Prostitution should be legal. Legalizing it would allow for safer working conditions for the people who offer this service and I see no reason why consenting adults shouldn't be able to engage in sex with the exchange of money if they so desire.

Also, porn is legal. We pay people to have sex in front of a camera, I don't see why the exchange of money behind closed doors is anyone's business besides those involved.

All I know is, I probably couldn't make a living...

But seriously folks... like almost everything, legalizing and regulating is the key to safety. Licensing the profession would bring it out of the shadows and make it so much easier to crack down on the human trafficking element, which is a disgrace in this nation and in this century.

Legalize and regulate it. People want to work.

You asked a lot of questions...should it be legal, yes. It'll be safer for the people engaging in it. Would I use a stripper (not always the same as a prostitute)? No I don't need or have any desire to make use of one. Have I paid my bills and kept a roof over my kids heads? Yes. Do people need to be careful? Just as much as any one night stand. Is it ugly to me? No it's a viable profession for those who can handle it.

I have stated before here that we pay big bucks for different therapists for different reasons (medical, physical, legal, spiritual, etc). What is wrong with paying for physical "therapy" from a sex worker? It is a profession that provides a service for a fee just like the rest.

For me, I think the issue is people taking ownership of their own bodies. If everyone involved is a consenting adult why should it be anybody else's business.

I prefer the term sex work and those participating as Sex Workers. I think men and women should be able to provide this service for money and it should be legal to provide such services. Countries that protect sex workers do much better on most social and economic indicators then those countries that don’t. Canada has a reasonable approach to this.

You sell your body and your mind every time you roll in to work. The only differences (in principle) between working in an office and working as a prostitute are that you're providing a specifically sexual service, and you typically get a much better hourly rate.

The big issues with prostitution all revolve around its illegality. Where there's crime, there's profit, and in a business where you can't go to the police if you're in trouble, pimps and traffickers are ready to cash in and offer the kind of 'protection' where you absolutely will come to harm if you decline their services.

So yes, absolutely it should be legal to exchange sexual consent for cash. What should be under much closer scrutiny is making money from someone else doing the same (brothels and escorting agencies need to be licensed.) And what should absolutely be outlawed is forcing or coercing someone to engage in prostitution against their will.

I adhere to the George Carlin philosophy on this matter. Selling is legal. Fucking is legal. Why not "selling fucking" legal?

My brain is immediately screaming HELL NO! But, I also realize legalizing it would make for safer working conditions for the prostitutes. And possibly enable them to say no to someone soliciting them if they did not want to service them.

It's not something I could do and I certainly do not want that for my children. If you're familiar with the dating app OkCupid, there are a bunch of questions you can answer. If someone answers the same questions, you can see how they responded. One of the questions is "would you pay for good sex." That's a hard limit for me. If someone has paid a prostitute to have sex with them, I won't see them.

If an individual chooses to accept money in exchange for sex as a service, it is none of my nor anyone else's business except for that individual and the individual clients whose identity, presumably, would be confidential (since it's nobody else's business.) In this case, being voluntary on the part of both parties, no-one's rights are being violated so, in my view, it should not be a crime.

If an individual is a victim of trafficking, it is a completely different matter. In this case, someone's rights are being violated and this, therefore, should constitute a crime.

It all comes back to consent.

I lived in Antwerp, Belgium for years. It is legal and porn was free at the time ( don't know today). Their philosophy was "don't like it? Change the channel". The red light district was quite an experience, cozy and well maintained (it was not a slum with gangs and drogs for instance, far from it). So what did they get on their daily life as cirizens? No repression of any kind, so I got to see many times the hottest blonde dressed to kill walking the street and NO ONE woud bother them with whatever inappropriate slurs or nasty comments. So I ask, should prostitution be allowed ( legalized and properly taxed)... YES

Anybody who works for a living is selling their body or the use of their brain, or both, for some purpose. Many of us have spent a lifetime doing menial jobs that we hate, physical work that taxed our bodied beyond their limits, or attempting to sell a product we knew was crap. If, when I was young and built like a Barbie Doll, I had had any inkling of how much money could be made twirling around a pole on a little stage while mostly naked, I would have done it in a heartbeat.

