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Yeimy Davis
Professor Steven A. Hall
English 1010
30 April 2015
Exploration Essay
Legalization of Prostitution in the United States
Prostitution has been around for centuries and is often referred to as civilizations oldest
profession. Many people see this morally questionable industry as having a negative impact in
society and believe that because of this it should be illegal. Prostitution is in fact a multi-billion
dollar service industry that is gaining attention in economic studies in the United States and around
the world. The fact that it is illegal allows the industry to be controlled by gangs and contribute to
violence and disease in our society. Prostitution should be legalized, taxed, and regulated in order
to empower the women involved, control disease, and generate tax revenue. It is something that we
can no longer try to ignore and pretend that it doesnt exist, but instead needs to be closely
regulated and supervised in order to make a safer place for everyone. It has also been found that
people who support gender equality tend to support the legalization of prostitution. In a study that
was conducted it was found that Those who support gender equality are more likely to have a
positive attitude toward the legalization of prostitution. (Jakobsson, N., & Kotsadam, A.)
One of the major problems with prostitution in the United States is the involvement of
intermediaries such as pimps and brothels. The presence of intermediaries creates a problem
because they are usually ran by gangs and drug cartels since the industry is illegal. The majority of
the earnings are kept by the intermediaries (untaxed) and a small percentage goes to the men and
women who work as prostitutes. The presence of intermediaries also adds to the violence and
danger of the industry because they are controlled by gangs and drug cartels. There are some
countries where prostitution is has already been legalized such as the United Kingdom and
Germany. Studies indicate that in these countries it is less likely to have these types of
intermediaries since the government is able to play that role and more money is able to go to the

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prostitutes themselves. One study says that Prostitution is a multi-billion dollar industry

eliminating pimps and brothels may shift surplus. (Cameron, S., Collins, A., & Neill, T.) There is
also less violence and disease due to the regulations that are put into place. Another important
aspect to recognize is the amount of revenue that would be generated by tax revenue if the
government were able to be involved at that level.
Another major issue is that the criminalization of prostitution has been enforced in a
discriminatory way and has had a much greater focus on the suppliers of commercial sex much
more than the demand side. One study described this by saying Criminalization, however, only
really affected the sellers of sex. The demand side continued to buy sex with near impunity.
(Johnson, E. M.) This discriminatory enforcement by the courts has made it so more and more
women prostitutes are being arrested, but the male solicitors have not been targeted very much.
Putting prostitutes in jail has a negative economic effect because it costs a lot of tax payers money
to maintain overcrowded prisons. If prostitution were legalized then we would not only have
another source of income due to taxes received, but we would also be saving money by having less
overcrowded prisons filled with non-violent offenders.
If prostitution were legalized, one of the major worries that people have is the level of
exposure that they would have through advertisements. It makes sense that we would not want to
be exposed to sexually explicit images in advertisements and this would likely have a negative
effect on our society. In many areas where prostitution is legal there are heavy regulations put into
place to protect the general public from this type of media. It seems to be similar to the types of
restrictions that we have for cigarettes and alcohol. It is argued that if the proper regulations were
put into place then this would not be such a big issue.
In conclusion, I think that legalizing prostitution in the United States would have an overall
positive impact on our society. By doing so it would severely limit the income of violent gangs and
drug cartels by cutting off one of the main sources of revenue. With the government involved it
would enable a healthier and safer work environment and help reduce disease and violence that are

now present in this industry. Legalization would create a huge source of revenue for the

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government by taxation of the billion dollar industry and would even help save taxpayers money
by not having to pay to support those who have been arrested and are in prison due to
discriminatory law enforcement. If properly regulated it doesnt seem like there would be any more
exposure to the general public than what is already present. The fact is that prostitution has been
around since the beginning and it is not going to just disappear anytime soon, so legalization seems
to be the best way to live with it and make the most out of the imperfect society that we are a part
of.

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Works Cited
Cameron, S., Collins, A., & Neill, T. "Prostitution Services: An Exploratory
Empirical Analysis." Applied Economics 31.12 (2010): 1523-529. Print.
Jakobsson, N., & Kotsadam, A. "Gender Equity and Prostitution: An
Investigation of Attitudes in Norway and Sweden." Feminist Economics 17.1
(2011): 31-58. Print.
Johnson, Elizabeth. "Buyers Without Remorse: Ending the Discriminatory
Enforcement of Prostitution Laws." Texas Law Review 92 (2014): 717-48. Print.

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