Prostitution - legalise it to avoid more Picktons

[Karlin]

Why serial killers target prostitutes
http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/crime/targeting-prostitutes.html

Why are prostitutes such a target?
S.E. For a variety of reasons. The main one is that they are vulnerable and they are vulnerable because they are available.

The other aspect is: Who is going to report a missing prostitute? If it's another prostitute, she may not have credibility with the police.

They are the most at-risk people for serial killers that I know of, at least in the U.S. and Canada.

Calls for leglising prostitution are being made in the wake of the Pickton trial and as murders of prostitutes around the world continues, recently in London England.

Besides the vulnerability and availablity, prostitues are murdered because prohibition has the effect of making certain people seem 'of lesser value'. This theme comes up anywhere crimes are attached to people [or any living thing?] - the "Why do you eat meat?" thread had a funny reply that said "I only eat meat from convicted felon cattle".

Thats what a crime does, it makes the guilty ones 'of lesser value', without the rights and the respect others have.

"So don't make that choice" is the obvious reply.

However, when the LAW that is written that makes certain 'common human activites' crimes is based on a morality that not everyone agrees with, that we do not all adhere to, there is certain to be lots of guilty people, and they will all be 'de-valued'. Acts like 'having sex', or taking drugs' are not seen by some people, maybe by many people, as 'bad things'. WE do these things, not all of us but some of us. Laws against basic human needs are going to create these kidns of problems!!

There is marriage, or just dating - most people could get sex that way, but not all of us. Drugs can be got from the doctor, but only 'drugs that they approve of' and only as the doctor permits. Sex and drugs, like it or not, can become strong motivators and the reality is that people are doing "whatever it takes" to get what they crave.

Those two items are key to prositution - drug addiction is nearly 100% in these sex trade workers, thats why they do this work - there is no other way to get the drugs that they have become 'chemically dependant' to. And there are a million reasons why people get addicted.... none of which should mean 'death by Pickton', but that has been the consequence of their addiction. Prohibition of prostitution AND of drugs is the primary framework that creates this horror show.

 

[#juan]

Karlin

I don't think the problem will go away just because we legalise prostitution. The problem is a little more complicated than that.
There are women out there who can demand, and get, $800.00 and more for a one hour "trick". These women work with a known clientele, and wouldn't give the likes of Picton a glance There are others that do the same thing for a little less, and so on down the line and very few would deal with scum like Pickton. Without wanting to be mean or cruel, the downtown east side ladies, because of desperation born of poverty were very near the bottom of the order. The list of clients these girls served must have been a horror show. Their worst client, obviously, was Pickton.

 

[temperance]

No ,thats not the answer --death immediate and swift , no showy trials ,no attention ,no notoriety --death --Pig man needs to go to the front line serve as a scout in the army --if people dont see just death as the answer ,waste our money on him ,the media should be telling us the good of the vitcims however small ,not about him

 

[L Gilbert]

I'm with Temp. No ifs, ands, buts, etc.: just off the SOB.

 

[PsyOp]

That's ridiculous. Like if the serial-killer won't find hookers anymore because it's legalized.
You really think all hookers are going to work legit for a pimp? Even if it was legalized, a lot of hookers would still make the road and nobody will ever know if they get kidnap.

Also, look at Amsterdam, look what kind of city you have with legalized prostitution. That's ugly and sick. It's better like it is, which is basically tolerated for escort. I prefer our system with semi-legal stuff, much more cleaver.

 

[Sparrow]

First of all even before drugs there is prostitution because they is a demand for it, remove the demand and you remove the money. They will not legalize prostitution because law makers are men and they like the excitement of doing something a little notty. If prostitution was legal where would the fun be, gone. Legalization with mandatory medical follow-ups would protect the girls because they could call the police whenever they got a client that mistreated or hurt them. Some of these girls (even the high price ones) go through pretty rough times because their clients feel that because it is illegal they can do whatever they want.

 

[tamarin]

Pickton is a media dream come true. He's going to sell a lot of papers. So who really is the pimp here? Note too virtually every report I see or read always intones "Pickton, the pig farmer." It's classic yellow journalism. Someone's running all the way to the bank.

 

[mapleleafgirl]

thats stupid. wont change thse sickos. theyll still kill people. theyll just find another reason to do it

 

[L Gilbert]

Of course. Mainstream press thrive on the sensational.

Um, not including costs trials and appeals and the costs of the lives they've destroyed, people like Pickton are convicted and then cost the taxpayer $85000+ per year to keep. I find it really strange that there are people around who think that's ok, yet they are all for having some poor bear killed because it's a nuisance at a dump. It's immensely sad.

 

[PsyOp]

They will not legalize prostitution because law makers are men and they like the excitement of doing something a little notty.

