Utah headed in wrong direction with prostitution

True to form, Utah legislators plan to manage the negative effects of State intervention with more State intervention.

Rep. Tim Cosgrove has put forth a bill mandating stricter licensing requirements for individuals in the alternative healing industry. Its purpose: to crack down on clandestine sex trade operations in massage parlors.

Of course, Cosgrove either completely ignores or is unaware of the fact that this fraudulent activity is a direct result of State prohibition of prostitution. “The oldest profession” is illegal because of the age-old conflation of legality and morality. Societies tend to forget that the beast of coercive government can enforce its edicts only by means of violence or the threat thereof, and that therefore the only behavior that should be illegal is behavior that any individual can rightfully respond to with defensive violence.

Within the lore of State mysticism, we are told that “[a]ll political power is inherent in the people; and all free governments are founded on their authority.” If this is true, it follows that the State can have no more authority than any one of its citizens. Prohibition of prostitution within this framework implies that, if average Utah resident Joe Shmoe were strolling through a neighborhood and witnessed a woman advertising sexual services, he would be within his rights to kidnap the woman and lock her in a cage, beating and even killing her if she resisted. Such a thing seems abhorrent to most people, yet those same people are fine with somehow delegating this right they don’t have to their government.

Prohibition of prostitution is the ultimate statement of State ownership of its citizens. By threatening violence against individuals who voluntarily perform sexual services for hire, government is claiming ownership of those individuals; for what is ownership but the right to possess and control? Indeed, this point is especially appropriate when one considers that State mandates against prostitution have resulted in the sex trade of unwilling women and minors to be what has been called “the largest slave trade in history.”

Without regulation, the prostitution industry has become a dangerous breeding ground for violence and disease transmittal. Because prostitutes cannot appeal to legal authorities for protection or redress of grievances, they are at the mercy of their pimps who are notorious for exploitative treatment of their laborers. Criminalization of prostitution could be the most misogynistic institution in world history.

The wise course to pursue in Utah would be not only to legalize prostitution, but to eliminate involuntary regulation and licensing requirements for both prostitution and massage parlors. Regulation and licensing are both products for which demand exists and can be provided and subscribed to voluntarily. Those who offer services without regulatory oversight or licensing ought not to be forcefully prohibited from doing so; they will most likely be forced by the market to discount their prices considerably, and those who purchase their services can do so knowing the risks. But no one should ever be forcefully prohibited from taking risks they are willing to take.

This course will result in a safe, responsible and economically efficient sex trade industry. This industry exists whether we like it or not. We cannot stamp it out of existence, because there will always be both a supply and a demand. So our question is, how do we manage it? By enacting measures that result in violence against non-violent women and children? Or by promoting those measures that will reduce harm to everyone involved, and hopefully create an open atmosphere in which we can peacefully persuade them to pursue more virtuous behavior?

Nicholas Hooton is an editor and strategist for Utah Liberty Alliance. He is an anarchist activist who has lived in Utah for over 20 years. He majored in journalism and public relations at USU with minors in psychology and personal financial planning. He has worked in the finance industry for eight years.