Should Prostitution Be Legal?

Governments and citizens around the world are debating:

should prostitution be

Legal?

Illegal?

When the purchase of sex, brothel keeping, and pimping are made legal the demand for commercial sex increases, causing a rise in sex trafficking.

Greater demand for prostitution caused by legalization and decriminalization creates an increase in the market for sex.

This creates a more dangerous environment for those selling sex because it drives prices down and the need for riskier sex acts up. And since there aren't enough women prostituting to meet the increased demand, trafficking increases.

Proving this point, researchers from the London School of Economics did a quantitative empirical analysis of over 150 different countries and their prostitution policies. Their study found that “The scale effect of legalizing prostitution leads to an expansion of the prostitution market and thus an increase in human trafficking... On average, countries with legalized prostitution experience a larger degree of human trafficking inflows.”^[1]

[1] Cho, Seo- Young, Axel Dreher, and Eric Neumayer. "Does Legalized Prostitution Increase Human Trafficking?" World Development 41.1 (2013): 67-82. Social Science Research Network. Web. 12 July 2013.

The best policy for prostitution is one that promotes equality, freedom from exploitation, and helps to prevent sex trafficking by reducing the demand for commercial sex.

This model of policy is called the “Nordic model” because it was first adopted in the Nordic countries. It criminalizes the purchase of sex by making it a felony level offense while decriminalizing those who sell it, offering them social services instead of jail time.

Countries who have adopted this model have seen tremendous success in reducing sex trafficking and helping women exit the sex trade.

Learn more about prostitution

Watch Nefarious: Merchant of Souls

Additional footnotes from video
[7] UK Home Office (2004) Solutions and Strategies: Drug Problems and Street Sex Markets: London: UK Government
[8] Raymond, J., D’Cunha, J., Dzuhayatin, S. R., Hynes, H. P., Ramirez Rodriguez, Z., & Santos, A. (2002). “A comparative study of women trafficked in the migration process: Patterns, profiles and health consequences of sexual exploitation in five countries (Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Venezuela and the United States)”. N. Amherst, MA: Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW). Retrieved March 15, 2003, from http://action.web.ca/home/catw/readingroom.shtml?x=17062
[9] Vanwesenbeeck, I. (1994) Prostitutes' Well-Being and Risk. VU University Press, Amsterdam.

Governments and citizens around the world are debating: