Ask Lemmy

Never had anything to do with it personally, but just like with drugs it should be legal and regulated because it's impossible to prohibit it.

As a former prostitute its work and legitamite work but it needs more protection

It should be legal, safe, and taxed

Sex work is just work, as long as it is all between consenting adults.

Absolutely should be legal and taxed, with rules and regulations in place to protect clients and workers.

I pretty much do have moral objections to it, its fundamentally gross to me, but its not going to stop and id rather these prostitutes work in a safe place and pay their taxes like the rest of us than get their passports taken by a guy named The Scorpion with a spider Web tattooed on his neck.

Looking at the pros and the cons, it must be the opposite of CONstitution.

...I'll see myself out.

So long as everyone is able to legally and safely consent I don't see an issue.

If the individual selling their services is doing so freely and isn't being exploited in any sort of way then I don't have a problem with it.

I don't have a problem with prostitution, I have a problem when socioeconomic conditions lead people to feeling like they have to sell their bodies to survive. If prostitution is completely voluntary, then it's fine.

I have friends and love ones who have done survival sex work, there is nothing wrong doing sex work and I'm happy to fight people who say othrrwise

The only thing more certain to exist till the end of time than prostitution is people complaining about it. I like it because it makes something explicit that is implicit in so many apparently non transactional relationships. There are so many people who say prostitution should be banned, who are also in relationships/marriages where they expect sex for shelter, food, safety or whatever. Prostitution makes the transaction clear. People point to the exploitative nature of it, but then reveal their real agenda by also rejecting the idea of making it safer for the people selling access to their bodies. The whole thing is a massively hypocritical pile of double standards. Mix into that cultures with backwards patriarchal religious doctrines and that's where you get the really angry people who talk about dishonor and stoning and all that jazz. Prostitution has been around since there were people and will always be around. When the puritans are in charge it just hides for a bit. This has been my TED talk, thanks lol

As long as all parties involved are consenting adults it’s none of my business what they are up to. Except that prostitution should be legalized in a way in which they get equal rights and protections to other professions. The only reason it’s illegal in many countries in the first place is likely based on religious Puritanism, which I do not think laws should ever be based on.

Your body, your choice

Whatever two consenting adults do between them shouldn't be anybody else's business

I have no opinion. Never tried it.

I do worry more than a few prostitutes may not be that willing to do that, though.

I think its quite necessary profession and also extremely compassionate one. Those doing it should be protected and appreciated better.

So long as it's regulated and all parties are safe and consenting then it's none of my business. It's not something i'd be interested in however. To each their own.

I think it should be legal, monitored, and taxed - like cannabis and alcohol. Between consenting adults, not a problem.

I think there’s a lot of mental health issues, and there’s a lot of abuse not all of which will be addressed by legalizing prostitution, but that’s not unique to sex work.

Unfavourable, but I'm also aware that is gonna happen regardless of my (or anyone else's, including the government's) opinion on it. So it should be legal and strictly regulated to ensure that it's as safe as possible for everyone involved.

Its an acutely exploitative labor relation that should be heavily regulated within a capitalist system in order to reduce the amount of abuse the people engaging in it experience. Ideally I want a system where no one feels a need to sell their body for a living. No one should be coerced into sexual relations.

I'm fine with either, i understand why some countries ban it and why some don't. However if legalised, it absolutely has to be regulated very seriously. People working on that field need to be protected against abusive workplace conditions that can occur. If the govt cannot provide that protection, it's better to outright ban it.

Many complaints against prostitution also apply to trading labor for money/shelter in general. People just have a stronger emotional response.

Emotional responses are rarely a good foundation for policy.

Prostitution should be legal with safety regulations. All labor should have protections, unions, and such, to protect them from being abused by the wealthy.

Some specific things would probably remain illegal or disallowed, in the same sense that you're not allowed to work construction without safety gear. People can wear condoms as easily as hard hats and hi-viz vests.

I'm not going to read through to find where Carlin was already quoted, but I stick with "selling is legal, f****** is legal, why isn't selling f****** legal?

Im old school and think humans should not legally be able to do this. But since they will do it anyway, without legal support, the issue is more complicated.

I guess its better if they have legal support if they are going to do it anyway.

As a dude, i sucked a dick for big money to some rich old guy. With inflation, over 900 dollars for like nothing. So im biased

I think it needs to be legalized world wide to give it an opportunity to be regulated. If its already happening might as well capitalism the industry. Its going to happen either way, or the world will continue to have deep state sex clubs.

One of the commenters said it was fundamentally gross to them..

It's fundamentally depressing to me: intimacy's .. unending.

There's no such thing as "a 1-night stand", or "just a fuck" .. you'll never be unmixed with that someone..

& doing it as mere-transaction, or mere-physicality .. ??

but apparently that view that most of a someone isn't physical, & most of sex isn't physical either, is deemed to be nonsense,

& pretending that merely-physical is "all that exists" is actually common ..

so, my perspective is deemed lunacy or idiocy by this world.

But seeing women being used for mere-physical sensation by random strangers, as a purchased-transaction .. that's depressing..

I wish the world didn't work that way.

I'm with all the people who want prostitution not-criminalized, who want it taxed & regulated, & I'd add that I want pimping criminalized: let women form cooperatives, or something, but nobody should coerce anybody into the biz of being used bodily.

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Legalise and tax it.

I've not done any research but generally making anything illegal is worse for everyone involved.

Depends if you count porn as prostitution. They are doing it for money but not with you as the final customer.

Not a fan of actual person-to-person prostitution, however it shouldn't be illegal. That being said, forced prostitution is a huge problem that must be addressed.

Regulated with provisions for safety. I'm all for the idea it should be in a specific license location, like love hotels or massage parlors or something like that. No going to someones house or a different hotel.

Even in countries were it is legal and has some kind of regulation, it still has exploitative character. Not for all but for many. And I think forced labor, of different degrees, is more common then you think.

Even when regulated and legal, we need to think about the careers after sex work. Can those people freely transfer into a new position without discrimination?

And since there is discrimination, worker rights, and often women and gay rights, are neglected.

To establish a safe working space for sex workers it is not enough to regulate and make it legal. You need to actively support each group individually and make it clear, that as for every other form of employment you have rights and someone else is actively fighting for it. It is not enough to tell people they have rights and they have to fight all by themselves. Especially when we have established that human trafficking, exploitation, femizide, and so much more are common.

So I think the answer should not be: just make it legal and write regulation. It should be: what actually is a safe working space for all, no matter if selfemployed or working in a brothel.