It came as a surprise to me that I did not have my views on prostitution in one concise blog post. I was having a discussion with someone yesterday and I had to refer to 3 different blog posts to reference my views. So today I will put my views on prostitution in one blog post and let others decide for themselves if they agree or disagree.
Prostitution is a victimless crime.
By itself prostitution is one person performing sexual acts on another for money. The consumer is not always a loser. He or she could have a fetish that only a professional can satisfy. Others see purchasing sex to be a cheaper alternative than the hustle of the dating scene where dates can run into a few hundred dollars. In addition when it comes to licensed sex workers who submit to health screenings, hiring a prostitute is safer than picking up strange booty at the night club.
So what about the stories of human trafficing, child prostitution, ect. Those are crimes, those have victims. Kidnapping is illegal, keeping someone against their will is illegal, having sex with children is illegal. We will always have crime. There will always be criminals. Let the police go after those criminals. Two people having sex for money is not bothering anyone.
Legalization vs Decriminalization
There are two groups in the push to end the police crackdowns on prostitution. Those who want it regulated and the workers given regular health screenings, and those who want no government control or at least very little. From the best I can understand, the decriminalization crowd wants prostitution to be a private transaction between two or more consenting adults and it is nobody's business but theirs. One reason they resist the push to legalize is that those who wish to maintain their anonymity may not be able to do so with a government registry and declaration of taxes. One can surely sympathize with those concerns.
However as a person who has used the services of a prostitute I favor legalization. Just as the local taco stand has to comply with health and sanitation laws I see no reason why similar laws can't be put in place to protect the prostitute and the client. Laws requiring sex workers to get tested and to carry health certificates is a very reasonable burden in my opinion. To compare hiring a prostitute to a one night stand is to compare apples to oranges. A one night stand is one sexual encounter. A prostitute can easily see 10 clients or more per day. Thus her exposure to disease is that much greater and thus the need for regular health screenings.
You are not going to get rid of the oldest profession in the world. Spending hundreds of man hours to bust a few johns is not going to stop horny people from seeing prostitutes. You could round up all the hookers and throw them in jail and they will go right back to work when they are released. It is a waste of tax payer dollars when there are real criminals out there doing things to real victims.
Street Walkers
My first introduction to prostitution was via street walkers. There are some advantages. First is you know up front what you are dealing with. Any woman that was with a pimp I avoided. I was not going to allow my hard earned money to funnel to a bum too lazy to get off his butt and work. Furthermore, before money changed hands I asked about their personal life. Any mention of a boyfriend or husband got them kicked to the curb. Any signs of tweaking, or sniffing repeatedly got them kicked to the curb. I did not want a druggie. The ladies who did pass my tests were really fantastic people. I had a few regulars I would see on a regular basis. The risk of picking up a new hooker is she may be a cop.
Eventually I did get busted, I paid a fine and did a few days in jail. It didn't detour me. At the time I wanted sex and prostitution was easier than starting a relationship. I first turned to a prostitute after a serious relationship ended. I mostly just wanted someone to hold. Almost 20 years later I still remember her and how loving she was even though it was a business transaction.
If you want to know how to avoid getting busted for picking up an undercover on the street here is how to do it. An undercover cop will never get in your car. Never approach a lady and ask how much or discuss money from the window. Simply pull up and say "get in" or "can I give you a ride." Or my trick I have used is I will pull up and ask for directions, then offer the lady a ride if she will help me find the place. Hookers know to get in the car. Hookers know they can't avoid getting arrested, it is just a matter of time. If a woman propositions you from the window decline. She is a cop. The police can't nail you unless you agree to sex for money. So always decline and never discuss it until she is in your car. If the police do pull you over, hire a lawyer and get out your camera.
The Internet
You would think the police would be happy with this. You didn't have people walking the streets or having sex in cars. Instead people were using the privacy of their own homes or a hotel and not bothering anybody. Well, anyone who has seen an episode of Cops knows that the police hate the internet prostitution sites. They will spend all day and a team of 20 people just to catch 4 or 5 people. It would be laughable if it wasn't so pathetic. Still to my credit I have never been busted for using the internet to score hookers.
My advice to any man reading this, avoid incall services. Never go to the prostitute's hotel. Every single time you see the police stings on TV it is an undercover in one room with a swat team in the room next door. Make the girl come to your hotel room, a undercover cop will never put herself in a situation where she doesn't have control or an exit plan.
The internet does carry some risks and that is you don't know what you are getting. With photoshop and pictures from years past there is no telling what a woman looks like when she knocks on your door. Case in point, I once set up a meeting with a nice lady who appeared to be half white half mexican but what showed up at my door was a black woman darker than the ace of spades. I took her over to my laptop and pointed to her picture and she said that it was the flash of the light from the camera that made her look that way. It was clearly the same woman, but that is way too much photoshop. I threw her out. She threatened to call the cops if I didn't pay her, I called her bluff. The cops never came.
