# Why is prostitution illegal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 9, 2019, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482 "2019-01-09T19:05:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482/141 "2019-02-25T10:45:45Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > My ideas have been law across all religions and across all society since the Code of Hammurabi. Oh, [what a spectacularly poor example](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_prostitution#Code_of_Hammurabi) to choose… ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482/142 "2019-02-25T11:29:46Z")
It might screw up with the idea of middle-class marriage contract seekers. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482/143 "2019-02-25T14:50:34Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > I have to admit, the Robert Kraft incident made me wonder why it’s illegal to go to a place where someone manipulates one specific part of your body, but it’s legal to go to a place where people manipulate other parts of your bodies There’s nothing illegal about going somewhere to get any part of your body, including the naughty parts, manipulated in a medical capacity. A better analogy would be that “legitimate” massage is perfectly legal but sexual massage is not. > [@](#): > > Remove the notion of sexual pleasure from the equation and just look at it in as detached a way as possible. “But sexual pleasure is the whole point”, you might say. Maybe so. But then we’re essentially talking about an emotion. And laws against feeling certain emotions seem bizarre. But as I noted earlier in this thread, sexual vs. nonsexual makes a difference when it comes to non-consensual acts. If I touch someone sexually without their consent, that’s a different thing than if I touch them on some more innocent part of their body—and much of the difference does come down to emotion. ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482/144 "2019-02-25T16:43:14Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > But as I noted earlier in this thread, sexual vs. nonsexual makes a difference when it comes to non-consensual acts. If I touch someone sexually without their consent, that’s a different thing than if I touch them on some more innocent part of their body—and much of the difference does come down to emotion. At a “massage parlor”, anyway - the handjob kind - it’s you that’s being touched, not them, and you’re definitely consenting to it. And anyway, if I go around sticking needles in peoples’ bodies, I’d be charged with battery. If I set up an acupuncture practice and charge them money for it, I’m…a legitimate businessman. (Let’s leave aside questions of whether acupuncture actually does anything.) Seems to me that the consent issue would be solved by signing some kind of waiver, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![SIick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/siick/32/7329_2.png) [@SIick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SIick)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482/145 "2019-02-25T18:01:28Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > The US Constitution doesn’t guarantee anyone’s right to earn a living. At best, that might be an un-enumerated right. Under the Ninth Amendment, such rights can exist, although the Ninth does not establish that any such right exists. And the Tenth Amendment places the power to enumerate rights, and thus bring them under the protection of the federal government, with the states and the people. > > Which is why prostitution is legal in some areas. The Constitution doesn’t say anything about it, so it is up to the states or the people. If they want prostitution in their state, the Supreme Court doesn’t, or shouldn’t, interfere. > > Regards, > Shodan Whoever said the U.S. Constitution “guaranteed” anything? Not anyone that took a basic civics course and who understood that the U.S. Constitution is about liberty, justice and opportunity. Seems you glossed over the entire premise of what you think you understand…try again, here it is (Preamble) We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domesticTranquility, provide for the commondefence, promote the generalWelfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and ourPosterity, doordainand establish this Constitution for the United States of America. ---
**Author:** ![tampora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@tampora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tampora)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482/146 "2019-02-25T19:08:23Z")
> [@SIick](#): > > a more perfect Union It’s nice to know that the egotistical nonsense of ‘American Exceptionalism’ has been around since its conception. How do you improve upon perfection, anyways, especially one without established justice, ensured domestic tranquility, et al? ---
**Author:** ![tampora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@tampora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tampora)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482/147 "2019-02-25T19:14:45Z")
late edit: It’s nice to know that the egotistical nonsense of ‘American Exceptionalism’ has been around since its conception. How do you improve upon perfection, anyways? How perfect could it have been if it lacked established justice and assured domestic tranquility, et al? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482/148 "2019-02-25T20:53:30Z")
> [@tampora](#): > > How do you improve upon perfection, anyways? I interpret “more perfect” in that context to mean “closer to perfection.” As in, “The U.S. Constitution isn’t perfect, but at least it’s more perfect than the Articles of Confederation.” ---
**Author:** ![SIick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/siick/32/7329_2.png) [@SIick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SIick)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2019, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482/149 "2019-02-25T22:06:26Z")
> [@tampora](#): > > It’s nice to know that the egotistical nonsense of ‘American Exceptionalism’ has been around since its conception. How do you improve upon perfection, anyways, especially one without established justice, ensured domestic tranquility, et al? Apparently it’s not “egotistical nonsense”…we’re (and by we’re I mean these United States) still here and we’re still #1. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482/150 "2019-02-26T09:40:07Z")
