Legalizing Prostitution
Re the commentary by Gloria Allred and Lisa Bloom on legalizing prostitution (Dec. 6):
It has been my pleasure for the past 15 years to work with prostitute women through the Mary Magdalene Project. Living and working with these women has taught me a great deal about why women go into prostitution, and about what we as a society do to keep them enslaved. I assure you, legalizing prostitution is not the answer.
The state of Nevada provides our primary model for legalized prostitution. Legal brothels exist in the rural counties. For the women in these whorehouses, it means paying for their room and board, paying a certain amount (sometimes as high as 50%) of their “take” to the house, paying for mandatory medical exams and no right of refusal (they must take any man who requests them). They must also be willing perform any of the sex acts that appear on the “menu.” Apart from that, they are not allowed to be in the community or to vote.
Perhaps the most compelling argument against legalization, apart from the treatment of the women involved, is the fact that prostitution flourishes in the two remaining counties in Nevada where it is illegal. Another compelling variable is the presence of children who survive on our streets through their participation in the sex industry. Surely Allred and Bloom are not suggesting that these kids be cloistered in brothels?
All of the women with whom I work were abused as children. Perhaps we would be better served to place our energy in resurrecting incest taboos and providing men, women and children alternatives to prostitution as a means of survival. This is not an easy task and would require generations of intervention and education.
I have no illusions about stamping out prostitution in my lifetime. Until we raise our daughters free of abuse and with an understanding of themselves as independent and equipped with job skills, we will have female prostitutes. Until we raise our sons with the understanding that it is not an option to buy or sell another human being, we will have prostitution, legal or not.
THE REV. ANN HAYMAN
Program Director
South Gate