If prostitution is legal in your nation, how is it regulated and how is the social and political culture surroundings its existence?
In Walosia:
In Walosia, prostitution (Lat: fornicatio) is fully legal and regulated by the Department of Health and Medicine under the Directorate of Prostitution and Sexual Services. Before detailing the regulatory and social aspects of Walosian prostitution it is worth giving a small inside into the history of prostitution in Walosia.
History:
Prostitution has been a part of Walosian economy and culture since classical times. Following the establishment of the Walosian Empire in 200BC, Quintillus introduced one of the first legislations granting Walosian prostitution with protection and rights under the law, most notably with the decriminalization of the profession itself. Prior to Quintillus´s decriminalization, prostitution had only existed as part of the criminal underworld and criminals profited heavily from the extortion and abuse of both the clientele and the prostitutes. With the decriminalization of prostitution, police were able to provide a great deal of protection to vulnerable men and women in the profession. During Quintillus´s reign, approximately sixty high profiled pimps were driven out of the black marked and ruthlessly tried and executed, most notably crime boss Gaius Alexander Sulla who dominated the sex trade in Northern Walosia during the 195-190sBC.
The succession of Octavian Caesarion to the imperial throne in 181BC saw, not only the loosening of regulation in the sex industry, but also the total abandonment of Quintillus`s previous persecution of those who illegally profited from this practice. This soon became the norm and Emperors were reluctant to introduce any notable change to Caesars abandonment. Empress Antonia became the first Empress to officially return to Quintillus´s persecution in late 503AD, however, this would only scratch the surface of the deeply rooted industry and powerful cartels were able to protect their business interests from the government often with at the same scale as Empress Antonia in her attempts at quelling them. Throughout the history pre-revolution Walosia (200BC-900AD), the prostitution industry grew and remained steadfast as part of the Walosian criminal underworld.
One of the more successful persecutors of the prostitution industry was Empress Victoria in her quest to purify the Walosian Empire in 9th century. Going after the prostitutes, the clientele and the pimps, Victoria were able to greatly damage the overall strength and effectiveness of the criminal underworld. Going after their entire industry, not only their prostitution branch, Empress Victoria, with ruthless “ethics squads” and extreme sentencing, were able to destroy most of the foundation and its marked fell drastically as a result. After the revolution in 900AD and the centralization that followed the reestablishment of the Walosian Imperial Senate and the Office of President, a new wave of prostitution hit the Walosian underworld, now dominated by those few who were able to escape persecution by the hands of Empress Victoria. Effectively creating a monopoly in their respective regions, these organizations tended to be more careful and skeptical towards both customers and workers. As a result of the damage caused by the revolution, the central government lacked both the manpower and resources to continue the persecution set forth by Victoria.
In the early 13th century, prostitution existed openly in Walosia, much due to a laissez-faire attitude effecting most of the political life in Walosia during the 11th through 14th century. This era would also see the first introduction of legal sex shops set up the government in order to gradually turn the marked away from the criminal underworld and into the legal and regulated aspects of an open marked. The 14th century saw a drastic increase in political accept for prostitution, an accept that helped fuel the initial drive for the gradual nationalization of the industry in the 18-19th century. In the 14th and 15th century, prostitution was often viewed as a “plebian” activity and helped create a stigma of prostitution as a socially unacceptable activity for both the middle class and the aristocracy. The concept of “luxury prostitution” was not introduced until the secularization in the early 19th century.
Emperor Hadriana was one of the first to introduce regulatory measurements in order to protect the health and integrity of the prostitutes. In 1531 she helped with passing what has commonly been referred to as “Hadrian’s Law”, a law that required prostitutes to register and undergo mandatory medical examinations in order to quell the rapid spread of disease in the working class-dominated cities as well as protecting prostitutes against disease and the subsequent destruction of their livelihood. This law also granted prostitutes with the right to refuse service, a right that they currently lacked under the prior administration. With the introduction of the modern condom and modern science and medicine during the 16th and 17th century, these products were distributed to prostitutes free of charge, which again helped quell the spread of disease.
The 18th century would see an increase in popularity for abolitionists, this due to the rise of feminist ideology and the viewing of prostitution as a product of a chauvinistic and male-dominant political society. With the rise in popularity for restriction, most government owned sex shops and brothels were discontinued and harsh restriction put in place in order to remove the incentives and thusly reduce the marked. This would horribly backfire as the restrictions caused an imminent rise in black marked prostitution. The rise in illicit prostitution initially led to the nationalization of the prostitution with the “Nationalization Act of 1840”. This act, passed in the senate by the majority of the Workers United League illegalized private ownership of sex shops and brothels while nationalizing the entirety of the industry under management of the newly established Directorate of Sexual Services.
