You won’t find anything close to a fresh or original thought in this opinion piece published by The Daily Collegian, but that didn’t stop the author from writing it, nor the paper from printing it.  The editorial suffers from some naivete, but it’s still worth a look, for a good laugh if nothing else. An excerpt is below, but you can read the whole article at The Daily Collegian…

Legal prostitution, for safety’s sake

by Hannah Nelson

In the name of killing the sanctity of marriage, let’s throw enemy number two – prostitution – in the ring. There is no such thing as the sanctity of marriage and there never really has been. It’s an ideology created to vilify anyone who doesn’t fit into the mold of traditional family values. As such, new impending legal action will make it harder for UK prostitutes to maintain their existing, protective actions. It is already a criminal offense to run a brothel or agency for profit, and soon it will be even harder for the 80,000 prostitutes in the UK.

Nearly three years ago, the UK was discussing the legalization of small brothels, but now there’s been a complete one-eighty. The old proposal had included the idea of creating safe houses for women who could opt to transition out of prostitution and to receive help for substance addictions rather than face fines.

The new criminalization proposals advocated by Minister for Women Harriet Harman and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith would mean fines and carrying a police record if convicted of selling sex. Only individuals working on their own would be exempt, an option considered the most unsafe way to go about it. Anyone found guilty of paying for consensual sex would be liable for rape charges, and if committed could mean a life sentence in prison.

After a survey in the UK, the popular opinion is that new criminalization will not get rid of prostitution and showed a consensus that many citizens would rather see legalization.