I think that you misunderstand me, jmontecillo01. My point is not to criticize the johns. And I definitely don't condemn the prostitutes, which is sort of implied in, "respect their right to live the way they want to live". The problem is that in most cases this is not exactly the way that they want to live, it's just what they have deemed the best of the rotten alternatives.
You are right, of course, when you say about the legalized brothels that "it gives them a sorrounding where they do not have to worry about the dangers street walkers have to face". Instead they have to worry about the dangers that prostitutes in brothels have to face. The weekly health checks are a testimony to this!!!
And what happens to the poor prostittute with AIDS? Does the government pull her out of circulation and take care of her for the rest of her life? Or is she simply banned from working in the brothels approved by the government to prevent her from passing on the disease in a legal setting?
Dann, I remember you being involved in a similar and tortueous thread on prostitution a while back where you seemed to wish to argue in ideological absolutes about the evil of prostition as a whole and therefore could not countenance even discussing what was best for the prostitutes within the industry itself.....so to keep it brief
(1) prostitution is for the large part a deeply unpleasant industry, in which the majority of people selling sex would rather not be doing so
(2) prostitution will not disappear regardless of whatever laws are passed or not passed by the state
(3) some people do choose to sell sex - either they prefer to work as a prostitute than in another profession, or are able to work in the high end "escort" market of their own free will. These people may be a minority, but nonetheless not everyone wants to be "rescued" from prostitution
Given that (1) (2) and (3) are statements which I don't believe even a blinkered ideologue can argue with, then the question should be "what is best for the women (and men) in the prostitution industry?"
The most dangerous position to be in is a street prostitue - in terms of rape, violence, pimp exploitation, drugs, low wage, STDs, and even murder it is absolutely the worst in terms of risk factors. Given that in legalised brothels you can
(1) Have bouncers and personal alarms to offer some protection from rape and violence
(2) Have a "condom only" policy (again reinforced through personal alarm)
(3) Have regular checks for STDs
(4) Have targeted outreach for all prostitutes to ensure that social workers, job cebtres, drug workers etc. can do everything possible to help these women out of prostitution if they wish
(4) minimise the pimp exploitation - breaking some of the drug dependent cycle, and ensuring that women get a greater share of any money earnt
then it is surely worth at least considering. I think prostition is unpleasant and exploitative but the question should be "how best to help?" rather than simplistic ideology distinct from reality.
The current status quo in the UK results in large numbers of street prostitutes, women trafficked from Europe and illegal and unregulated brothels. How then would you affect change to benefit the thousands of people in their current situation? More laws? Less laws? No laws? No state? The end of capitalism and the founding of an egalitarian society based on Marxism? Or just ideological masturbation?
(and if it takes a while to set up this Marxist state, what should we do in the meantime?

)