@Victoria33
You and I seem to be in complete agreement on this. I even take it so far as to say I think forced prostitution is the same thing as kidnapping and slavery,and the punishment should fit the crimes.
sneakypete, I used to psychologically test and counsel career criminals just let out of prison. One told me this: If your prostitute is causing you trouble, hang her nude and upside down in a closet in the dark and in one day she will do what you want. He also told me how to get rid of a body so no one could ever find it. Because these men were criminals, I kept a loaded weapon in the lower drawer in my desk. One time, I had my hand on the weapon due to a criminal who became angry, stood up and threatened to destroy my office. If he had tried to come at me, I would have killed him. I told him he had two choices - leave or sit down. He sat down. I carried that weapon on me every day when I left my office and brought it back the next day.
This kind of issue is where my Libertarian streak takes over. Not to mention, having lived in Germany for a number of years, having seen legalized prostitution as a "normal" part of an advanced society.
To be clear, what generally leads to human sex trafficking is the illegality of prostitution, creating a black market for a resource that is in huge demand. We know that demand will not diminish, so the question for us as a society is how do we allow supply that is not exploitative of women. In Germany, certain urban areas allow prostitution and direct customer to client interactions are left alone...which minimizes where prostitution can be found and keeps from it pervading other community areas....any kind of "pimping" or representation IS illegal, which also acts to suppress trafficking.
On a libertarian note, its nobody's business what two consenting adults agree to do in private. As long as neither party is being forced to act and as long both parties are independent, there is literally no reason for society to intervene in any way.
Legalized prostitution is by no means a good thing, but it is a far lesser evil than the "illegal" version...less human trafficking, less pimping, less periphery crime and it allows for health and welfare checks/balances for those involved. More importantly, it is about the freedom of each individual to enter into contracts with other adults...as long as those contracts don't cause direct legal harm to others.
