Kingsley Davis, Regard Prostitution Not Only as

¶ … Kingsley Davis, regard prostitution not only as a harmless service to society, but also a necessary one. However, when considering the criminal aspect of prostitution, there are many cases in which participants are indeed harmed, or run the risk of being harmed. This is the case for Lisa, who is at risk of both harming herself and her clients. First, her regular use of drugs is a significant risk factor in her own health.

Second, her use of unprotected sex to procure these drugs puts both herself and her clients at risk of infection and death. For these reasons, The two main components of Lisa's actions -- her drug addiction and unprotected sex -- could be potentially criminal and should be discouraged by means of legal safeguards. First, Lisa's drug addiction needs to be addressed by both legal and healthcare means.

Rather than imprisoning her in already overcrowded facilities, which could be even more harmful in terms of ensuring her health and the health of others, a legal mandate should be implemented instead. By court order, for example, Lisa could be entered into a rehabilitation facility for a certain amount of time as a condition of her continued freedom. Her release should be subject to the approval of healthcare professionals, which should be presented to the court before it is approved.

Because of the nature of her addiction, the required time at the facility should not be rigidly imposed; indeed, it should be subject to receiving a clean bill of health from a medical professional, which should be approved by the court. When her drug habit is under control, Lisa's sex habits can be addressed. There are two possible ways to address this. First, Lisa could be assisted to find employment other than prostitution, since this profession places her at risk of relapsing into her drug habit.

When such employment has been secured for her, Lisa can be monitored regularly by a medical professional or counselor assigned for the task. As a condition of her release, she should be required to submit to regular drug tests. If Lisa insists upon maintaining her involvement in prostitution, this can be allowed only under strict mandates. The court, for example, could mandate that Lisa practice safe sexual intercourse at all times.

Any failure to do so should result in criminalizing her actions and incarcerating her according to the full extent of the law. To monitor this, a social services professional could be appointed to monitor Lisa's actions. Her clients could also be approached at random for information about the nature of the services they purchased from Lisa. In general, summarily criminalizing Lisa's actions to result in a prison sentence would do little good.

As soon as she is released, she is likely to revert to her previous actions, creating a platform of harm to herself and others. Instead, a supportive network of rehabilitation, social, and psychological professionals should form a team to assist Lisa to take actions that are healthier for herself and others. Such a team will help Lisa to retain a sense of control over her life and health and at the same time creating a platform to care about the health of others as well.

Although it might be argued that prostitution is a profession that provides pleasure and creates an.