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Legalization of Prostitution

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Submitted By js217610
Words 1664
Pages 7
Jeffrey Siefker
Amanda Hayes
English 151
19 February 2012
Decriminalization of Prostitution The question that I am exploring is should society allow individuals sell sex for money? This question is important because taxpayer money is being spent on Vice Police Units who patrol known prostitution locations and go under cover. It’s also important because through out history social policy and public law has changed back and forth on the issue of prostitution. I am interested on this issue because recently my hometown of Ottawa, Ohio, has had a scandal involving our town mayor being arrested for solicitation of prostitution, causing the loss of his job and embarrassment for our town.
My first source was a documentary series on the History channel called “Sex in the Ancient World” specifically the episode I watched was “Pompeii”. “Sex in the Ancient World” is written and directed by Kurt Sayenga. Kurt Sayenga got his start with his magazine “Greed” which covered punk rock culture and quickly rose to stardom trough his multiple documentaries and his feature films like “The Day the Earth Stood Still”. His experience shows he is a very creditable source because he has blockbuster movies and is a respected by all of the film community. In this documentary the core issue was sex in Pompeii in ancient times. Pompeii was small Roman city of 6,000 when Mount Vesuvius erupted in the year 76 AD and sealed the city in volcanic ash like a time capsule. Pompeii is the first definite proof of the occupation of prostitution. According to “Sex in the Ancient World” the small city of Pompeii had 46 locations in which to solicit sex, which is a lot for a city of only 6,000. Prostitution was not crime in Pompeii; it was actually encouraged as an alternative to adultery, which was a crime potentially punishable by death. Marriage was treated as more as a social standing rather then a

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