The supporters of the bill say that decriminalization would improve the safety and health of sex workers by allowing them to come forward to the police with complaints of rape or assault without fear. The opponents say the measure would increase crime and allow the already problematic human trafficking in San Francisco to explode.

While I won’t get into the details of the bill or my own personal opinion, it certainly shows the moral dilemmas one might face in public health. Does your moral stance against prostitution outweigh your moral stance against abuse and assault? Do the sex workers “deserve” to get assaulted if they are doing something illegal? Are you more interested in the health of the population or the perpetuation of your personal morals?

What I found most intriguing is the Swedish model of prostution enforcemet. In 1999, Sweden passed the “Sex Purchase Law”, which effectively makes the sale of sex legal but the purchase of sex illegal. This allows the sex worker to come forward, report crimes, receive proper medical attention, and more accurately portrays the sex workers as a victim. Originally mocked, the law has seen a recent surge of interest. It’s hard to gauge the effectiveness of the law as the drop in prostitution may just be the result of pushing it underground.

It’d be interesting to do a formal study about the health of the sex workers, sexual health of the general Swedish population, and rate of prostitution. If anybody knows of one, I’d like to know about it.

[Image by gwalton1 via Flickr.]