Prostitution

I have never used the services of prostitutes of either sex, but I believe that prostitution must exist. Not all the people are equally sexually attractive, not all the people are able to get along with a potential partner, but all the people need physical love. If this cannot do on grounds of favor, then the paid service must exist providing possibility to anyone to have sex.
Of course, measures should be taken to protect the prostitutes against abuse by their employers; regular checks for STDs seem to me also mandatory. Prohibition does not eliminate prostitution due to great demand for such a service. Bans push it to the lowlife world, where abuses are frequent, drugs become a permanent part of working environment, and no medical control is possible.
Remark: in my understanding the term "prostitute" refers to people of both sexes that engage in sex for money[/b].

Your remark is correct as to the definition. There are several reasons why prostitution exists aside from the assumptions made by society. The man whose wife has a terminal illness, the widower who does not desire going back into the "dating" world, the workaholic who has no time for a normal relationship, etc. Criminalizing prostitution results in the problems we see today with street walkers, drug abuse, and crimes against another person. Prostitution is going on all around us, perhaps by your neighbor or your co-worker and is not necesarily only seen on the street. In fact I believe the streetwalkers are only a fraction of the actual activity.

I think, European approach (as far as I know, prostitution and brothels are legal in Netherlands and some other European countries) to this problem is the most reasonable. It makes prostitution a normal occupation, extracts prostitutes from the world of mafia, drugs, thefts, etc. When some occupation is a "normal" one, any abuses against employees are hardly possible, at least in the First World countries.

Still Paying for it?
" in my understanding the term "prostitute" refers to people of both sexes that engage in sex for money."

Sort of sounds like the institution of "Marriage?"

definition:

http://www.culver.org/theacademies/laptop/cernyj/Teacher_files/jrwebs/7thcp/wheeler/Wheeler/wheeler/wheelerprostitutionlaws.htm

Definately believe that it should be legal. Of all the things that we sell to make money, our bodies are one of the few that we really own. As long as it's a personal choice, I have nothing against it.

I feel strongly both ways.

Ferrous, if you are not ironic, then your perception is close to this of one of the leading Marxists, namely Friedrich Engels; he called marriage in the capitalist society "the institutionalized prostitution".

I'm against it. I don't think it morally helps our society in any positive way.

It surely does not. But neither does it corrupt our society.

In a similar vein to that of Steissd and Ferrous, I have been know to refer to the - "airhead", "wives" that wander from beauty parlour to mall, to.....?, (throwing away parking tickets) in "their" SUVs, while smoking, on their cell phones, unaware that vehicles have rear view mirrors - as "suburban hookers".

How's that for "sexist" labelling!

On a more serious note; this subject is all about "freedom".

The problem with prostitution is similar to many many other "career" choices; what is an individual willing to do to pay the living costs of a commerce "heavy" society?

Criminality of prostitution is a farce!
The main reason that the "evil" stigma of the sex trade remains, is the vested interests of a large segment of the "clients" to maintain the "underworld" status, allowing them to lurk in the shadows, without fear of being "known"; to "launder" their personal lives.

If the practitioner freely chooses to offer access to their sexuallity to strangers for a fee, in the venue of their choice, I would be the "last" one to cast the "first" stone!

steissd,
That's a matter of personal opinion.

dlk33 and what, perchance, is not just a matter of personal opinion?

In this state brothels are legal. Have been for years.

dyslexia,
let's see..... I would have to say that anything "fact", that which has been proven to be true or false can not to be considered a personal opinion.
I believe that prostitution does corrupt our society, which is my own personal opinion. Hey, maybe there are actually some statistical facts to back up my opinion.
Maybe I should ask how prostitution wouldn't have a way of corrupting our society. Ok, maybe it only has a way of corrupting those who allow it to.

Well, it is impossible to prove something that does not exist. IMHO, there is no corrupting influence. I would like to know in which ways it does, in your opinion; human lust, IMHO, is not provoked by prostitution -- on the contrary, prostitution is a product of human lust.

Adultery is morally wrong. The definition of corruption is a : impairment of integrity, virtue, or moral principle: depravity b: decay, decomposition c: inducement to wrong by bribery or other unlawful or improper means d: a departure from what is pure or correct.
Therefore, by definition Prostitution can be defined as a form of corruption.

Prostitution does not cause adultery. If the person is an unfaithful husband by his nature, he will find ways to have an affair outside the family even in Islamic Republic, where prostitution is considered being a serious criminal offense. Such people conform to definition appearing in an old Russian porverb: "A pig will always find dirt". Making prostitution illegal will not eliminate it (the numerous attempts to do this in different coutries always failed), but it will cause abuse of women by pimps in absence of legal control and no medical control will be possible.
I have strong respect to Ten Commandments, one of which prohibits adultery, but I think enforcement of certain God's instruction should be done by means of persuasion (I do not mean, of course, Commandments prohibiting murder and theft, since they affect interests of the third party).

dlk33- IMO it is not within the government's purview to legislate morality.

Although I don't think much of prostitution as a profession, far be it from me to tell another person how to live their lives. The only time that the government should become involved, is where there is exploitation of minors, coercion, or criminal activity (such as robbery) arising out of the prostitution.