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Decriminalization of Prostitution

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DECRIMINALIZATION OF PROSTITUTION: AN INMODEST PROPOSAL
An Annotated Bibliography

Bristol Community College
04/25/2016
Elmer Paz

Prostitution is the sale of sexual services in exchange for money or other compensation. A person exercising prostitution called prostitute. Prostitution is one of the jobs and social phenomena that responds to human sexual desire, and in many cases, the need for affection and understanding, seeking relief from loneliness and isolation, especially in the big cities. Prostitution is included within the so-called "victimless crimes", i.e. those committed by adults with legal capacity whose behavior does not harm anyone or does not affect the rights of third parties. It is a voluntary transaction for sexual services in exchange for money. This occurs because the parties involved in it expect to obtain mutual satisfaction. Otherwise, the business relationship would not take place. Prostitution, a universal reality, remains a pending issue for most advanced democracies, specifically in the United States. Some countries have tackled the problem from different points of view, with more or less success, but the answer is not simple. There is a huge need to pose prostitution as a legal job and decriminalize it in order to increase control and protection of women. Prostitution should not be a crime. Prostitutes are not committing an inherently harmful act. While the spread of disease and other detriments are possible in the practice of prostitution, criminalization is a sure way of worsening the issue rather than addressing its effect.

"Lawrence v. Texas." Oyez. Chicago-Kent College of Law at Illinois Tech, n.d. April 14, 2016. https://www.oyez.org/cases/2002/02-102

Lawrence v. Texas was brought by a gay couple from Houston who were being prosecuted for having sex in the privacy of their own home. Texas was one of a handful of states

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