Legalized prostitution?

[akarunway 1]

Man I love Nevada more and more every day. So. Should prostitution be legal in the whole of the USA(world)? As w/ drugs. Legalize and tax. A little history. Talk about a chicken in every pot. LOL >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_Ranch_(Texas)...."In 1905, Jessie Williams, known as "Miss Jessie," bought a small house along the banks of the Colorado River and opened a brothel. Like Swine, Williams maintained a good relationship with local law enforcment and ensured that her house was respectable by excluding drunkards and admitting politicians and lawmen. After receiving word of an imminent crusade against the red-light district, Williams sold her house and purchased eleven acres just outside the city limits of La Grange, and only two blocks from the Houston-Galveston highway. This would be the final location of the Chicken Ranch.[1]

In 1917, the Chicken Ranch began advertising. Under the direction of two sisters who worked in the house, the prostitutes would send packages and letters to local men fighting in World War I. The advertising, as well as an increase in the number of people with automobiles, who could therefore travel further, helped to increase the traffic flow to the brothel. New rooms were added onto the house haphazardly to meet the demand.[1] The brothel "looked like a typical Texas farmhouse, with whitewashed siding and a few side buildings," which held the chickens. The entrance was located in the back of the house, and led to a house with fourteen rooms. No lights or signs indicated that the building housed a brothel.[2]

Every evening, the local sheriff, Will Lossein, would visit the Chicken Ranch to learn the latest gossip and find out if any of the patrons had boasted of crimes. Many local crimes were solved with information gained from these visits. Inside the house, Williams ensured that no further crimes occurred. She often paced the halls, and if she heard anything that suggested one of the customers was bothering a prostitute, Williams would chase him out of the house with an iron rod in her hand.[1]

During the Great Depression, Williams was forced to lower the prices she charged. As the Depression lingered, the number of customers dwindled, and Williams had difficulty making ends meet for her employees. She implemented the "poultry standard," charging one chicken for each sexual act. The number of chickens at the brothel exploded, and soon the place became known as the Chicken Ranch. Williams supplemented her income by selling surplus chickens and eggs.[1]

In 1946, a new sheriff, T.J. Flournoy, took office. He immediately had a direct telephone line installed at the Chicken Ranch so that he could continue his predecessor's tradition of gaining information from the brothel, but without the hassle of traveling to the brothel each evening." And here's a fun little video tour of the place. Not sure about the chicks tho. A little hefty for me.>http://chickenranchbrothel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=502&Itemid=63

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[billvon 2,463]

>Should prostitution be legal in the whole of the USA(world)?

It IS legal in the US. There is no federal law against it, and states are free to decide for themselves. So far only Nevada has allowed it. I'd be fine with California allowing it, subject to similar restrictions as Nevada.

[beowulf 1]

Illegal Prostitution is one of those weird laws. You can do it for free, but as soon as you pay for it it's illegal?!!

Just dumb.

[riddler 0]

How do you make prostitution legal? Take a video camera and record it - now, it's not prostitution (illegal pay for sex), it's pornography (very legal pay for sex).

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[SpeedRacer 1]

I expect we'll finally win the War on Prostitution very soon now.

It could take six days, six weeks,....I doubt six months.

Speed Racer
--------------------------------------------------

[lawrocket 3]

Quote

>Should prostitution be legal in the whole of the USA(world)?

It IS legal in the US. There is no federal law against it, and states are free to decide for themselves. So far only Nevada has allowed it. I'd be fine with California allowing it, subject to similar restrictions as Nevada.

I wonder if the Indian reservations could open up houses of ill repute. I'd never thought about it before...

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[kelpdiver 2]

So long as you can prevent the sex slave trafficking, there's no reason not to legalize it. But this is a huge problem - the indentured servitude era was supposed to have ended in the 18th Century.

[billvon 2,463]

>But this is a huge problem . . .

I agree it is a big problem. But oddly, the sex slave trade is worst in areas where prostitution is illegal.

[kelpdiver 2]

Quote

>But this is a huge problem . . .

I agree it is a big problem. But oddly, the sex slave trade is worst in areas where prostitution is illegal.

While technically illegal in San Francisco, it's barely enforced, and there is an initiative to eliminate it entirely.

But due in part to the large Asian population, there are a sadly high level of sex slaves in the massage parlors (read whorehouses). After becoming aware, it's hard to even contemplate such services when so many of them are not willing participants. Many were told they would be doing various service industry work to pay of X dollars. Once they got to SF, it became 2 or 3X, and they were working girls.

[billvon 2,463]

>But due in part to the large Asian population, there are a sadly
>high level of sex slaves in the massage parlors . . .

Agreed. And that problem does not exist in Nevada, partly because prostitutes know they can go right to the police with any problems. In your situation they have the double whammy of "if you go to the cops, you'll end up in jail for prostitution" and "if you go to the cops you'll be deported."

[akarunway 1]

Quote

So long as you can prevent the sex slave trafficking, there's no reason not to legalize it. But this is a huge problem - the indentured servitude era was supposed to have ended in the 18th Century.