It's still illegal
With both street walkers and internet hookers you are still dealing with some risk. Not only do you have the risk of eventually getting busted by the police, but also catching STDs. Not all of them use condoms, some even offer no condom sex for a high fee. Avoid those women as they clearly have diseases and don't care about spreading them to you. We need to make prostitution legal not only for the safety of the sex workers but also for the client. Safe from disease, and abuse. No matter how cautious you are someone has to trust a perfect stranger not to do them harm. Currently both prostitute and client are easy victims for assault and robbery.
The Nevada Model
Current laws in Nevada allow each county to decide if they want to allow prostitution so long as the population is under 400,000. This is why Reno and Las Vegas have no brothels. The closest brothel to Las Vegas is in Pahrump and is over an hour away. Reno has a brothel that is about 30 minutes outside of town. Of Nevada's dozen brothels I have been to about half of them, so I can speak with some authority. In my opinion, the Nevada model does not work. It is currently the only legal option in the United States but that does not make it the best option.
If you have never been to a Nevada brothel here is how it works. You can request a line up if you wish. This is where each lady stands before you and you select one based just on their looks. I don't do line ups. Rather I prefer to sit in the common area and talk to the ladies. While I do have some standards, such as hair, well pedicured feet, not too much make up, on the whole physical appearances don't matter to me. If I don't like you as a person I can't have sex with you. So I have to talk and get to know someone before I can get down to business.
A fun fact, you can actually strike out at a brothel. I know it is hard to imagine but I have gone into brothels and come out with nothing. I will use Pahrump Nevada as an example. This town hosts two brothels that sit next door to each other. I went in the first one and the first person to try to talk to me was some lady in short hair. Sorry, but if I am going to pay for sex, I certainly am not going to pay someone with a boys haircut. I sat there alone for a couple of hours as every girl in the room was focused on their smart phone. It was in the afternoon and I was the only client in the building. I decided to walk up to the ATM and pull some cash out and then I sat down and started counting my money. Finally this got some attention. Sadly though I could not find anyone I was interested in that was in my price range. I had no better luck next door. As it turns out I could actually save money by flying to a different country and spending the night with a licensed sex worker than I could by spending 20 minutes with someone from Pahrump.
While Pahrump certainly has the most expensive brothels, all nevada brothels are expensive. It is because of this reason, illegal prostitution still flourishes in the one place where prostitution is legal. This is why. Let's say you pay a brothel worker $1,000 for 20 minutes of sex. This is actually a very reasonable price. Yes many do use timers. There is no time for foreplay or cuddling, you are on a mission. Of that thousand dollars the house takes half. So now the prostitute gets $500. There is just one problem. She has to pay for room and board. Then she must declare taxes. In addition, she pays for her health screenings as well as her beauty routine such as getting her hair done or pedicures.
Due to county and state laws, prostitutes are often restricted from leaving. They can't just run into town for some groceries. The last thing they want is to have some dude walk up to them and say hello and then be accused of solicitation. So to protect the house and the workers, the prostitutes are restricted to the house and can leave only with security.
Furthermore, to set up your own brothel, you pretty much have to be independently wealthy. It is not like you can buy land and set up shop for you and a few close friends and call yourselves a brothel. You must pay very high fees to the government and pass a very invasive criminal background check. We all know that competition brings prices down. If more people were able to set up their own shops, they would not only be forced to compete for the best workers and allow them to keep more of the money they earn, but prices would fall for the consumer.
My solution
Treat prostitution as any other business. We don't allow businesses in our residential neighborhoods. So we zone for residential, commercial, and industrial. Just as well allow adult book stores, strip clubs, ect we can also license and allow people to set up their own brothel. Every sex worker is screened and the premises are safe and well light. This makes it so the prostitute and the client does not have to worry about being robbed or attacked.
Just as they do in Nevada, condoms would be mandatory, and clients would be given an inspection prior to service. A license should be reasonable and no more expensive than a food vendors permit. Those who operate outside of the law or don't keep updated medical records would be considered a health risk just as a restaurant that serves contaminated food. Just as the restaurant is shut down, so would the brothel until it is brought up to code.
Competition would keep the prices in check and street walkers would be hard pressed to find clients because everyone is opting for the safe, legal, and affordable services of the local brothels. I have been to other countries and they seem to do prostitution right. It is affordable, safe, and most importantly the women are free to come and go as they please.
Will I return to a brothel in Nevada, possibly, but knowing that it is so much cheaper in other countries even with the cost of travel included, it is not likely to happen often.
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