If someone says the word “prostitute”, within seconds we are painting a picture in our heads. I see a woman standing on a street corner in tattered, revealing clothing, a tired looking face with bright colored makeup on, semi clean looking hair, and high heels that will grab the attention of any men passing by. What people cannot see beyond this image is the unfortunate fact that these women not only feel the need to sell their bodies to survive, but along with being at constant risk of STD’s, they are often times raped and abused.

While thousands of women suffer each year from this burdening lifestyle, the legalization of prostitution in the state of Nevada has allowed women to live safely in organized brothel houses, providing them with shelter, protecting them from STDs, physical and emotional abuse, rape, and assault. Not only are they protected, but unlike prostitutes in other states, many of these women are fortunate enough to own and live in homes with their husband and children.

While known as the “world’s oldest profession,” prostitution in America is also known as one of the world’s largest unregulated sex trade industries. Due to the large number of unreported cases of rape, assault, etc., calculating accurate statistics on prostitution is limited. Despite this, a study of San Francisco prostitutes found that 82% had been assaulted and 68% percent had been raped while working as prostitutes.

It is estimated that if prostitution were legalized in the United States, the rape rate would decrease by roughly 25% for a decrease of approximately 25,000 rapes per year. These estimations agree with the hypothesis that the rape rate could be lowered if prostitution was legalized, and can be applied in not only America, but in all countries if they chose to do the same.

In his article, journalist Paul Armentano writes, “According to current evidence, roughly half of the street prostitutes in Washington, D.C., and New York City are HIV-positive. In Newark, New Jersey, the estimate is that close to 60% of all prostitutes carry the AIDS virus.Yet, in the relatively “free market” of Nevada, where prostitution is legal, not one (as of 1989) of the state-licensed prostitutes has ever tested positive for AIDS “(http://fff.org/) nor are they allowed to work as licensed prostitutes. During every sexual encounter, the use of condoms are required which is necessary for the semi-guaranteed prevention of unwanted pregnancy and transmission of any sexually categorized disease or infection. Because Nevada’s brothels are regulated, the state licensed prostitutes are required to give monthly blood tests, and each customer that comes to buy sex must fill out health forms . and get physically examined by the company doctor which without even using a condom would still greatly reduce their risk of disease.

By legalizing prostitution, not only can transmission of HIV be greatly cut down, but the establishment of legal, organized brothels will keep record of every customer that pays for services, protecting these women from rape and abuse, that without legalization, will only grow, and continually  get worse

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