prostitution need to be illegal?

  In the U.S. it is *legal* to:
  Have random, unprotected sex with anyone you want
  Have sex with someone only if they take you out to dinner or give you a nice gift, as long as it's not a direct cash payment
  Pay someone to have sex as long as its videotaped and records are kept (pornography)
  Etc.

But it is illegal for one consenting adult to pay another consenting adult directly for sex?

Why is this illegal? Especially since as the "services" get more expensive there is less and less actual sex happening. Multiple studies have shown that prostitution is less about the sex than about the john paying to have a responsibility and stress free relationship.

I may be missing something and be completely wrong but thats my $.02.

One reason for making it illegal - it's one of those things that no one wants in their town. No one wants coal burning power plants in their town but that is easily to regulate. In today's internet area having the transaction be online and the transgression to take place in private would be fine. The question i how do you ensure that.

One option is to regulate it. You could make it illegal to pick up someone on the street and regulate it so that most if not all meetups would occur either online or by someone calling a number they found in a phone book. I would think that it could be set up so that finding a prostitute goes similarly to finding a contractor, or anyone else in the home service industry. Other than hiring someone from the parking lot of Home Depot you don't generally see contractors soliciting. Additionally advertising could be regulated so that you don't see it happening unless you look for it. That won't appease the religious extremists but it will help prevent parents from having to deal with kids asking "Mommy, what's an escort?"

It's not actually illegal everywhere in the US, for example, prostitution is legal in some counties in Nevada. The main reason though is that there are too many religious pundits.

Don't try to find logic in this. Some things are even stranger: in Washington state it's legal to go to casino, but it's illegal to gamble online.

It makes complete sense to be legal (and even taxed and regulated). Religious fundies will never let it happen.

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