I'm all for prostitution being legalized. You got supply. You got demand. Why not?

Question 1. Yes, I think it should be legal throughout the world. Notwithstanding outright trafficking in a power differential for whatever reason, I believe adults engaging in adult behavior is a personal matter between those two -- or six -- people.

Queston 2. Would it be a quick fix for lonely people? It could be any number of things for any person -- maybe the person is not lonely, but is in a sexless relationship because of paralysis. Maybe the person just likes variety of partners. Maybe the person has different itches scratched by different people. Whatever the person's reasons, I don't think it's anybody's business.

Question 3. Would I mind if others benefit from it? No. Not at all.

Question 4. Should it be secretive? I don't think it should be shouted from the rooftops anymore than any other sexual behavior / relationship arrangement. But, should humans be shamed for directly paying for, or providing, sex for money any more than the man who keeps a trophy wife, or any more than the wife who stays in a miserable marriage for money ("financial stability" / "standard of living" )? No. Absolutely not.

Question 5. No, I don't think I would "appreciate" a date with a male or female stripper (or prostitute). I could see myself being friends with a sex worker, but not attempting to even pretend to myself that he or she liked me for me.

Question 6. Why not, indeed. Everybody deserves happiness. Even if only one or two nights a month -- or whatever they can afford.

Question 7. Is it ugly to you? Honestly, I find it a thousand times more distasteful that people I know (including extended family) who stay in relationships where they are miserable or can't stand their partner because without them, "I'd have to live in a cracker box." That IS ugly.

Should be legal; they would be safe and healthy, and taxed.

That should be legal, if that's the only way you can work have at it.

Prostitution should be legalized and regulated as any other business. Everyone sells their body, if not their soul, when they go to work, especially in physical jobs. Is a coal miner, a sweatshop factory worker, or even a professional athlete not selling their youth, their bodies to the highest bidder? If they are doing it willingly, with full knowledge of what the risks are, what is the difference? Except religion decided long ago that if it could control people doing the things they enjoyed the most (sins), they could easily control other thoughts and actions of their believers. So they threaten hell and damnation to those who don’t subscribe to the churches whim, and when that doesn’t work, use their influence to create laws to met out earthly physical punishment. Anything that provides physical pleasure needs to be a sin, because if you’re having too good a time in life, the afterlife reward starts to look a little less enticing and you might not feel the need to go spend your money at church to buy your way into heaven next Sunday. And religion is a business for sure.

My brother owned several "message parlors" in SoCal at one time. They are infinately safer than a randon date you go on. The girls were clean, used condoms and were talented. No judgement, no emotion other than kindness and pride in talent. No, not every place was like his.

I think it should be legal.
Using licensed brothels could be a source of tax revenue, keep a lot of the sex trade of off the streets, and help to make STD's down to a minimum.

It's just sex. People should mind their own business.

Yes, if it serves a purpose such as venting the frustration is a man inclined to rape. All of us get loney at times and if prostitution was available I do think a lot of people, both genders, would use it. Some not a chance but hell it does not hurt anyone and that should be the bar

No Whyever not I havent a morality about it at all and do seem to remember knowing a friend who preferred to go to a prostitute because they were pretty kindly people.

It should be legal for both brothels and escorts, with sex workers being licensed, just like car drivers, having passed a test showing they are aware of the occupational health and safety requirements and undergoing 3 monthly health screenings. It is legal to a greater or lesser extent throughout Australia with WA having the weirdest approach.
What I find interesting is "Do you think you would appreciate a date with a male or female stripper?" because I'd prefer someone who could hold a conversation or had superior skills. Known people in this trade and it isn't just about the look, especially not at the top end, it is about someone who can make the client feel good.