Thread by @Noahpinion

1/People don't often visibly, publicly change their minds about big issues. So I'd like to share an example of a big issue that I've recently changed my mind about, and why.

I used to think prostitution should be illegal. Now I think it should be legal.

2/Why did I think prostitution should be illegal? Because of my casual observations of American and Japanese society.

In America, prostitution is illegal, and going to prostitutes is taboo, at least among educated people. If they use sex services, they don't talk about it much.

3/In Japan, in contrast, prostitution is mostly legal. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitut…

One form of prostitution - intercourse - is technically illegal but widely allowed and available. Furthermore, using sex services is much less taboo in Japan; young men will talk about it openly.

4/Living in Japan in the mid-2000s, I observed the slow progress of gender equality and women's rights there, relative to America.

Putting two and two together, I hypothesized that legal, widespread prostitution might be a reason America seemed much more gender-equal.

5/Without prostitution, I reasoned, women would be able to engage in a Lysistrata-style sex strike - basically, refusing to date men who weren't progressive on gender issues. But with prostitution, I reasoned, this sort of pressure would be somewhat less effective.

6/Of course, that was in addition to the massive abuses that I heard about in the Japanese sex industry - extortion of sex workers, human trafficking, etc. Legalizing prostitution seemed like it would just open up much more opportunity for such abuses.

7/So what changed my mind? Several things.

First, upon returning to America, I gradually realized how common prostitution is in my own country - something that my educated, middle-class upbringing and elite college life had sheltered me from. huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/12/sex…

8/I also read about the increase in "sugar daddy" culture in America. In Japan this is known as "enjo kosai", and was widespread in the 90s. I had assumed it to be a more-or-less unique quirk of Japanese culture. Boy, was I wrong.

theconversation.com/rise-in-sugar-…

9/I also read more about European countries where prostitution is legal, some of which have pretty good performance on gender equality.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitut…

10/(As a side note, I never thought prostitution should carry criminal penalties for prostitutes themselves, only for people soliciting prostitutes. This is what I've changed my mind on.)

11/If criminalization of prostitution-solicitation A) doesn't confer political benefits in terms of increased gender equality, and B) isn't effective at preventing prostitution from being widespread in practice, then the case for criminalizing solicitation collapses.

12/Without a compelling social reason to criminalize purchasing of sex services, the need to regulate, monitor, and police the industry - to prevent human trafficking, worker abuse, and STDs - takes precedence.

This can only be done with legalization.

13/Therefore, I now think prostitution should be legal, in order to regulate and monitor it, instead of pushed into the shadows, as it currently is in America.

(end)

Oh, and as a follow-up: Legalization + regulation is much better than decriminalization here. Regulation is important for preventing things like sex trafficking and STDs.