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Essentially...because of religion.
It goes deeper than that, but the taboo attitude towards sex is largely brought back to religion.
So as long as sex is taboo to talk about...anybody running on elected office saying "hey we oughtta regulate sex work and get a slice of this pie" (pin unintended) will probably not get re-elected.
This is also why you're seeing people lighten up about weed. It's not taboo anymore.
There used to be a decent argument for the taboo on sex. Namely that it produces children. And children should not be born to a woman without someone to support her financially. Hence the sudden weddings when a girl got pregnant. This protected the woman, who would otherwise had to raise the children without a father.
Religion was used as a means to enforce this protection.
But in the modern world, this idea just doesn't work anymore. Sex doesn't need to produce children, children can be raised by one parent, and woman can take care of themselves without help of men. So all layers of the problem have been removed.
My point: religion used to have a point, but failed to get with the times.
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because we decided to poison the government with christianity
Depending on where you are. It is not illegal.
Getting approached with an offer as a (underage) teen on the Vegas strip was wild, and a touch flattering. I declined, obviously, but in that moment, in a sea of people, that person decided to ask me.
Its the little things in life.
Ironically, prostitution is illegal on the Vegas Strip.
Most human societal ills can be blamed on the religious, conservative, and rich
Puritanical prudes and those that agree with them and think they should have control of another's body.
Buckle up, bucaroos.
The world's oldest profession is a catch-all for desperate, impoverished, oppressed women who "join" (under duress) the workforce in this industry. Sex work is more broad than prostitution. Porn models, escorts, and many others exists under its umbrella.
The woman's body is the highest prize in patriarchal society. Men who get the prize without "earning" it (i.e. through marriage) and instead pay for it, feel ashamed, which they then project upon the worker. The quick ROI of the market attracts the worst predators in society, who harm and abuse the workers. (Not ALL men do this, yadda yadda).
The workers need extra legal protection, but there's a significant overlap of predatory men and rulers, politicians, et. al., who don't want their prey to have protection.
Whenever it is legalized, some horrific murder or routine abuse gets publicized and causes patriarchal moral panic. The blame inevitably gets placed on the sex worker, and the solution by the men in power is to outlaw it (begrudgingly, because they know it will now be harder to access). It's the exact same reaction you see when a monogamous man gets caught cheating on his wife with an escort. In that case, the wife acts as an arm of the patriarchy and demands her husband blame the sex worker, which helps her avoid feeling the tough emotions that might otherwise end the marriage.
If you look at our current system, Only Fans is known to be a safe harbor for some sex workers. But we're starting to see vultures called OF Managers (née pimps) moving in to commodotize the market. They are always here. The industry shifts and adapts to new societal norms (aka the regulatory environment) and the pimps are always right behind. The workers need extra legal protection from this threat.
But you'll also notice how the manosphere (The Young Predators) has thoroughly entrenched a specific dehumanizing narrative online about OF workers. There is no legal appetite to adapt to the new threat. It will continue this way, sex workers being preyed upon, until something horrific gets publicized. Then there is a little battle between activists crying for better legal protection and the patriarchy crying for bans. The winner of the battle dictates which direction the legal system responds. Rinse and repeat.
I used to agree with the idea that legalizing it would attract epxloitive and abusive managers, increasing harm to (primarily) women. Now I don't. Why? Because the "morally acceptable" workforce is already subject to predatory and abusive managers. Meanwhile, we already have labor slaves, immigrants separated from their passports, smugglers routinely demanding additional pay. You know what the "morally-acceptable" victims can do? Report themselves to authorities and get legal action and protection. You know what people knowingly engaging in illegal activities can't do? Go to the authorities.
Make it legal. Make it visible. Make it taxable and licensable, if so needed. Keeping it in the dark means the workers will heavily skew towards desparation, knowing they're risking legal consequences.
Couldn't you also address that issue by decriminalizing being a sex worker, but keeping the other side of it illegal?
“Selling is legal. Fucking is legal. Why isn’t selling fucking legal?
