San Francisco may be safe for prostitutes

[preciousjeni]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

It would really take a sea change in the way we view prostitution on a societal level for these effects to really take root - I'd love for this line of thought to be completely correct, but it seems like there's little incentive for a prostitute to "play ball" and fall in line with the system. Indeed, there's probably incentive for the prostitute to not follow (increased profits) - and unlike, say, business regulations, we have (like you pointed out) two centuries of evidence that any law enforcement repercussions will be of limited utility.

I guess I just doubt the john's willingness to call an agency and report a hooker for not following the rules, the hooker's trustworthiness in following mandatory-testing procedures (or their ability to self-regulate against the vigilante), the government's ability to tax/regulate it, and society's willingness to bring the act out of the alley and into the strip mall. It seems like all of those things have to happen for regulation to actually have the positive effects we'd like.

It's already working in areas of this country where prostitution is legal. As long as the prostitutes follow the regulations, all is copacetic.