Should Prostitution be legalized?

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Sociology - Gender Studies, grade: B, University of Manchester, language: English, abstract: Should prostitution be legalized? This issue has been debated for many years. There are those who believe that legalizing prostitution will bring benefits like, improved human rights, better health and economic benefits. They also assert that prostitution is the oldest profession and it will always be there. But, legalizing it will increase use of condoms and reduce sexual transmitted infections like HIV/AIDS. They also point out that prostitutes should be left to choose they way they earn their income as that is their right, therefore the society should not interfere with their rights. On the other hand, opponents of prostitution assert that many of these prostitutes are in the business against their will and legalizing it would only increase cases of forced prostitution. They also brought up the issue of sex trafficking and child prostitution; accordingly they point out that prostitution is dehumanizing, risky and dehumanizing. They restate that the abuses and possible dangers for legalizing prostitution outweigh the possible benefits of legalizing prostitution. And the debate goes on: Should prostitution be legalized? This paper enters into this debate by arguing that prostitution should not be legalized, the following points supports this position.