Beyond Prohibition: Why Legalizing and Regulating Prostitution is Essential for Human Rights

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Most don't know it and choose to willfully ignore it (like I discussed in A Failing Species) but there is a modern day/contemporary slave trade which is normally referred to as "Human Trafficking." This includes forced labor, prostitution, and debt slavery. The market for humans is the fastest growing criminal industry and predicted to eventually outgrow drug trafficking. It is estimated that those trapped in the contemporary slave trade number some 30 MILLION!!! [That's almost one tenth of the United State's population!]

The problem is not that women are having sex for money. Women have been having sex for money since ancient times. Brothels are like the myth of God, they always have been, and they always will be. I don't agree with prostitution and haven't, nor intent to ever, pay for sex. However, my point is, it exists, always has, and always will, no matter what you do; so we might as well keep it safe.

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In the Netherlands where prostitution has been decriminalized, The Red Light District is where men can walk down the street and window shop for their sex partner. In order to keep things sanitary and safe as possible the establishment swabs the male's genitals with alcohol to prevent the transfer of pathogens and then places a condom on the man before he is sent in to fornicate with the selected female. The women's payment is enforced by the legitimate business and the women have the appropriate health care and medical needs. Again, I am not condoning prostitution! But, it is going to happen, and this is the best way to keep it safe, give the woman payment for services rendered, and protect women from harm and/or abuse.

The real issue is that women are being forced, against their will, to fornicate with men and then not given the proper medical care. The reality of the situation is that these women who are sex slaves are often kept on large doses of drugs, or beaten, to maintain their submission. Just like with Gorilla's in the wild (as explained in Edulution), these slaves are being kept in these oppressive conditions through physical and sexual dominance.

Who is funding the modern day slave trade? Us! Men. You don't have the decency and respect for women to see that this is not a matter of opinion but fact and your influence is affecting the health and vitality of women in a negative way? We spend trillions of dollars on defense and we don't have the gull or capabilities to shut down an international crime syndicate whose function is to enslave children and use women for sex? [This is why I do what I do! Never forget that.]

"The continued existence of slaves and slavery in this world reveals the bitter truth that coutries sustain arimies and security forces solely for their own self-interest - not for the defense of humanity." - YouTube user blackiron60 comment on Children for Sale

For these reasons, and the concerns I have for women stated above, it is my firm conviction that prostitution needs to be a legal, regulated, and taxed service. Everyone wants to talk about "the power of markets," well apply it here. Like with prohibition-economics and the failed War on Drugs, we will only exacerbate the issues of sex (and drug) trafficking  until we accept and regulate it because prohibition on existing markets (that traverse history) only proves to make them more profitable and (therefor) more powerful.

The Global Slave Trade from Not For Sale on Vimeo.

Moving Beyond the Shadows

The modern slave trade is not an anomaly—it is a brutal, predictable outcome of prohibition-driven economics. When we force existing human behaviors into the shadows, we do not eliminate them; we simply strip away safety, rights, and oversight, handing total control to criminal syndicates.

True reform requires us to abandon moralistic posturing and embrace an evidence-based approach that prioritizes the lives and autonomy of those being exploited. If we are serious about ending human trafficking, we must stop funding the black market through our own apathy and start demanding a system that values human safety over prohibition.

Are you ready to look past the dogma and understand the systems that truly govern our world?

The struggle against systemic exploitation is at the heart of everything we do. If you want to dive deeper into the economic realities of our society and explore how we can replace broken paradigms with logic, accountability, and justice, visit The SocioEconomic Market.

Thanks for reading! Please comment!

Other Related blog(s): Sociology of Love, Lyceum Recordz