Should Prostitution be Legalized? The Merriam-Webster dictionary states that prostitution is the act of having sex in exchange for money. Prostitution is only legal in the state of Nevada but only in 8 out of the 16 of it’s counties. Everywhere else in the United States prostitution is illegal. Now the question is should prostitution be legalized throughout the United States? Yes, I believe that prostitution most definitely should be legalized. People, including myself consider prostitution a victimless crime. A victimless crime is a crime where there really is no victim and also no injuries involved when performing this act. A victimless crime usually contains two or more people who consent with one another and then engage in the crime. Prostitution is a victimless crime because there is no particular victim, yes they are disobeying the law but there is no intended victim or harm to others. Other victimless crimes include smoking marijuana and gambling. When debating whether or not prostitution should be legalized there are pros and cons that play a huge part. In the next few paragraphs this will be discussed. If prostitution was legalized it would reduce the crime rate. Kirby R. Cundiff, professor at Northeastern State University states, “It is estimated that if prostitution were legalized in the United States the rape rate would decrease by roughly 25% for a decrease of approximately 25,000 rape cases per year…” Basically people believe that if prostitution was legalized there would be no point in trying to rape someone because you want sex. Instead, there would be prostitutes available who are willing to give you what you want. I’m also a firm believer that if prostitution was legalized it would free up a bunch of jail cells that could be used for more serious crimes like murder. Another pro of legalizing prostitution would be that it would help some women escape poverty and allow them to earn themselves some money. I believe that women sometimes become prostitutes and sell their body because they don’t have a reliable source of income and they have no way of making any money. This is a quick and sometimes pleasurable way of earning some cash. They have no other way of getting money so that’s why they prostitute. Women sell their body to men because they are in need to feed their family or in need of some place to stay. Prostituting gives women who can’t/don’t make money the chance to make some money in order to be able to live. The fact that they are making money is a good thing because it also allows prostitutes to get off the streets. They can either pay for a motel room, stay with the men who are paying them, or simply just have the money to pay for their own rent. Basically these pros to legalizing prostitution have pros to them, if that makes sense. The next and final pro I’m going to list is if prostitution was legalized, It would improve the public health. Although I believe prostitution should be legalized, if it were I think that there should be certain circumstances that should go along with it. Say for example it was legalized; prostitutes would have to go to a clinic and get a mandatory check up for STD’s and other diseases or illnesses in order to help prevent things from spreading around. If they didn’t, they’d be notified that they are no longer allowed to be found prostituting until they got checked out. If they we caught, they’d be fined and arrested. Now for the cons; the first con would be that if we legalized prostitution, it would spread STD’s among the population. People believe that sexually transmitted diseases would increase. This is honestly a good point. It may very well spread diseases. This would only really happen if there weren’t any laws or rules when becoming a prostitution that would help prevent the spread of such diseases. Studies show that prostitution isn’t even the number one spread of STD’s. This is a good point too. Anyone is able to get an STD just by not being safe