An issue that has come up several times in discussions over the past 3 months is decriminalization vs legalization.  The primary difference being that with legalization there will be more regulations.  Pure decrim (eg, no regulations) will not pass the MN legislature so that is not a possibility.  If anything happens there will be some regulations.

The question is to what extent the industry can police itself so that regulations can be limited?  A good example is advertising.  One legislator mentioned what I'm sure would become 10 pages of regulations governing what can be said, where, when, etc.  What is the probability that the industry could come together to keep advertising non-conspicuous?

Similarly for use of a home or apartment for incall.  Can the industry regulate itself to limit the number of visitors to an apartment to something like 2 per day or 8 per week?  Keep everything quiet so that neighbors are not disturbed?

My thought is that with the number of people involved that self-regulation, even with some kind of industry committee, would be impossible, but I wanted to throw it out to see if anyone has any ideas before the serious discussions begin.

Thanks.

Here of some of my thoughts.  BTW, I want to thank you for taking the initiative by "just trying harder." I've been reading your posts for a while, and appreciate what you are doing.

I do think that regulation would be the best route to go, because by just decriminalizing it, the bad elements could slip through the cracks easier than if there were some regulation to it.

Advertising is a great point.  I certainly don't want to be walking down the street with my children and have some goof handing me a flier, like in Vegas, or driving down the road and every other billboard is for a brothel.  At least in my opinion, that is overkill.  I would think that we could keep it to the resources we use now, much like what the strip clubs do.  

I do like the idea of allowing girls to operate out of their own residence.  I also like the idea of allowing a client to entertain an escort in their own private residence.  Again, my opinion is, if it's behind closed doors, and in a private residence where no one knows blatantly what's going on - where's the problem?  

There is also a part of me that likes the ideas of brothels, similar to what Nevada has - but would there be room enough for both in the minds of the legislature? If we had to choose one over the other, I would probably choose private residence.  Personally I would rather have the choice to be independent, and not give half of my money to an establishment.  And I would feel much more comfortable entertaining a gentleman in my home, rather than anyplace else.  (As is stands right now, that's something I've never really cared to do, mostly because I wouldn't want my home to be jeopardized. Silly in my eyes.)  But that is just my opinion, other ladies might feel different.

Some other ideas that I have are: 1) mandatory STD & HIV testing for all sex workers, 2) Mandatory licensing for all sex workers (IMO, that would help keep out or keep track of, the bad elements).  

You mentioned an "industry committee," which I would assume would be made up of those who have been directly involved in this business?  I think that would be an absolutely great idea, because who else is going to know how this business can be besides those who have actually experienced it first hand?  I know of a few business owners, current and non, (most not on the internet), that have been around the scene in town for years longer than most of us, that really would be great adversaries.  

I do hope that one day we can see our laws changes about this.  The only way that is going to get done is if we do speak up and show that there is a need and want for this to happen.  Even if you aren't the "public protester" type, people can still help by voting.  I, for one, will happily be one of the public protesters, because we do need to  do something here.  The sex industry is never going to go away, we can't fix the bad elements this way.  We need to accept that and then take the steps to work with it, instead of against it, and THEN we can start to fix the bad elements.

This was on Channel 9 news, back about 3 years ago when they were doing a week long look at prostitution.  I don't have the exact data, but I remember it because I was amazed at the poll results. The question was: Do you think that prostitution should be legalized and controlled?  Around 70% of people who phoned in their answer said "Yes." I'm sure that poll would be considered unscientific, but I'd safely bet that the numbers would be in our favor.