What can we do?
I believe that prostitution should be legalized. A safe work environment where sex workers are respected is what stands out to me the most but legalizing prostitution would be a long process. The main thing we can do for now is changing our attitudes towards prostitution. Prostitution is stigmatized and often looked down upon. Not only is this demeaning towards women, it violates their freedom and equality. We should try our best to make sure our moral values do not get in the way and also finally accept that prostitution is a legitimate job that many earn money from. We don't support a woman's right to choose because people think prostitution is a great job but because women should have control over their own reproductive capacity. Women who decide for whatever reason to sell sex should have the right to control their own body and should be assured of basic protection on the job. Some potential solutions to tackle forced prostitution and illegal prostitution is to re-examine law enforcement, recognize it as paid labor, criminalize johns rather than the sex workers themselves. Another key point is to shift the limited resource law enforcement has from seller to buyer by increasing fines and penalties for repeat offenders. Also, shifting police time and resources away from the women by considering sex workers as victims of abuse rather than criminal. We should mainly focus on the arrest of johns.