The Alchemist,
I have read of a description that prostitution is like a waterbed. Press down in one area and it increases in another. So if QLD reduces prostitution, then prostitution is likely to increase in another state, or in a neighbouring country. So the overall demand has to be reduced.

I also think that prostitution would not be a great contributor to STD’s overall, (although STD’s can be contacted by people involved in prostitution). I live in a town where there is no prostitution to my knowledge, but the main hospital has a STD clinic (and its most busy days are Mondays and Tuesdays). Many other towns would be similar, and I have heard that even common STD’s can be very difficult to treat, and even forms of hepatitis are now difficult to treat.

I think that society has had its fling with promiscuity. Higher rates of promiscuity inevitably lead to higher rates of STD’s, and now man is running out of drugs to treat STD’s.

So it is back to the process of reducing the number of sexual partners that people have as much as possible. Some people may not like that, but inevitably it will have to be done to ensure people survive.

To: National Desk Contact: William C. Shumay Jr., Principal Investigator for Germ Theory, 330-995-4394, wcs@wordverse.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio, Oct. 5 -- In his research for Germ Theory, a new book on the latest surprises in medicine, veteran science writer William C. Shumay Jr. has uncovered a new understanding of human chronic disease that points away from the role of eating habits, exercise, and attitude. Hundreds of new medical studies suggest instead that sexual abstinence and monogamy may be the ultimate strategy to keep dangerous disease at bay throughout an individual's life.

Our health and lifespan, it seems, may depend more on fidelity than food choice.

The research for the Germ Theory report indicates that intimate human contact with a number of partners is the most likley way to pick up a tumor virus, a brain infection, or perhaps the germ for an inflammation that means a heart attack years down the road.

We Share Lots of Germs – And Some Will Get Us

Timkins, how do you reduce the number of sexual partners people have, draconian laws and special sex police. That would go down like a lead balloon with the populance. It would do nothing for prostitution as can be seen from pasts attempts. Education from an early age would help to inform people of what they face when reaching puberty.

An interesting scenarios has developed in Tasmania, the ruling politically correct elite have been pushing for very liberal prostitution laws. The public outrage at having brothels everywhere, except within a few hundred metres of schools, has forced a back down. The elite have thrown up their hands and banned brothels, but prostitution is still legal as long as there aren't more than two operating from a premise. This is just an example of those that want power and control over our live, when they can't get what they want, they ruin it for everyone. Currently the police have said that they can't cope with this change, as trying to decide what is legal and what isn't, is almost impossible. It will be interesting to see the outcome.

Philo. I am sure that there are many examples of those that have been celibate and lived a long life. But there is as much if not more evidence, that those that have partners also live longer lives than single people. It depends on lifestyle and genetics, which can be changed. You eat junk food, you get junk health, thats a scientific fact.

A tumor virus, what scientific study discovered and describes tumor viruses. If this were a fact, then most people who have come in contact with those that have tumors, would more than likely have contracted the disease. I found nothing to support you statement on either the wordverse site, or the CDC site. Germ theory dates back to 50BC and was reinforced by Pasteur in the 1800's.

Please enlighten us all with some references. Put forward some ideas that would work better, than very strict control and severe penalties for all involved if they step outside the rules.

Sorry Alchemist, you will be ruined and not able to exploit sex workers in Tasmania. Quote, "This is just an example of those that want power and control over our live, when they can't get what they want, they ruin it for everyone." Poor alchemist is ruined!

From Former Madam: The official change of heart follows the evidence given to MPs in the Tasmanian Legislative Council by Linda Watson and two of her girls - Shannon and Linda - about the enormous mental and physical damage done by prostitution (both legal and illegal) to those involved.
________________________________
"Dr Mary Anne Layden, a US psychotherapist and keynote speaker at the inaugural Sexual Integrity Forum held in August 2005 at Parliament House, Canberra, said, 'There has been a dramatic increase in pornography use in recent years - with the internet piping it 24/7 into homes, in harder and more pathological forms, in a venue children know better how to use than adults. Previously you would have to go to a seedy part of town to access such material. Now it is anonymous.'

"Dr Layden attributes the dramatic increase in child sexual predators to the wide availability of sexually explicit imagery. 'All of these predators have been exposed to internet pornography. Such material helps to normalise destructive pathological behaviour,' she says, adding that as with any addiction, 'The more pornography is consumed, the more the appetite grows.'

"The following statistics show the desperate need for government action regarding internet pornography:
* sexual assault in Australia has increased by almost 30% since 1999;
* 84% of boys and 60% of girls have had exposure to internet pornography;
* 73% of boys and 11% of girls have watched X-rated videos;
* men in prison for sexual assault have doubled since 1988;
* the risk of sexual violence doubled in adulthood for women who were abused as a child;
* two thirds of sex crimes in Australia are committed against children."

Philo: Thank you for some very useful information. As for the evidence of physical and psychologial damage done to prostitutes, when you think about their constant sexual activities with all sorts of males, how could they help but sustain such physical and mental damage? No wonder many of them use drugs to keep going, which means a further downward spiral.

Alchemist
I was once trapped in Amsterdam waiting for a bus trip to start. At that time Amsterdam was rampant with prostitution, drug dealing etc. You couldn’t walk down a street without being approached by a streetwalker or someone wanting to sell drugs, and I couldn’t wait to get out of the place.

What to do to reduce the number of sexual partners would be interesting in a historical context, as in the past, there were no known cures for most STD’s, and society is now going back to that, as so many STD’s are becoming immune to modern drugs.

I think many past societies began to instinctively identify that increased promiscuity lead to disease and the breakdown of that society. Basically people went feral, so they began to establish laws, mores or codes of behaviour to limit promiscuity. Marriage would be one of those things, but starting about the 1960’s, western society wanted to throw out marriage (as it believed it was repressive) and instead have short lived de facto relationships, or more one-night stands.

In the UK the avg length of a de facto relationship is estimated at only 3 yrs, in the US less than 2 yrs, but even within the de facto relationship, there is often higher rates of infidelity than in marriage. So a return to marriage is one way of reducing the number of sexual partners.

What is concerning is the decreasing age at which young people first have sex, as quite often they are too inexperienced to practise safe sex (but no sex is 100% save). The avg age for a girl to have sex in the US has dropped from 19 to 15
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20051004-0656-sexstudy.html,

But if they have more sex partners throughout their life, they increase the risk of an STD, and many are becoming incurable. So, abstinence for young people may have to be enforced by parents, to stop them from contacting an STD, which can ruin them for the rest of their lives, or simply kill them before they reach adulthood.

Bad luck for teenagers, but it keeps them alive.