Introduction
Prostitution is the act of engaging in sexual activities for payment. A prostitute may be female, male or transgender. The act of prostitution may involve different sexes or the same sex. However, throughout history, most prostitutes are usually of the female gender while the clients are of the male gender. In different societies, the perception of prostitutes differs based on the cultures. In some cultures, prostitution is viewed as a profession; on the other hand, others see it as a shameful activity. Thus, individuals found to be engaging in such activities are shunned or punished severely. However, the clients located with the prostitutes are often not punished.
Currently, since the 1980s people’s attitudes towards prostitution are different primarily because of two developments, firstly, the worldwide spread of AIDS. AIDS has enhanced the rising concerns about public health specifically brought about by prostitution. Secondly, feminist interest and people’s perspectives that prostitution is a consequence and exploitation of one specific gender. Thus, because of these attitudes, the name changed from prostitution to sex workers. Many people become sex workers for different reasons and because it is not regarded as a type of work, legalizing prostitution will be beneficial to the government and sex workers by creating tax revenue, better medical care and protecting prostitutes against violence.
It is difficult to generalize the background of all prostitutes; however, most of them come from poor and less privileged backgrounds. Thus, most of these people are drawn to prostitution at an early age as a way to survive. A pimp manages them but sometimes takes advantage of them. Thus, legalizing prostitution will prevent many people from people who take advantage of the vulnerable.
Additionally, legalization of prostitution will promote better medical care of the sex workers. Often, sex workers contract diseases from their clients. Since prostitution is not a legal job, they are not covered by health insurance companies so, whatever money they earn they use it to survive rather than take care of their health. Neglecting their health proves to be dangerous to the sex worker and also the clients because if they both contract a sexually transmitted disease, the disease can be spread to multiple people endangering the health of many people.
Legalization of prostitution will also reduce the violence against most of these sex workers. The sex workers are raped and beaten when they refuse to engage in sexual activities with some of their clients, but they cannot report such acts because commercial sex is not a legal job. The violence can result in deaths, but because prostitution is not legal nobody comes up to report the perpetrators.
Also, due to the large numbers of people engaging in sex working, if the government legalizes this type of work, it can earn a lot of revenue from it. The returns from prostitution can aid in developing the country’s infrastructure, thus improving the economy. Therefore, because currently, even without legalization, many people are engaging in the business. However, through legalization, the government can exploit this ready market and use it to its advantage.
Conclusion
In summary, due to the lack of available job opportunities in the country, some people can turn to commercial sex as a means of earning income. Therefore, the government should legalize commercial sex as a type of work which people can engage in because, through it, many adverse outcomes can be dealt with the right way.
