Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver (1976)
Not exactly. Actually California Democrats decriminalized child prostitution for underaged teens, noting that they are victims. It is still illegal (even in California) for the adult 'John' or pimp who traffic or exploit child prostitutes. Still, this is still very bad legislation.
I concur that cases we have heard of out of control prosecutors going after teenagers for sex crimes like 'sexting' or for consensual sexual relations between hurts rather than protects these teens. Still, can't we use a little common sense and prosecutorial discretion? Prosecutors and police can use the criminal nature of prostitution to intervene quickly to save a child engaged in this activity. So why take that tool away from law enforcement and child protective services?
This is part of a growing trend to decriminalize prostitution generally. It seems dangerous to experiment on the absolutely most vulnerable. At best this law does nothing good and at worst it promotes child prostitution.
As the Daily Wire and National Review note, this legislation is not exactly lowering cases of child prostitution.
Mental Floss: 13 Grimy facts about Taxi Driver
Legal Insurrection: Did California Democrats really legalize child prostitution?
Wombat: Mark Steyn: Licence To Dye
I read that this morning too. I also thought the headline was a bit overblown, but the argument made in the article was a fair point. For sure, this seems to make it difficult for the authorities to put an underage prostitute in protective custody. The unintended consequence to me is similar to the efforts making it more difficult to imprison a person for insanity.
ReplyDeleteAs for the greater effort to decriminalize prostitution; I'm turning a bit liberal on the idea. On a simple level, it is a basic quid pro quo for sex, and there are all sorts of things to give for sex that are legal. But, I also think few entities are interested in studying to larger societal effects. Already, westernized cultures are procreating less. Some of its less sex, but most of it is less sex for the purposes of having a child. Associating sex more as a purely pleasurable act, rather than one for a purpose can't help. So as much as I have less of a concern for the illegality; I have a greater concern for the cultural dissolution. All this liberalism has lead us down a path of being irrelevant in the future.
With adults, they will do what they do. This post was about social experimentation with kids. I lean libertarian, but I do not like the idea of wide spread prostitution. The social impacts are significant. Why not make all drugs legal too, while we are at it. It would undoubtedly have some benefits, but also huge consequences.
DeleteI realized later that I should have been specific. How much better is Denmark for legalizing these things? It's economy is growing slower than the US. While the US fertility rate has fallen to near parody to Denmark, much of that is due to decrease in more liberal areas of the US, with Colorado and Oregon being some of the lowest.
ReplyDeleteI can see this all being great for Malthusians, but I don't subscribe to the theory. To the extent I understand the theory, its being managed like the Kyoto protocols; all the wrong people are being asked to make do with less. For example, Saudi Arabia's total fertility rate is much higher, and Afghanistan twice as high as Saudi Arabia. So, I don't think we are really solving the problems of world over population by distracting western world youth with drugs and no consequence sex (when they have it, and not in college, where a guy would be an idiot to have sex with a woman because there be consequences).