Business Insider's Dylan Love had his expectations shattered when he reported on a Nevada brothel and observed that legalized, well-regulated prostitution can be both safe and profitable. Nevada only allows prostitution in licensed brothels that test workers routinely for sexually transmitted infections.
While Love is not the first to observe legal prostitution can be relatively safe , Nevada's rural counties are the only place in America where the world's oldest profession is officially allowed. Here are seven solid arguments for why the rest of the United States should let people sell sex in a well-regulated capacity, as they do in the Netherlands , Switzerland , and parts of Mexico , among other countries.
Another study of prostitutes in Colorado Springs found they were 18 times more likely to be murdered than non-prostitutes their age and race. Prostitutes who experience violence may be reluctant to call the cops since what they're doing is illegal.
Sex workers in licensed brothels, on the other hand, can have somebody to back them up , according to a paper by Barbara Brents and Kathryn Hausbeck of the University of Nevada. Brents and Hausbeck interviewed brothel owners and made these observations:. Brothel owners have a clear interest in maintaining their image as law-abiding, trouble-free businesses to keep their licenses and maintain good relations within their communities.
The study concluded that "brothels offer the safest environment available for women to sell consensual sex acts for money. Illegal street prostitutes might face pressure from pimps and Johns to forgo condoms. But states that legalize prostitution can require sex workers to use condoms and get tested for sexually transmitted diseases. Sex workers in Nevada have to get monthly tests for syphilis and HIV and weekly tests for gonorrhea and chlamydia.
