A School for Johns

In my city there are ads for prostitutes on the Internet and even in the phone book! Is prostitution itself illegal or only streetwalking? I wouldn't want crime to come to my neighborhood associated with street hookers, but why in the world do we criminalized prostitution carried out in private? Is it the Religious Right, again preventing us from doing the rational thing?

I have said it before and will say it again: When a young woman can make more money in one night of prostitution than she can working three months at McDonald's which do you think she will choose? All these whiners who talk about exploitation of women never offer women viable alternatives to prostitution. They sit smuggly in their self-rightiousness preaching about the evils of selling sex, yet not one of them would offer a prostitute a better-paying job or if needed, a place to stay and food to eat. Taxing the industry would take money away from the workers and put it ito the hands of useless government bureaucrats. It would hurt the very people it is supposed to help. The best thing to do is for government and meddlesome social groups to leave the industry the hell alone. Prostitution has been around longer than any other industry and has done just fine without government.

South Florida has thousands of prostitutes I mean thousands and they advertise on websites as escort services for years without any prosecution from the police. Why? Because just as in the days of Al Capone, the mob pays off someone at city hall and business continues as usual. In South Florida alone prostitution is a billion dollar industry. Don't think for one moment if I see escort services on craigs list and other established websites tthat the cops don't know. Corruption and allows this to persist... I think it is between two consenting adults what they do. I just hate the fact that the agencies get half of the girls money and they did all the work.

I am interested in knowing how the editor could publish this story without checking the facts. There is no way 80% of human trafficers could be women and 50% children. That is 130%....duh!

Posted By: techresmgt @ 12/20/2008 9:35:38 AMBlah, blah, blah, here we go again. Women are victims, men are criminals. Male bashing must end. If prostitution is illegal, women are as culpable as men. Thinking otherwise is akin to saying those that grow and distribute drugs are 'victims' and the 'users' are criminals. Get a grip on reality, it's great out here.

i agree 100% with you on this ,what is it women always say? o yes "it takes two to tango" how can they blame one participant and not the other.this is not only clouding the issue it is making it worse ,saying ok lets make it legal to sale sex but illegal to buy it is like saying lets make it leagal to rob someone but illegal to be robbed,sounds stupid but it is no more stupid then blaming the men for paying prostitutes for sex .If there were no prostitutes the men wouldnt be paying them

i will agree some of the prostitutes working in the united states are underage or forced to work in the sex industry mainly because there is no standard set in the industry as long as it is illegal people(sick ones) will continue to use children as well as prostitutes forced into it for sex but if it were legalized then men wouldnt be goig out finding them on the streets or back alleys or wherever they could be in a controlled environment where they are safe and regulated as far as age and and legal citizenship go . the men are gonna continue to use prostitutes no matter what the government,religion ,or other women say it is the oldest profession for a reason and wont be stopped by any of this the best thing to do would be to legalize it so it can be regulated and made safe for the prostitutes as well as for the men that use them. as far as the comment about germany goes rethinking their decision to legalize it that is completely false i have spent time in germany and not only are they not thinking about making it illegal again they are making more in taxes and other fee's from it to make the country more stable and better to live in

Blah, blah, blah, here we go again. Women are victims, men are criminals. Male bashing must end. If prostitution is illegal, women are as culpable as men. Thinking otherwise is akin to saying those that grow and distribute drugs are 'victims' and the 'users' are criminals. Get a grip on reality, it's great out here.

By reading the comments here, I think people have gotten off the subject alil bit with all the gay bashing, comparing prositution to marriage and all the "men" bragging about their little play toys they pay tutition and bils for every month. For me, (and I hope for others) is that many many many of these women are seriously in trouble. One women I know said her NOTHER was her pimp. She said she was the darkest of her mothers children so hew mother didnt like her. Another girl was stabbed and pushed from a moving car of a john who was trying to kill her. She is ok by the Grace of God. And when I mean shes ok....... she is physically fine...other then that.....shes not ok at all. Another girl started "hoing" when she was 13 years old. Now all this info I didnt pull out of my nose. I have the rare and special opportunity to work these women as I am a social worker who assists people in retaining employment, education or any other training that will allow employable skills. I attend a court ordered class that these women and men are ordred to attend
when they are caught for solicitation. I get to see, hear and feel what these women go through. I dont know about anyone else but I couldnt fathom my mom hating me cause of my skin color let alone pimp me out. And Im almost willing to bet within reason the majority of us didnt experience that. If you did experience that or any other abuse I am truly sorry. And before people start blaming the women and men that I see at these classes or judge them (which is NOT your responsibility to do), please become more informed and put yourself in their shoes. Or better yet, put your daughter, sister, brother, wife, friend, mother or anyone you love in the place of that woman who was thrown from the car.

"A 2007 study by San Francisco psychologist and prostitution expert Melissa Farley found that in places where commercial sex is legal [...] and the Netherlands???illegal prostitution, as well as the number of rapes and assaults against prostitutes, has increased.[..] Both Germany and the Netherlands???country infamous for their red-light districts???are reconsidering their decisions to legalize the practice. This is not true.

I find it interesting when people say that making prostitution legal will make it harder to stop human trafficking. When the truth is that human trafficking also has been found in the domestic services industry, (sold to people who need cleaning people); the chocolate industry, (sold ot people who need people to pick the cocoa plant); and even the meat industry (sold to people who need people to slaughter the animals for food).
Are any of these industries illegal? Would making them illegal help find human traffickers?
If you're going to go after human trafficking, then go after the traffickers!! It's like making all drugs illegal simply because there are people cooking meth in a basement.....

If you look at the 5.7 million dollars that the city has made on the program its not hard to see the motivation behind only punishing half of the law breakers

In an age where sexual irresponsibility is rapant San Fransico is encouraging the pratice of immorality.... with adopting prostitution as a legal .... along with gay marriage..... it is no wonder that the Hispanic population has an increase in HIV..... there is a liberalism that is spreading it's infectious disease throughout the planet and is causing all sorts of problems....

well as the late George Carlin said, "If *** is legal, and selling is legal, then why isnt selling *** legal?"