~George Carlin~RIP George. One of the greatest and most incisive comedians ever.
I got to see him two times. You are absolutely correct’
A number of reasons:
For a number of people, they just could not fathom buying sex. Part of that is some kind of pseudoreligious idea, part of that is also that they just don't understand why you would want casual sex. These people often don't understand why in the hell you would want to be a prostitute or a John, and don't see why it shouldn't be illegal.
Another number of people see it as "losing". As in, you would only ever want to buy sex if you've failed to get it some other way. Essentially, if you want to buy sex, something is wrong with you. So they look down on those who buy sex (even though they're sometimes secretly those who also buy sex themselves - sort of like the anti-gay republicans who get caught... well, you know).
There's also the view that no woman in her right mind would ever want to sell sex, framing selling sex as abuse. Never mind that that's not necessarily the case and that selling sex is not just something women do, but if you see it like that, it makes sense to outlaw it, since you're trying to remove a source of harm.
Because it's difficult to tax.
Almost every single way of making money that does not harm anyone that is illegal is only illegal because the government can't reliably take shit from it.
It also is mysogyny in this case. The vast majority of sex workers are women.
The Dutch managed to tax it just fine. It has the same tax reliability issues any cash payment has.
Friend of mine was a prostitute. She loved that she could get a tax deduction for buying underwear.
You can definitely tax prostitution and many countries do so.
Because it’s difficult to tax.
No it isn't. License sex workers, tax them. It's not different that how we tax hairdressers.
My 2c:
Religion, and likely a concept by those in power that sex should be free whenever they want it.
because religious zealots and/or conservative politicians love the pearl clutching and ride to power on a wave of moral hypocrisy
A more nuanced question would be where is it legal or illegal, and what are the restrictions or conditions where it is legal? How is sex in general seen in those places? The correlation, if any, may highlight some things.
In Denmark prostitution is legal, but it is not legal for a third party to make a profit of it, eg. pimping, but also renting out rooms specifically for sex work, guards, cash runners, drivers for callgirls etc.
I'm pretty sure pimps still exist, while many things that can help and protect sex workers are illegal.
But it isn't illegal.
Depends on where in the world you are. I suspect OP is unaware this isn't universally true; isn't there a "US-defaultism" community somewhere here where this could be posted…
Since OP didn't specify a location they clearly must be talking about where I live.
Can't argue with that
Truth bomb
It isnt even completely illegal in the US
There are rub and tug parlors everywhere.
But aren't those just erotic massages and not sex? Also don't they film them all so its kinda sketchy to go to them?
Tbh I have no idea but I am assuming based on your username you're also Canadian
Prostitution is legal in Nevada. OnlyFans is legal everywhere else.
The problem is that it was proven to be incredibly difficult to 'manage it'. Even where it is legal many sex workers are often being abused and human trafficking is a problem, because demand tends to be bigger then supply (there is more people who want to fuck than the people who would like to be fucked for money). And where it is illegal the sex workers are still being abused, but not only by the industry, but also by the law and the society, which does not help the victims at all...
A. Criminalizing it is effective for suppressing women and Lgbt in the workforce.
B. It helps relegate sex to a commodity that's tied to people's ability to build nuclear families instead of one that's just accessible with money. Places like the US like sex to be a commodity, but it's more valuable as something that makes men get married and seek exploitative work instead of something they can simply buy.
I just watched The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and this argument is made but falls on deaf ears.
Because it's always accompanied by human trafficking and rape. Even in countries where it's legal, the laws are shaped around an idea of allowing it, while preventing the worst aspects of it. The efficacy of various systems is still under review, as none of them are as effective as anyone would like.
It's a similar issue with polygamy. No one really cares what a group of consenting adults gets up to, but it always ends up devolving into some ones twelve year old daughter being married off to an old geezer, or a cult leader, or both. So it ends up getting banned.
They're both non problems that cause problems. And yes, a hundred ways to control the real problems have been tried. No one has really been happy with the results so far, there have just been various levels that local societies have decided to accept.