:stfu:

:?

 

[DurkaDurka]

First of all even before drugs there is prostitution because they is a demand for it, remove the demand and you remove the money. They will not legalize prostitution because law makers are men and they like the excitement of doing something a little notty. If prostitution was legal where would the fun be, gone. Legalization with mandatory medical follow-ups would protect the girls because they could call the police whenever they got a client that mistreated or hurt them. Some of these girls (even the high price ones) go through pretty rough times because their clients feel that because it is illegal they can do whatever they want.

Even if prostitution were legal, the criminals would not be deterred from these acts. There will always be vulnerable women working in this field and they will continues to be harmed and exploited. This type of business attracts all sorts of bad apples, legalizing it will not magically remove the criminal elements from it.

 

[hermanntrude]

prostitution is legal (heavily controlled i think) in amsterdam. I'm sure you've all heard of it. I've been there and seen them. they stand, scantily clad in windows lit with red lights, smiling and maybe beckoning to passers by who seem interested. Ocassionally a punter knocks on a door and asks a question. DON'T try and take a picture... they dont like that.

Anyway it seems to be to be much more civilised to let them stand inside in a "shop" window rather than make them stand under streetlights looking shifty. I wonder what the relavent crime rates are in amsterdam?

weirdly the rest of the netherlands is strangely conservative. only amsterdam is crazy

 

[Gonzo]

There will always be pimps out there taking advantage of women, and there will always be Picktons out there picking up these women. He wouldn't go to a legit run house to do what he wanted to do. He wouldn't of gotten away with it for long if the police actually cared that prostitutes went missing.

 

[tracy]

There is no way to make prostitution completely safe, but legalizing it would make it a lot safer. I don't know why it continues to be illegal. I just don't see any rational reason for that.

 

[MikeyDB]

Oh come come now Durka Durka...

registering firearms defeated crime....

 

[tamarin]

Gilbert, it is an enigma. In a rights obsessed society, those who are most adept at squashing them enjoy the greatest largesse from the purse of the state.

 

[Gonzo]

How is legalising prostitution going to do away with murder? Marriage is legal and husbands still murder wives.

 

[#juan]

Several people have mentioned Amsterdam and the fact that prostitution is legal in that country. The thing is, that the girls working in the little windows along Canal Street are not the only prostitutes in that city. They are just the most visible. What legalization has done in Holland is get most of the girls off the street. There are still "bar girls" and call girls, but very few prostitutes walking the streets, and that alone makes it safer for the girls. Canada could learn from Holland.

 

[Zzarchov]

Thats faulty logic Gonzo.

A better logic would be booze. People still die due to alcohol, its just a lot fewer.

If you want to cut down on Prostitution, legalize it AND at the same time make it heavily beurocratic and a buzzkill. You'll still get the odd equivalent of a buzzkill, but then you can get them for tax evasion, which has consequences that could actually help.

 

[Karlin]

Well good points - legalising it won't stop the sickos.
Here are three more atricles, including the fedral Report on Legalising Prostitution -

1]
Pig farms and sex legislation
Under the sensationalism and sentimentality lies a serious social issue.
http://www.straightgoods.ca/ViewFeature7.cfm?REF=55


2] blog:
"Legalize prostitution, for all our sakes"
- How do we stop the disappearance and killing of sex-trade workers? asks law professor ALAN YOUNG:
http://tinyurl.com/38yhns

3]2007 Federal Report on Prostitution : The Missing Link

http://sisyphe.org/article.php3?id_article=2560


Those might help clear up some myths about other nations who tried it allready, some good some bad results.

Here is just one paragraph that outlines very well the problems of prohibition of prostiution:

Prostitution per se is not illegal, but a series of criminal prohibitions makes it virtually impossible to conduct this legal business in a safe environment. Pushing sex for hire into a black market opens a Pandora's box of horror.
Hookers cannot rely on state officials to protect them from evil johns. Some are compelled to work with pimps in order to secure protection and territorial exclusivity.
The sex-trade worker cannot recruit the services of a bona fide bodyguard, manager, driver or any other type of security personnel because these employees could be charged with living on the avails of prostitution.
The sex-trade worker cannot extricate herself from the chaotic violence of the streets by moving indoors because moving into this more secure setting could lead to more serious bawdy house charges.
Left to work on dark, isolated streets, the sex-trade worker is prohibited from having a meaningful conversation to screen drive-by johns because "communicating for the purpose of prostitution" is a crime.

All those problems that come from legal implications, that take away the sec trade worker's ability to protect themselves. This is what happens with prohibition of any activity where 'public participation is high'. It removes people from getting any help from any authority, even if the problem they want help with is not related to their core business.