Although I agree with Emily Houtler that women who work as prostitutes shouldn’t be prosecuted and should be treated with respect, the rest of her column is dangerously inaccurate. Although I believe any and all prostitution to be a blatant violation of human dignity, I’ll only argue that legalization doesn’t work on any practical level.

While there may have been some marginal benefits for licensed prostitutes in the Netherlands, illegal, more “hardcore” prostitution still continues underground for men willing to pay more. This underground prostitution, not surprisingly, takes advantage of underage girls and makes these women victims of violence.

Consider Nevada, where prostitution is legal. Even women who work in licensed brothels report abuse; being locked in and forbidden to leave until they’re not “wanted” anymore. At least one woman reported being starved for a time when the owner of the brothel thought she was getting too fat.

Some sheriffs in Nevada (perhaps because of political contributions) actively cooperate and allow brothels to break the laws. In one Nevada city, police cooperate with a brothel’s policy stating that registered prostitutes may not leave a brothel at night and take them back if they do. A licensed brothel owner even threatened to kill a woman writing an investigative book about legal prostitution in Nevada. One would think if he had nothing to hide, such a heinous crime wouldn’t occur.

The most successful policies prosecute the men who use—and often abuse—prostitutes, but leave the women alone or help them find better work. Perhaps that is the only answer here.

—Alex Wagner UW-Madison senior