Amitej Babra

Mr. Junker

Civics 9

April 9, 2020

Legalizing and Decriminalizing Prostitution

Did you know that prostitution is one of the oldest known professions? And that many

countries have legalized it? Netherlands, Germany, and even New Zealand. Studies have shown

the positive effects of legal prostitution. This bill is an act to legalize prostitution because it will

be easier to monitor, and it can lead to an increase in tax revenue. With the decriminalization of

prostitution, the underground business will come out of the dark, and will ultimately be well

monitored. It will also likely form corporations, and businesses within the commercial sex

industry, increasing tax collection, resulting in benefits for society.

The process of legalizing prostitution is essential, because then this act can be better

regulated and easily monitored. For example, an article states, "A separate study, examining a

period of legalized indoor prostitution in Rhode Island (from 2003 to 2009), found cases of

gonorrhea in women declined 40 percent. Reported rape offenses declined 30 percent when

prostitution was decriminalized there"(Samples). This proves that legal prostitution is easier to

monitor and regulate, as the cases of sexually transmitted diseases, as well as the rape cases

decreased. Another article states, "Criminalizing prostitution does not eradicate it. It drives it

underground, putting the women at risk and giving customers an unfair advantage" (Unigwe).

This in return makes it harder to monitor. Therefore, decriminalizing prostitution makes it

extremely easy to monitor. Ultimately, it won't be under the radar. Also, as a result of it being

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easier to monitor leads to more benefits, such as conserving resources once used to prohibit

prostitution. Ultimately, proving that legalizing prostitution makes it easier to monitor, and

shows its benefits to society. These are shown in the form of a decrease in STD and rape cases,

as well as more resources to "attack traffickers and pimps".

Another reason why the legalization of prostitution is necessary is because it will lead to

a heavy increase in tax revenue, which in turn would be very beneficial for the government. For

example, Germany is one country with legalized prostitution. One article, called "German tax

revenues could rise with prostitute levy" by Reuters, explains this very well. The article states,

"German tax revenues could rise by about 1.4 billion euros (705 million pounds) a year if there

were a more efficient system of taxing prostitutes'' (Reuters). Although this is explaining tax

revenues in Germany, if the United States legalized prostitution, the tax revenue will also

increase as they could also create an efficient system of taxing the commercial sex industry. This

is also proven in an article by the New York Times. The article states that "If prostitution is

legalized, society gains income tax revenue that would have been otherwise lost" (Unigwe). This

proves that prohibiting prostitution doesn't do anything, and if it is legalized there will at least be

a beneficial gain of tax revenue that can benefit the people

In Conclusion, the legalization of prostitution is beneficial to society, in the sense that

monitoring and regulating will be more effortless, and also can lead to an influx of tax revenue.

This is proven through stats that suggest a decrease in rapes, and also numbers that suggest the

projected tax revenue based on the income of prostitutes. Ultimately, the two reasons are proof

of a few of the many benefits of the legalization of prostitution.

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