Decriminalization of Prostitution

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how the American public has the choice to continue standing in opposition to reality and trivialize the risks sex workers face or to recognize that, regardless of its reputation or acceptance, it is a viable employment option for a number of people and deserves, at a minimum, protection under the law just as any other profession. It looks at how decriminalization could be the first step in creating a dialogue in understanding what prostitution truthfully entails and why it continues to persevere throughout the ages despite moral and social condemnation.

From the Paper:

"Traditional means of handling prostitution in the U.S. demonstrate a preference for lengthening punishments and the use of strong-arm tactics. Prostitution did not receive recognition as a major social concern until after the Civil War when an abolitionist group sought to draw attention to this issue by launching a "propaganda battle," which is considered "largely responsible for the characterization of the prostitute as the "fallen woman" recruited by "vice lords" through an extensive white slave traffic" (Jennings 1239). The group's efforts led to the implementation of the Federal White Slave Act in 1910, which marked the closing of most legitimate brothels and outlawed pandering and soliciting in a majority of the states (Jennings 1239)."

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