Once a person gets a rap sheet as a known prostitute, she/he may be trapped and stigmatized for life, and may be unable to pursue other jobs. This can also mean that a woman may loose custody of her children, especially since there is a mandatory jail sentence on a second conviction. Landlords often refuse to rent to sex workers or overcharge them for substandard accommodations. Very often prostitutes lead double lives , forced underground for fear of a break-up of family and other relationships. As well as the fear of being evicted from their homes, losing their jobs, and ending up working on the streets. Also, forced testing assumes that prostitutes represent a threat to public health. There is no evidence that sex workers, as a group, have a greater incidence of HIV infection than the general population or that they spread HIV disease. In fact, evidence shows that San Francisco sex workers are highly educated about safe sex. The U.S. Department of Health consistently reports that only three to five percent of the sexually transmitted disease in the United States is related to prostitution, compared to thirty to thirty-five percent among teenagers. There is no statistical indication that prostitutes are vectors of HIV. Although a small percentage of prostitutes may be HIV positive, William Darrow, CDC AIDS epidemiology official, cites no proven cases of HIV transmission from prostitutes to clients.
A lot of information has been given to support the legalization of prostitution. There are many Prostitution proposals that have been made for legislator. Some ideas that can be found on such a proposal have already been stated. Other ideas are that sex work provides a means by which natural human desires may be satisfied to the mutual benefit of the parties involved. Also, the enforcement of prostitution laws constitutes state interference in private behavior, it is a waste of taxpayers funds and it wastes valuable police resources. And, the recognition of sex work as legitimate work would facilitate the taxation of the sex work, and thus convert sex work from a cost to a profit industry, and it would produce safe working conditions. There are many who would disagree with these ideas, and believe that the common morals and order of society are more important than the right to have such personal choice. This is a very difficult debate, which appears to be the reason that no decision has been reached here yet. Moralizing over prostitution will not aid in dealing with the issue. Politicians must learn to accept prostitution as just another business on a city’s economic landscape. This would enable them to devise realistic solutions to problems stemming from prostitution, rather than create phony fail-safes which don’t. Prostitutes do not expect to be exempted from all controls, all they have ever asked for is to be treated like other freelance entrepreneurs. Therein lies the solution.
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