Edit to add my opinion so I’m not just replying “I agree” to 90% of comments. I think it should be legal, properly regulated, taxed and viewed as a profession. I haven’t personally engaged in it but I have no moral objection to it. I do hate the common sentiment that it was the individual’s “only option” though.
A hesitant yes to this. I have two main concerns (I’m in the US). First is that protection for the workers should be paramount, and I’m not sure how that gets enforced with all the corporate fuckery that goes on. I’d give it perhaps three seconds before someone Ubers the idea, making everyone on their list an “independent contractor” and enshittifying the entire thing.
My second concern is that “game of telephone” story several years ago. Someone pointed out that in Germany, job agencies could technically require women on unemployment to apply for jobs in brothels. Again, with the current state of things, with red-pilled incels on the rise and fringe elements suggesting the government should assign them a girlfriend, I’m not sure this is something I would feel safe implementing at this time.
Your first fear is completely valid, hopefully good policy and active regulations can prohibit that. Still can’t imagine it will be worse than the current state that sex workers face.
For the second point, while job centers are tasked to find you a job in your field, it is funny to imagine a conversation going like:
The thing is, the longer you’re out of work, the more they pressure you to apply for jobs outside your regular qualifications. It may be unthinkable to you now, but: rise of misogynist techbros, AI programming “matching” candidates to openings (with all the inbuilt biases and hallucinations that come with that), AI and unthinking automation in government services, cutbacks and deliberately programming for frustration in customer service - I can definitely envision people on unemployment being encouraged to work as a prostitute.
Yeah, from the sort of cold, heartless, detached, and incredibly oversimplifying level that those sorts of governmental decisions happen at… selling sex is one of the few things just about anyone can technically do. It’s also the kind of thing that it would be hard to prove doesn’t have effectively infinite demand.
I can totally see bureaucrats going: “You’ve got working holes, go get to it.”
Let me say again, that’s a horrid oversimplification of reality, but one that I can easily imagine coming out of government organizations.
I am in complete agreement with you on all these points.
The issue is, workers ARE already being exploited. The idea is regulations would bring about safeguards that would try to prevent these scenarios.
But let’s say what you said has happened and now someone is in this situation you described. There are two scenarios:
I’d argue decriminalization of prostitution does more good than harm in this situation.