Introduction: Prostitution has been an occupation since civilization had begun. In ancient Greece, there was a ritualized form of sacred prostitution. In other countries like Rome and Japan, prostitution was targeted at the upper class in order to earn more money for both the sex worker and the state. So for such a sacred and high class job, how come there is this stigma surrounding it?
Statement of Background/Proposition: Prostitution is illegal in the United States. With the exception of Nevada, soliciting sex and the purchase of sex is an act worthy of charge and imprisonment. Even in Nevada where brothels and sex work is legal, there still remains a stigma that many believe the trade to be a debaucherous and immoral work. Amnesty International,…show more content… According to Business Insider, “a study of San Francisco prostitutes found that 82% had been assaulted and 68% had been raped while working as prostitutes” (Fuchs). Prostitutes have an extremely high chance of being sexually assaulted; the illegality of prostitution has ensured that victims of these attacks will not report to police because they instead will be arrested for breaking prostitution laws. In the New York times, according to Gilliam Abel, the head of the department of health in a university in New Zealand, “sex workers can now request police assistance… without fear of being held accountable for involvement in the illegal acts themselves” (Gonchar). By decriminalizing prostitution, sex workers are no longer accountable for rapes and attacks. The decriminalization of prostitution also grants workers the choice to having protected sex. While “illegal street prostitutes” would have to be compliant to “pimps and Johns to forgo condoms,” Nevada requires “sex workers to use condoms and get tested for sexually transmitted diseases” (Fuchs). An institutionalized form of prostitution would require for workers to perform safe sex and get tested for STDs. While pimps and johns would exploit the sex worker, decriminalization ensures that they are protected by the law from these clients and
