Introduction
The question whether prostitution ought to be legalized in the U.S. has consistently been discussed as the subject of numerous newspaper and journal publications. Besides, it is a widely debated issue at many websites as well as social media. The ongoing debate on this issue encompasses two opposing perspectives on the current status of prostitution as well as the status of the sex services industry in the States. Whereas prostitution is known to be illegal in all U.S. states, except for several rural counties in the state of Nevada, it is illegally thriving in key U.S. cities (Carroll, 2009, p.531).
There exist two sides to the current debate on the issue of prostitution in our country: prostitution must retain its current status of an illegal business and criminal offense, or it must be legalized. This proposal states the purpose of the research into the issue of legalizing prostitution. It also outlines the direction of the upcoming recommendation report. Finally, the proposal discusses research sources which are deemed beneficial in the subsequent development of the recommendation report.
Research Proposal
The upcoming recommendation report will focus on the adverse effects of legalization of prostitution in the United States. It will argue that prostitution should remain legal based on the current empirically validated evidence that legalization will lead to adverse effects on the society and on women involved in prostitution. The key objectives of the report will be to prove that
Prostitution in the U.S. should definitely remain a criminal offense. Prostitution should not be legalized, I will try to prove, because legalizing this business will greatly promote sex trafficking, lead to increase in child prostitution, and generally promote female inequality. In opposition to the claims of modern proponents of legalized prostitution in the United States, I will argue that legalization will not be beneficial for the society since it will neither protect involved women from experiencing physical violence from clients nor promote these women’s health.
Research Sources
The research will be based on empirically verified findings of several published research studies into the issue of legalization of prostitution. The following annotated bibliography presents a brief overview of the sources that will be used and explains their relevance to the stated topic of discussion.
Cho, S.-Y., Dreher, A., & Neumayer, E. (2012). Does legalized prostitution increase human trafficking? World Development 41, 67-82.
The authors of this research argue that legalization of prostitution will potentially lead to a heavily increased sex trafficking industry. They assert that legalization of prostitution will increase the total level of demand for services of prostitution and work as an encouragement for numerous pimps to further expand their lucrative sex businesses. Based on an international sample including 116 countries across the globe, the research provides evidence that in those countries states where the services of sex industry have already been legalized, the current inflow of human trafficking is actually higher than in those nation states that maintain the prohibition of prostitution. This journal article is relevant to the topic of legalizing prostitution since it provides explanation why legalization is a way to expand the country’s overall sex industry market at the expense of illegal activities (i.e. human trafficking) following the growing demand in the countries that have legalized prostitution. It provides an empirically supported example of how legalization of prostitution does not meet the purposes the proponents of legalization set initially.
Raymond, J. (2003). Ten reasons for not legalizing prostitution and a legal response to
the demand for prostitution. Journal of Trauma Practice, 2, 315-332.
This research article provides a classification of consequences that legalization of prostitution will potentially bring to the society and explains how legalization is incapable of solving the problems (e.g. with health or crime rates) related to prostitution. It draws parallel with the cases of prostitution legalization in the Netherlands and other countries and exposes the negative effects of legalization. The article is especially important for the upcoming report since it raises the issue of child prostitution.
Brents, B. & Hausbeck, K. (2005). Violence and legalized brothel prostitution in
Nevada.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20 (3), p. 270-295.
This qualitative study provides an insight into the opposing point of view on prostitution legalization. Based on their (quite scarce) ethnographic data, the authors claim that Nevada’s legal brothels are able to create a safer working environment than those brothels that remain illegal. The researchers explain that reduced levels of violence and sufficient safety are generally achieved through setting the devices that enable customer visibility, via intensified cooperation with the police, and other means. They come to the conclusion that “all of these mechanisms work to eliminate systematic violence and to discourage an atmosphere of danger and risk” (Brents & Hausbeck, 2005, p. 293). The findings are important for presenting an alternative viewpoint on the issue. They, however, are not generalizable to the whole U.S. population based on the type of study.
Conclusion
Despite numerous claims that prostitution legalization will be beneficial for the U.S. society, the upcoming recommendation report will recommend that prostitution should remain illegal and explore the ways of solving the issue of illegal prostitution. To provide a logically structured account of the adverse effects of prostitution, the report will use data from current research studies, which have examine the issue in the international context.
- Brents, B. & Hausbeck, K. (2005). Violence and legalized brothel prostitution in
Nevada.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20 (3), p. 270-295. - Cho, S.-Y., Dreher, A., & Neumayer, E. (2012). Does legalized prostitution increase human trafficking? World Development 41, 67-82.
- Raymond, J. (2003). Ten reasons for not legalizing prostitution and a legal response to
the demand for prostitution. Journal of Trauma Practice, 2, 315-332.
