[QUOTE="Plzhelpmelearn"]
[QUOTE="Barbariser"]
No, it damn well isn't. A prostitute can leave her job at any time she wants; a sex slave can't. The difference between a prostitute and a sex slave is just like the difference between the dude who builds your house and the poor kid in Africa who's got no choice but to repair guns for his warlord or else he'd get his dad shot in the gut - one is a labourer who's voluntarily took his job, has been trained for it and can be verified as such in paperwork. The other is not.
SgtKevali
What I am saying is that the only real way to determine what prostitute is being a prostitute based on her own free will and those who are doing it out of fear, or because they are being manipulated or coerced somehow is to ask the individual. Unfortunately, the latter are not usually willing to be forthcoming about what has motivated them to be there.In fairness, if you were running a business that depended on good looking women to have sex with desperate men, you would probably make damn sure you had a way to keep the women under your control. Whether with drug addiction, intimidation, or whatever means necessary. I know you probably think that legalizing it will make all these bad aspects of this particular business disappear, but I guess I just have to disagree with you. Thankfully it will most likely stay illegal.
Do you understand the difference between a worker working from his own will and a slave?
Slavery does not compute with "free will", so I'm not sure what you mean. Some people are forced into sexual slavery under fear of, among other things, death and violence. All slavery is based in fear, that's the whole point. It doesn't negate the problem as not being a physical one (you seem to see it as a mental one). I might have misinterpreted what you meant, but it isn't phrased all that clearly, with all due respect. Now, if someone is a slave, it can generally be determined very quickly, as opposed to what you suggest. Otherwise, how would we be fighting sex trafficking and sexual slavery right now? There are ways of recognizing these things.
You set up an immense strawman of sorts in your second paragraph. I doubt most people who are in favor of the legalization of prostitution believe that all the terrible aspects will go away (sexual slavery, child sexual slavery, pimps etc.) with legalization. You can still regulate those and stamp down on them when necessary, even with the legalization of prostitution in general. What we're saying is that the act of two people having sex, with an exchange of cash, with no other unsavory strings attached (pimps, slavery, children etc.), should not be illegal. In some countries that have legalized prostitution, the idea of having a "pimp" is still illegal, and prostitution itself, although legal, is heavily regulated.
When you argue against our arguments, you must argue against the idea of what we generally (not all prescribe to this, of course) think should be legal (which is in this case bolded). It makes no sense to argue against what we also believe should be illegal.
Now, with prostitution, a lot of that "intimidation", as you describe it, comes from the "pimp-prostitute relationship". Many advocates of the legalization of prostitution believe that this relationship should be illegal, and that "cash for sex" should be between the two people in question (seller and buyer). With prostitution being illegal, it is actually more difficult for that kind of a relationship to work, and women are driven into working in a more coercive environment (which you claim to dislike). Many advocates of the legalization of prostitution believe that the "business" environment (brothels, whorehouses etc.) should also be prohibited, as it conflicts with the bolded to a large extent, although that is an issue that is argued upon quite often.
Prostitution is used to support drug abuse, as you said. I don't see that as relevant to the argument against prostitution, as ANY job can support an individual's drug addiction. If any action should stem from this problem, it should be the enactment of more programs to help those with drug abuse problems.
Honestly, I do believe that prostitution (in the form I bolded) will continue to become legalized in more and more locations, because as Western society moves forward, it tends to liberalize more and more in these sorts of social issues. Sure, it'll be illegal under some authoritarian regimes (and other countries), but I believe it will be legal in most of the West, eventually.
What I was saying is that in cases of prostitution, the only way to decipher between a willing prostitute and an unwilling prostitute (aka a slave) is by asking the prostitute. I have no problem with the bolded aspect of your post. My problem is with all the unsavory strings that come attached. You may think that they are somehow avoidable, but i personally think that they are unavoidably linked with the commercial sex trade. Under the system that we have now, it is pretty unlikely that an individual girl and guy who have sex with an exchange of cash are going to get into very much trouble, especially considering how little of a chance of getting caught there is. What law enforcement goes after or should go after in my opinion is more of the organized sex trade where those unsavory strings are inevitable. I really don't think that legalizing prostitution is going to make the life of the prostitute any easier. I believe all that it will do is allow the pimps to be more open and come out from all their hiding spots without fear of repercussions, because now they are legitimate business men, selling young women's sexuality for profit. Also, I did not say or intend to say that prostitution supports drug abuse, but drugs are often used as a means in the pimp-prostitute relationship to control the prostitute, just like intimidation and other methods. 
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