In the post-war era following the Walosian defeat in the Second Maldovian Territorial War, prostitution became a forgotten part of Walosian industry and it wasn’t until the sexual revolution in the 1940s and 50s that the industry would gain mainstream political focus. Following the sexual revolution, the concept of free love and liberalism brought with it a new focus on the environment and economic liberty behind the nationalized prostitution marked. With a few nasty crackdowns on private prostitution rings and brothels in the 70s, it brought with it a new rise in popularity for private ownership. As a result of the political shift in attitude towards prostitution, both the “Liberals” and the “Progressive Party” shifted their political platform to a complete privatization of the industry. This would in the 70s and 80s result in a loosening of laws in regards to private home-based prostitution and small-scale organizations without a distinct hierarchy, but brothels and organized prostitution remained illegal. The 70s and 80s was also an era dominated by the loosening of regulations and privatization of establishments such as strip clubs. Throughout the remainder of the 20th century, the issue of private prostitution would continue to dominate the in the liberal and libertarian movements, but it wasn’t until after the election in 2016 that the Liberals were able to gain a majority and finally pass the “Prostitution Privatization Act”, an act that would not only allow for privatized brothels, but would also focus on the eventual sale of the former government-owned brothels. As of March 2018, two private establishments have risen with a few others expected to enter in on the marked by 2019.
Prostitution in practice:
According to official statistics and the Department of Health’s estimates, there exist 1.230.000 prostitutes in Walosia as of 2018, most of them working in government owned brothels while the remaining works either privately or under management by a private enterprise. After the privatization act passed in the Senate and enforced in January 1st 2017, two private enterprises have risen in competition with the government-owned prostitution enterprise dominating the marked, the “Latina Prostitution Services” and “Pure Entertainment”. Prostitution is mostly visible in the big cities while some smaller cities and towns maintain a smaller presence.
On a national basis, most prostitution occur either trough clubs or escort agencies while the concept of window prostitution remains illegal. As of March 2018 there exists 944 government-owned clubs and 149 government-owned escort agencies while the two new private enterprises combined consists of 14 clubs and 2 escort agencies. Many clubs combines the concept of strip club and prostitution into one establishment. It is estimated that the total transaction of sexual services mounted to 310 million US dollars in 2017.
According to a study conducted by the “Central Bureau of Statistics and Surveys” in 2004, 21% of male adults had purchased sexual services at least once in their lifetime while 2% had purchased it that same year. For females, the statistics mounted to 12% and 0.9%.
Politics and regulatory aspect of prostitution:
Prostitution is one of the fields that are most regulated by the Walosian government, both on behalf of the clientele, the prostitutes themselves and as of 2017, the management of any private enterprise. Following is a list of regulations each party has to follow in order to maintain their license and maintain its legality:
The client:
• The client has to be 16 or older in order to use services provided by legal prostitution services and it is illegal for any adult older than 16 to purposefully purchase a prostitute on behalf on someone who’s age cannot be verified.
• The prostitute has the final word in any arguments, should it be related to price, service or other aspects of the agreement.
• The client is required to read through a list of does and don’ts, both in regards to the establishment and in regards to the prostitute in question.
• A client is liable for prosecution should he or she uses any equipment to record anything without the consent of the prostitute. Most establishments prohibit recording all together.
• Should the client manage to frame the prostitute out of money for the service provided, he or she is liable for persecution. Thusly, it is often mandatory to pay up front and many prostitutes prefer cash payment to debit or credit card.
The prostitute:
• The age requirement in order to work as a prostitute is 16 years, but due to the fact that they are required to have their parents signature in order to become one (age of majority), very few “underage” prostitutes exists and most establishments set their employment age at 18 years old.
• The prostitute is required to register with a national index in order to operate as either a private contractor or under management of either the government or a private enterprise. This in order to prevent illegal or illicit prostitution and abuse.
• It is completely voluntarily, but prostitutes are recommended by authorities to join a trade union in order to protect their interests when negotiating with their employees. There are currently two trade unions on behalf of the prostitution marked, the “Central Walosian Union for Prostitution” and the “Prostitution Protection and Emancipation Collective.”
• Each prostitute is obligated to undergo a bi-monthly health and inspection check in order to prevent the spread of diseases and to keep the prostitution marked as clean as possible. Should a prostitute test positive for a STD, the cost is either covered by private insurance or the public health care system, depending on the agreement between the establishment and prostitute. Most prostitutes have private insurances in order to utilize private clinics, which is both faster and more resolute than their government owned counterparts.
• The prostitutes have the final say in matters such as price, services and requirements, both in regards to the client and their employer. Should a prostitute decide to quit or suspend his or her job, they have the right to terminate their employment effecting immediately. There is no such thing as a two weeks notice, which is the norm in most other fields.
The establishment:
• The establishment can only employ Walosian citizens and it is illegal for any private or government-owned enterprise to hire foreign workers. As a result of this requirement, almost 90% of Walosian prostitutes are ethic Walosians while only 10% are foreign workers who have obtained citizenship. It is not allowed to hire foreigners with workers visa; only citizens may be permitted. This in order to limit access for human trafficking rings and organizations that profits by trafficking foreigners.
• The establishment are not allowed to set requirements for what kind of services the prostitute can or cannot provide.
• The establishments are required to provide their prostitutes with both security and privacy unless the authorities have reason to believe that a criminal offence has taken place.
• An establishment is tasked with maintaining their establishment’s discretion. An establishment is not allowed to have prostitutes standing outside their clubs and such establishments shall not disturb their environment, unless they are licensed as a combined strip-club/prostitution establishment.
• An establishment is required to follow standard health and safety regulations, both in regards to fire and emergency health services. The distribution of condoms is required by the establishment, but cannot be required as a mandatory item during intercourse.
