Very well put. I also wonder what is the difference between “prostituing” and wanting a diamond ring, a big house, an SUV, yoga clases, clothes, food, traveling and who knows what else, to be your exclusive woman in bed.

@Rodatheist What about love?

@Emmagoldman What about love? One can love without sex and there is plenty of pleasure without love. The two don't have to be connected.

@Fanburger if these deviants had a safe outlet, they might find their preferences less compelling....

@Fanburger oh no, I did Not , I simply meant thatvforbidden fruit is always more attractive.

I agree 100% on both points.

Of course, then you have to start insuring things and thus you bring in the insurance industry to make things more expensive than ever.

Forgive my ignorance, but what is the distinction between decriminalizing and legalize. You're the third person to say that, and I'm sure there is a distinction, but for the life of me I can't figure it out.

@paul1967 To me, the distinction between legalize and decriminalize is the regulation aspect. Legalize marijuana? How tightly regulated is the production and distribution? Decriminalize it? "well, but it's still not 'decriminalized'- Moral legal people just Wouldn't, would they? So, why regulate? Regulations, (and legalization) happens when abuses happen.

@paul1967 Look up the Legal Definition of Business Transaction. I'm sure the term Mutual Agreement would make the case. Then call your local Congressional Representative who thinks he can get it any time he wants and not have to pay for it.

That's another point I haven't considered. Child sex trafficking. I've been alive for 50 years, and things still shock me to my core and that one is at the top of my list. If my brain were wired to lust after kids and I couldn't control that impulse, I would blow my brains out.

@paul1967 Me, too. Because I actually believe that there are people with various unspeakable desires, and I feel very sorry for them. But there are just lines. And I would do the same thing, kill myself, if I had one of those kinds of urges. I think. Of course I wouldn't know unless I was there. But I believe a lot of people probably do. Also, it pisses me off, but if somebody does have those urges and tries to get help, they are criminalized immediately. Well, my entire knowledge base of it is Law & Order SVU, but from what I understand, that show is, at last on forming awareness of the big issues, pretty true to reality.

This is a valid point. The only thing I would contest is that the focus would be more narrow supposing that we still had the same population in vice squads. The population of pedophiles must be significantly smaller than that of non-pedophiles.

@Jenmcjen I don't know either, but if that's true, that's a travesty of justice. I've been to therapy enough times in my life to know that my therapist isn't allowed to report anything I say to them unless I tell him/her my intent to commit an illegal act and even that is a grey area.

@Gwendolyn2018 They are but would the loss of adult prostitution push them to increase the number of child sex workers. I was thinking about this question after @Jenmcjen brought this issue to light for me and I think that as long as the demand doesn't increase which it shouldn't the supply wouldn't grow. However, I'm no expert on this topic so I have no idea other than just what is logically true.

Rape, as opposed to statutory rape, is most often not an act of sex. It is an act of dominance and power where sex is the weapon or means of showing dominance or power.

@Rob1948 Not all sexual crime is about power some rape is about a testosterone-fueled kid wanting to get laid. Another subset could be those people who are too shy and awkward to find a girlfriend. I do agree that the vast majority of sex crimes are as you described but my point is not all are, other sexual reasons are behind rape.

@paul1967 I did not address sex crimes other than rape and I excluded statutory rape... which would cover your example of a testosterone-fueled kid, in many incidences. Nor did I say rape is never a sexual act...

@Rob1948 I agree you didn't and the only reason I brought those topics to the table was because I felt @emmagoldman had those types of rapes in mind. I meant no disrespect towards you. What you said was absolutely valid.

@Fanburger Exactly, and in that situation she would be vulnerable to be exploited in many settings, even simple labor situations or in relationships with members of her family and other adults in her social life. She would not be a consenting adult in any of those situations. So, your answer seems to give strength to the idea that exchange of sex for anything of value would be perfectly ok if the consenting question is cleared or resolved.

@Fanburger are any poor people consenting to becoming garbage collectors or coal miners?

@Fanburger are any poor people consenting to becoming garbage collectors or coal miners?

Yes, you are correct , sex always involves some cost . Serial murders , often choose prostitutes as victims , because they're people unlikely to be missed . Male serial murders outnumber female serial murders 6:1 . I have yet to hear of any man , who was raped by a woman , who got him pregnant . While men are congradulated for getting lucky , young women are still shamed for it . And yet , if a woman refuses to have sex with a man , he immediately labels her as being a slut , then broadcasts it to their social pool . If a woman is drugged and raped , and she reports it , in this country , they take her to a hospital for a rape kit , which is again invasive , embarrising , and more often than not immediately shelved . In some foreign countries , a woman who was raped , is sentenced to death by stoning , for having sex outside of marriage . If she survives a rape , and becomes pregnant , she then has to make some serious choices . 1. Will she abort the fetus (costly . guilt , shame) . 2. Will she have the child and put it up for adoption ( frequent doctor appointments , medications , morning sickness , time off from work , time off work for the delivery period , recovery period , possible loss of job altogether , deciding whether to give up a child for adoption or to keep the child . Cost of orphanages or foster care until (if) child is adopted . IF she decides to keep the child , then clothing , furniture , medical care , child care when she returns to work (2015 census reports it now costs over $250,000 to raise a child ) . So yes , you are correct . Sex does indeed cost money . More often than not , it costs a woman , many times more than the tiny amount a man invests in it .

Are any poor people consenting to becoming garbage collectors or coal miners?

@PontifexMarximus or go into the military or into gangs and all those other things people go for desperation?

I think you're both right, but poverty is built into the system. I can't imagine a capitalistic society where poverty is a thing of the past. The system requires a large service class willing to flip the hamburgers, pick the cotton fields, clean the house and wash the dishes. Maybe, I'm wrong, but this has always been my belief/conspiracy theory as to why our education system is such a joke.

In any form?

So keep it illegal, because it makes you uncomfortable? Something about prostitution seems wrong because it is wrong, but keeping it illegal doesn't mean it is not happening it means criminals get to profit from it. The spread of disease, sex slavery, and lives in ruin are only a handful of the net result keeping it illegal. I don't mind you voting against it, but I would think that you might want to consider some of the benefits of having it regulated by the government as opposed to regulated by the pimps and sex traffickers.