Prostitution

Applying the Principles

• Legal Principle:
  • Competent adults own—have control over—their bodies, and so are entitled to do with their bodies what they choose, including who to have sex with and whether it’s in exchange for money. Sex between consenting competent adults is never a breach, even if disapproved of by others morally.
  • Anyone below the age of consent and legally incompetent adults cannot properly engage in such contracts.
  • When a pimp threatens or forces a woman to engage in prostitution, that’s aggression.
• Aspirational Values: As with gambling, exchanging sex for money does not obviously violate any of the aspirational values, but that is not an endorsement. There can be negative emotional consequences for both the prostitute and client. Some argue that engaging in prostitution is not acting with high character because it is not doing the right thing for the right reasons – reasonable minds can disagree on this point.

A legal sex industry is safer for society.

• Prohibitions on anything for which there is a demand simply creates a black market, creating opportunities for those with no regard for the law. When sex-work is outlawed, sex workers are at greater risk of harm than from unscrupulous actors.
• Legalising sex-work lowers sexually transmitted diseases, because business compete to provide a safe and clean environment for their clients.

Conclusion

• Outlawing the sex work, a victimless crime, stems from imposing subjective morality on other people against their will.
• Being legal does not make it advisable – prostitution can cause psychological harm to both parties.