By the looks of the girls in the video they sure ain't starvin.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[billvon 2,463]

Additional note - prostitution is also legal in Rhode Island, but street solicitation and brothels are not.

[base_nz 0]

Not sure about the rest of Australia but in Kings Cross ( NSW ) Its everywhere and legal.....

Why then did they censor the GTA game for NSW so you couldn't hook up with the prostitutes?.... I always wondered that...

.....And you thought Kiwis couldn't fly!!!!

[rasmack 0]

It is legal in Denmark, although there is talk about criminalizing the customers. Experience from Sweden where this has been done suggests, however, that this marginalizes victims of prostitution/trafficking further. A better suggestion that has recently been fielded is to have a "prostitution license". The idea is that every person who wishes to earn a living in this metier must be officially licensed. At the same time it becomes a crime to visit a non-licensed prostitute. You have an obligation to check that she has a license just as you have to know she is old enough.

As a matter of personal freedom I cannot see how one can argue that prostitution should be illegal. You own your body and if you see fit to rent it to others, this is your right. In face of the human suffering I do see the point, though, that enforcing a licensing policy would help those who don't wish to be prostitutes as well as provide targeted treatment for those plying the trade quite voluntarily. It is my guess that they have other needs than the rest of us.

HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227
“I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.”
- Not quite Oscar Wilde...

[base_nz 0]

Quote

. It is my guess that they have other needs than the rest of us.

....Crack???

.....And you thought Kiwis couldn't fly!!!!

[happythoughts 0]

The film industry. Seems like they get paid for prostitution. Thousands of examples.

If you knew that Nicole Kidman really didn't have sex during Eyes Wide Shut, then maybe that is so. Maybe she was just naked, with a naked guy on top of her pretending to hump her, in front of the film crew of 40.

She got paid for that.

Maybe there was no penetration, but everyone we know would still get arrested for it, even if they were just faking it.

[skyjumpsteve 0]

It is legal in Rhode Island (if the act happens indoors) but this is kind of a loop hole that many people are trying to get changed:

http://www.projo.com/news/content/PROSTITUTION_BILL_03-13-08_1F9C07G_v10.372d934.html

[rasmack 0]

Quote

Quote

. It is my guess that they have other needs than the rest of us.

....Crack???

Rather regular physical checkups and targeted therapy offers. Nice to see that prostitution can be discussed in a mature atmosphere free of prejudice.

HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227
“I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.”
- Not quite Oscar Wilde...

[happythoughts 0]

I had an interesting conversation with my neighbor one evening.

She said, "You went to college and sit in an office and put up with all kinds of stress and problems. I sit around and drink all evening, listen to music, and make 2 or 3 times as much. Why would I want your job?"

Nurses tell me that after giving the first 200 sponge baths, it is just a job. Perhaps after the first 500 customers, sex is just a job to a prostitute.

If the sexual aspect eventually doesn't bother someone, then making $800 a day may be attractive.

[rasmack 0]

Quote

If the sexual aspect eventually doesn't bother someone, then making $800 a day may be attractive.

I remember a news paper article about students working their way through school this way (Funny side note: They were all law students). They pointed out that they could work one shift a week and still have far more money than their class mates could get by conventional means.

HF #682, Team Dirty Sanchez #227
“I simply hate, detest, loathe, despise, and abhor redundancy.”
- Not quite Oscar Wilde...

[base_nz 0]

Quote

Quote

Quote

. It is my guess that they have other needs than the rest of us.

....Crack???

Rather regular physical checkups and targeted therapy offers. Nice to see that prostitution can be discussed in a mature atmosphere free of prejudice.

When you have lived in the middle of the Red light district of australia for 3 years its hard to be objective

.....And you thought Kiwis couldn't fly!!!!

[billvon 2,463]

>Nurses tell me that after giving the first 200 sponge baths, it is just a job.
>Perhaps after the first 500 customers, sex is just a job to a prostitute.

True for skydiving and beer tasting; I imagine it would be true for nearly anything.

[kelpdiver 2]

Quote

Nurses tell me that after giving the first 200 sponge baths, it is just a job. Perhaps after the first 500 customers, sex is just a job to a prostitute.

In the best of conditions, certainly. But even in a climate where it is legal, still the potential for STDs and birth control failure, and in the illegal climates, abusive johns, injuries, crime.

Stripping seems to be a safer line, where good money can still be made with much lower risk of consequences.

[billvon 2,463]

>But even in a climate where it is legal, still the potential for STDs and birth control failure . . .

In Nevada, the rate of STD's among legal prostitutes is much lower than in the regular population, and since the mid-80's the rate of HIV infection has been zero.

[akarunway 1]

Quote

>Nurses tell me that after giving the first 200 sponge baths, it is just a job.
>Perhaps after the first 500 customers, sex is just a job to a prostitute.

True for skydiving and beer tasting; I imagine it would be true for nearly anything.

Are you trying to insinuate skydivers and beer dinkers are prostitutes, er I means sluts? Not that I haven't met a few.

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.