Saturday 23 February 2008

"Easy targets for predators"

There's a long article on the BBC website explaining why so many prostitutes are murdered and why so few cases are cleared up.

Preventing crimes is even better than solving them, is my take. So, how about implementing two things:

1) Legalise 'drugs', suitably regulated and taxed, educate people as to their dangers (and to use them safely). The number of cannabis users in The Netherlands is much the same as anywhere else, despite decriminalisation. Heroin was available on prescription until the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971; since then, the number of users has risen exponentially (see Figure 2.3, page 26). So if re-legalised, there'd be fewer addicts, and those that do become addicted would be able to buy them cheaply and safely and so would be less likely to turn to crime and prostitution.

2) Legalise brothels, suitably regulated and taxed, like in Nevada, Switzerland, New Zealand, the Netherlands and several Australian states, where society, AFAIAA, has not collapsed. So those who want to/have to work as prostitutes can at least do so in a much safer environment.

And if the police wasted less time on victimless crimes, they'd have more time for catching violent offenders, burglars and shoplifters. And if drugs were legal, there'd be no drug dealers, so there'd be none in jail, ditto prostitution/prostitutes/pimps - which would free up plenty of spaces for said violent offenders and burglars, who can stay in for life, AFAIAC.

That's that fixed.

* The Great Simpleton came to a similar conclusion, but from a completely different angle.

** Bansturbatrix extraordinaire Janice Turner hits the nail firmly on the thumb in today's Times. Under the headline 'Brothels are booming. Ban them', she writes that 'men who buy street sex are fuelling a life-leeching drug dependency'. Wrong! It's the illegality of drugs that fuels prostitution, cause and effect, y'know? Plus, brothels are by-and-large already illegal, so you can't actually ban them, can you? The whole article is worth a read for its toe-curling f***wittedness, actually.

5 comments:

Sutan Pendak said...

Here, Here.

Though I'd rather, if, the United Kingdom did legalise prostitution it wasn't with the same restrictions that let the underground trade flourish still in the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands brothels can only have three or four workers on duty at a time and they must be EU Nationals. These restrictioms have not hampered the illegal trade which is dominated by organised crime and people-smugglers.

Mark Wadsworth said...

'Maximum of three' is nonsense of course, why not have everything from sex-boutiques to sex-supermarkets?

Sutan Pendak said...

Exactly my point. Let the free market decide rather than Organised Crime.

Penny Pincher said...

I've always thought it daft to outlaw selling sex. Let sex workers pay taxes and NI conts like everyone else. Along with Health n Safety, Environmental health, Weights and Measures, Trade Descriptions, Age discrimination, Equal Opps, DataProtAct, on job training & NVC Training Courses, Pension schemes would have to be implemented.

Tesco would probably try and corner the market from the Express Knocking shop to the large SuperSexStores with the special offer of Buy One and Get One Free and don't forget the club rewards scheme. They already have large stores that have a creche why shouldn't the parents also be entertained while their partner shops?

All joking aside I just can't understand why it isn't being promoted as a serious idea. It makes sense.

Anonymous said...

Brothels etc. would cut the control over the distribution of sex that the feminists have.
They do not like that.