Opinion
Conservatives should make peace with the complete decriminalization of prostitution
by Brad Polumbo
| October 17, 2019 02:23 PM
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When Veronica Monet was trapped and raped by a client, she couldn't go to the police. She knew they'd dismiss her concerns and possibly even throw her in jail on prostitution charges.
This is the reality women face under our current legal system, which treats some vulnerable women as criminals for their choice of profession even if it wasn't a completely free choice.
Thankfully, though, it's a reality under scrutiny. The D.C. City Council held a hearing Thursday on a bill that would completely decriminalize prostitution.
Conservatives don't have to like it, and they certainly don't have to view prostitution as moral or acceptable. But if they want to embrace practical reality over moral idealism and help women, they'll begrudgingly accept that we must stop waging state-led war on the world's oldest profession.
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