Public Opinion.

Yesterdays link to a public poll got me thinking about other polls. Just an FYI, the following are the questions and poll results regarding prostitution around the web: (Poll posted date, question, results so far)

March 6, 2011 - Would you be supportive of the legalization of prostitution? – Yes 89 votes, No 35 votes.

Date unknown – Do you favor the decriminalization of prostitution? – 8013 votes, Yes 85%, No 15%.

February 19, 2011 – Should prostitution in Nevada be outlawed? - (Actual number of votes unknown) Yes 15%, No 85%.

December 13, 2004 - Should Prostitution Be Legalized? – Yes 68.6% (Actual number of votes unknown).

July 23, 2010 – Do you think prostitution should be… – legalized 82%, decriminalized 12%, illegal most places 3% (101 votes).

Date unknown – Should prostitution be legal? -

Yes – legal and unrestricted.  (637) 11% Yes – but regulated (like AIDS testing) and perhaps some restrictions (like where it can be done).  (3351) 62% No – no legalization under any circumstances.  (1200) 22% I don’t know / don’t care.  (159) 2% Total Votes: 5350

September 2010 – This house believes that prostitution should be legal. Do you agree? – Yes 77%, No 23% (Amount of votes unknown).

October 2010 - Should all aspects of prostitution be legal? - Yes 19%, No 20%, Yes, if highly regulated 61% (Actual amount of votes unknown).

April 2010 – Should prostitution be legalized? – Yes 77.01%, No 22.99% (622 votes).

February 2011 – Should prostitution be legalized? -

No, it is an insult to my faith/god.		1.1% (2)
No for ethical/moral reasons.		9.1% (17)
No for other reasons.		4.8% (9)
I dunno.		4.3% (8)
Yes, it´s a victimless crime.		47.1% (88)
Yes for other reason.		33.7% (63)

May 2007 – Should we legalize prostitution now?

Here’s the breakdown as of 5/15/2007
(We’ll update the results periodically as the numbers change.)

• 20% of our readers (591 votes) said that it’s a Puritanical law that belongs in the 1600′s – along with witch burnings.
• 53% of our readers (1525 votes) said that prostitution is here to stay. Let’s make it safer by regulating it, like we do other professions.
• 13% of our readers (382 votes) don’t like it personally, but said the government has no business in their sex life.
• 11% of our readers (328 votes) are against it for moral / religious reasons, stating it’ll be the end of moral values and decency.
• 2% of our readers (63 votes) are concerned it will hurt babies and little kittens everywhere.

What is truly fascinating is that 86% of the people polled supported legalizing prostitution, even though many of they may not personally care for it. Only 13% of our readers were truly against it, most of them citing their personal morality preferences as the reason.

November 2009 – Should prostitution be legalized?

I do not support prostitution as a viable choice for women and would be against legalizing it. 5.72%

Even though I personally do not like the idea of prostitution, I support legalizing it for the sake of women’s choice (and maybe its tax potential). 19.53%

I support prostitution as a viable occupation for women and feel that its legalization could positively impact society. 68.69%

I don’t know — there are pros and cons to legalizing prostitution. It would be great to regulate it for the sake of public health and freedom of choice but it’s still just so . . . icky. 6.06%

See ProCon site for several questions in regards to this subject and their answers.

Should I go on? There are more. I did not include news articles that only cited percentages. The above had the actual question and the actual options. For example, I did come across a news story that SAID 64% of residents of Clark County Nevada (home to Las Vegas) opposed legal brothels but I could not find the actual poll question or results. Do your own research if you like, the above is from the first two or three pages of a google search on prostitution poll.

Big brother? Are you listening?