Berkeley Takes Prostitution to the Voting Booth

BERKELEY, California (AP) -- Residents of this left-leaning city will have a chance to vote in November on whether they think prostitution should be a crime.

An advocacy group announced Wednesday it had gathered nearly 3,200 signatures, about 1,000 more than needed to get the initiative on the ballot.

The measure would have little more than symbolic value, since it wouldn't undo laws against prostitution. But Robyn Few, head of the Sex Workers Outreach Project, said a win at the polls would send an important message.

I'm one of the strange women - I saw this because women are generally more opposed to prostitution, pornography, and the sales side of sex than men in most studies - who feels that probably a lot of the worst aspects of prostitution can disappear with legalization.

I know. Oh horrors! The end of American civilization! God will punish us. Our daughters will be exploited.

Uh...no. I could attempt some black humor here and note that while prostitution is always considered such a dirty subject, the same people who oppose any legalization of prostitution seem to think torture and subjugation of women is way cool.

Where prostitution has been legalized, women involved often have far more protection in how they work and far less apt to be beaten or raped, undergo frequent health screenings, are less likely to be "lost" to drugs (although many legal pros are recreational users) including alcohol, earn better money, and are treated with better respect than their street corner counterparts.

There's a lot more to how I feel about this, but it would take a book to lay it out. For example, having watched the divorce and claims courts for a bit, it sure seems like a fair amount of prostitution goes on under the guise of work and marriage. Giving your body for sex, after all, isn't the only way you can prostitute yourself (waving to Mickey Kaus, Glenn Reynolds, David Frum, Condi Rice, George Bush, and sooooo many others). TV, for instance, is full of corporate whores (hi Tim Russert, Matt Lauer, Lou Dobbs, Katie Couric, Chris Matthews, Diane Sawyer, et al).