PROSTITUTION MUST BE LEGALIZED IN THE UNITED STATES Essay

PROSTITUTION MUST BE LEGALIZED IN THE UNITED STATES - Essay Example Legalizing refers to the act of changing the status of an act from illegal to legal through changes in constitution and rules and regulations made by the courts. To legalize prostitution, the current illegal stats applied to the act of prostitution will have to be changed to legal status through policy making. When the debate of legalizing prostitution occurs several reasons are stated for and against this act. Statistical prevalence rate of prostitution are hard to figure out as the act of prostitution is conducted in quite a secretive manner and very few are held responsible for being a part of it. The most vulnerable stakeholder of the act of prostitution is the female gender and due to their vulnerability they are the ones who are mostly held responsible. Those who purchase prostitutes and those who act as middlemen are hardly found to be held responsible for being a part of the act of prostitution. According to FBI statistics provided during 2009, the number of arrests conducted for purpose of prostitution and commercial purchase and sale of sex was 56,560 (FBI, 2012). Out of this figure 31, 699 were whites, 23,021 were blacks, 427 individuals were natives of the region of Alaska and American Indians and those from Asia were 1,413 individuals (FBI, 2012). The arrest rates during the same period of individuals who were below the age of 18 and were involved in prostitution totaled to 1,072 individuals and those above 18 were 55,488 individuals (FBI 1). Certain nations have legalized prostitution, others have decriminalized prostitution and certain countries have even decreased the laws regarding the act of prostitution. In Africa only two nations have recognized prostitution as legal; prostitution is even legal in European nations, North American nations, Oceanic nations and Nevada which is located within US and certain South American nations. The point to be noted is that although it has achieved legal status in all these areas, but it is governed through s trict rules and regulations. This paper will focus on the benefits that will be attained through the act of legalizing prostitution. The benefits of legalizing prostitution but in a strictly regulated manner can be experienced in field of economics, security and health. If prostitution is legalized its benefits can be both experienced by the private and the public sector. Body Economic Benefits for Prostitutes and Government Those in the favor of legalizing prostitution have stated various economic benefits that can be attained through legalizing prostitution. The current criminal justice system of the US is experiencing various problems. The population of the jailhouses is increasing day by day and the government does not have enough reserves to provide funds for the increasing cost of operating prisons. There are several solutions through which the problem of funding prisons and managing prisons can be settled. In order to change the face of the criminal justice system and the pri son management system, prostitution should be made legal and it should be highly supervised and regulated. The estimated cost of arresting a prostitute and dealing with his/her case costs thousands of dollars. According to the statistics of 1987, the total cost of arresting