Yes - your body, your rules, but in the reality of sex trafficking legalizing prostitution doesn't always ensure that. And as for the women who choose it freely but only because they are in the "unfortunate situation" where it seems like the best option, maybe we could introduce basic income so that many of them would not have to consider this option in the first place. I would say that's our responsibility as a society.
Legalizing prostitution actually results in more women stepping forward to document abuse and force because they are no longer afraid the police will treat them as criminals rather than victims.
Basic income (and in general a good social program) cuts down significantly on this as well but most of the women you are talking about are definitely not from countries with basic income (or at least, not at a level that you could realistically contemplate living of it).
You won't see Dutch women or Danish women or German women as prostitutes in Romania or Bulgaria but there is plenty of evidence that Romanian, Bulgarian and Ukraninian women are in prostitution in Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries.
So the economy most definitely is a factor. In a typical scenario girls get lured to the target country with promises of riches in some kind of career and when they arrive their passports are taken away and they are forced into prostitution.
It's also not rare to see the majority of this be facilitated by people from their home countries.
>> "in the reality of sex trafficking legalizing prostitution doesn't always ensure that"
But isn't forced prostitution a problem whether we make it legal or illegal? Are there any studies that show whether forced prostitution/trafficking goes up or down with legalisation?
>> "And as for the women who choose it freely but only because they are in the "unfortunate situation" where it seems like the best option"
There are plenty of jobs people do because they are the only option. They are physically difficult, dangerous, and pay much less than prostitution. In the documentaries/articles I've read where this point is made it often comes out that the person could do another job but it pays less and they would rather do prostitution as it pays more. Although I do agree with your point about a basic income. I think that would solve a lot of societies problems. It would also be interesting to then see how many people stay in prostitution when they have no financial reason to do so.
But are the levels of trafficking made any better by outlawing prostitution? If legality has a minimal effect on trafficking the other benefits brought about by legalisation (regulation, safer working conditions etc.) might be worth legalisation.
> But isn't forced prostitution a problem whether we make it legal or illegal? Are there any studies that show whether forced prostitution/trafficking goes up or down with legalisation?
Your question is addressed early on in the article linked by this thread. The answer is yes.
It's certainly true that there are women in the sex industry against their will, and still more who would rather not be in that industry. I don't see how making it illegal would change that though.
Personally I agree on a basic income pegged to a annually updated cost-of-living index to help out those in need. Sure, some people will abuse the system, but I think that overall society would be better off.
The article conveniently didn't give any numbers on sex trafficking. The idea with legalized prostitution is (among other things) that it's easier for trafficking victims to seek help. Obviously trafficking is always illegal.
According to the police, sex trafficking is not actually as common as media and ideological motivated organizations want us to believe.
In Germany there is a kind of basic income if you don't have work. The state will pay for rent, health care and food.
Ideally in a society as affluent as ours nobody would be working a job they hate just to pay the bills, that's one of the many problems basic income would solve.
