Sep 01 2008
Charleston’s Prostitution Problem
Prostitution has become in increasing problem in Charleston over recent years and continues to persist despite police stepping up efforts. It’s grown to the point to where prostitutes are hanging around schools, propositioning faculty and others, and walking alongside students every morning on their way to school. The consensus from the police department seems to be that it’s not a crime ranking high in importance compared to others such as drugs and that’s the reason for laxadaisic enforcement. That may be true, but here is my abstract thinking on this. Why is it illegal to begin with?
It’s a serious question. What is the harm in two adults consensually and privately engaging in sexual acts for a monetary value? If I go out and wine and dine a woman and then she comes back to my place or vice versa and we have sex that’s perfectly fine, but if I want to cut through the bullshit and just hand her a hundred and do it and be done that’s wrong. What’s the difference? The form of payment?
All of this goes back to a cultural stigma that labels sex as dirty and sinful, that you should somehow be ashamed for engaging in it unless you plan on doing it with one wedded individual your entire life. Never mind the fact that none of us would be here if we didn’t do it. So because of religious influences and centuries of dogma we have to keep spending billions of dollars on enforcement at failed attempts to prevent what is essentially a victimless crime. The result is today’s black market.
If governments want to keep street walking out of sight, that’s fine, but allow people who want to engage in this “profession” to do so legally in private quarters behind closed doors. The government can regulate it like everything else to make sure all parties involved are not put in any unnecessary jeopardy and they can tax the earnings if they want.
Prostitution is one of the world’s oldest professions. It’s been around since men started bartering for goods and it’s not going away. A common sense approach is to stop unnecessarily making people criminals and thereby eliminate the unwanted elements in the community. It’s tried and true in Nevada so why not follow the example?
“It’s said that politics is the world’s second oldest profession. I’ve come to notice that it bears a startling resemblance to the first.”
-Ronald Reagan
You are right of course, but don’t expect the gutless wonders that currently inhabit public office to show any spine. What two consenting adults do in the privacy of their own home (or No-tell) is not my business, your business, or Uncle Sam’s business.