Pro Prostitution Rebuttle

In my opponent's opening statement, they state:

If its legalized the pimps will just go online or continue what they were doing and the prostitute would not report them

      If prostitution was to become legal, this would probably be the complete opposite of what would happen. This is what is currently happening now. Prostitutes are being beat up and mistreated by both their pimps and their "customers". Even though these abusive men should be reported and put into jail, they aren't because the prostitutes are afraid that they themselves will also be put behind bars. In most states in the US, prostitution is illegal. This means that if any prostitute was to get caught working, they would be punished. Since this is the case, women that work in the sex industry are afraid to report the abuse that goes on while they are working because they know that they will also be put into jail for just being a prostitute in the first place.
      Prostitution should not be a crime. These people deserve the exact same rights as anyone else in another profession. A quote by Melissa Ditmore states:

"Decriminalization would better protect people in the sex industry from violence and abuse."

This is exactly the point that i am trying to make. Prostitution is illegal right now but we all know that it is still going on. If not, why else would this debate be going on?  Obviously the law against prostitution is not working so the government should look at this issue from a different perspective and try to make some changes to help protect the rights of sex workers. Continuing to keep prostitution illegal is not helping address the issue of safety. Also, another reason why prostitution should be legal is to control the age in which workers start. Some girls start working in this business from as young as ages 12-14. If prostitution was to be made legal, the government could have better control over the minimum age that they can start working

Our Opening Statement
Quote Sources :
ProCon.org