> [@SIick](#): > > we’re still #1. By what metric? ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482/151 "2019-02-26T10:54:41Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Fair enough but you will still have women beholden to criminals…prostituting for drugs for instance. Just because a thing is legal doesn’t mean criminals don’t find a an angle in it to exploit. (For instance “legal” prostitutes who follow the law may be expensive thus making a market for those who charge less and are not so scrupulous about the rules…there would be a market for that). That’s an excellent point. Take Nevada, for instance. Sure, I can get an Uber ride out in the middle of the desert and find a beautiful prostitute that would cost, from my latest reading (no cite) $600-$700 for her basic services. Of course condoms must be used, even for oral sex. Even with that system, there will remain less attractive women who will work in the illicit market, charge less and those willing to perform oral sex, or any other type of sex without a condom. Sure, that’s a stupid thing to do in that profession (whether you are the customer or the prostitute) but there is a demand for it and it happens. You also have the market for a $40 blow job from a crack whore in some alleyway. Legalizing prostitution will not control the latter two markets, and just because we can point to the women who work in the legal brothels and say that they are treated well, do not have diseases, etc. does not even begin to address the still-illicit prostitution market that men will gladly pay for. ---
**Author:** ![SIick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/siick/32/7329_2.png) [@SIick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SIick)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2019, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482/152 "2019-02-26T15:43:16Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > By what metric? Humanitarian, economic, military, not to mention being the beacon for democracy. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2019, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482/153 "2019-02-27T11:15:41Z")
> [@SIick](#): > > Humanitarian, economic, military, not to mention being the beacon for democracy. #1 for military spending and humanitarian aid, certainly, although the extent to which either of those is desirable is debatable. “Economic” covers a wide range of metrics. And as for democracy, the US is way behind pretty much all of Scandinavia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Uruguay, Mauritius, Estonia, Costa Rica and several others in the [Democracy Index](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index). It may once have been a “beacon of democracy” but it is now quite flawed. ---
**Author:** ![SIick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/siick/32/7329_2.png) [@SIick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SIick)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482/154 "2019-02-28T02:41:54Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > #1 for military spending and humanitarian aid, certainly, although the extent to which either of those is desirable is debatable. “Economic” covers a wide range of metrics. And as for democracy, the US is way behind pretty much all of Scandinavia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Uruguay, Mauritius, Estonia, Costa Rica and several others in the [Democracy Index](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index). It may once have been a “beacon of democracy” but it is now quite flawed. The aforementioned countries you listed lean more towards a socialistic form of democracy which is counter to your initial premise. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482/155 "2019-02-28T09:02:48Z")
> [@SIick](#): > > The aforementioned countries you listed lean more towards a socialistic form of democracy which is counter to your initial premise. So Canada is somehow deficient in democracy? Please explain. If it is high taxes on the rich you object to, then the US was not a democracy during the 1950s. ---
**Author:** ![jferigura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bc79bd/32.png) [@jferigura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jferigura)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482/156 "2019-02-28T10:05:45Z")
prostitution has very negative effects and does not improve the situation of the prostitutes; such legal systems only lead to crime and abuse. prostitution in some places and regarded as a profession, while at the other extreme, it is a crime punishable by death in some other places. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2019, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482/157 "2019-02-28T11:23:54Z")
> [@SIick](#): > > The aforementioned countries you listed lean more towards a socialistic form of democracy which is counter to your initial premise. I’m not sure which “initial premise” you’re referring to that I am countering, nor why a “socialistic form of democracy” doesn’t count as “democracy”. The fact remains that democracy as currently practiced in America is flawed in many ways. It’s better than in many, many countries but it’s worse than others. Plus the latter point about “socialistic democracy” reminds me of this argument, which I’ve spotted in the following succinct form on social media but have seen in various similar forms elsewhere including on this messageboard: \*Person 1: “Socialism never works.” Person 2: “Scandivania is socialist and they’re doing great.” P1: “They’re not socialist! They’re capitalist countries with strong welfare policies.” P2: “Then let’s adopt those policies.” P1: “NO, THAT’S SOCIALISM!”\* ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482/158 "2019-03-04T16:09:36Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > #1 for military spending and humanitarian aid, certainly, although the extent to which either of those is desirable is debatable. “Economic” covers a wide range of metrics. And as for democracy, the US is way behind pretty much all of Scandinavia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Uruguay, Mauritius, Estonia, Costa Rica and several others in the [Democracy Index](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_Index). It may once have been a “beacon of democracy” but it is now quite flawed. Who decided that the “Democracy Index” was the standard? Who decided that it means anything at all? According to the Ultravires Index, the USA is #1, so we are even. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal/827482.md?page=7)