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29 Am. Crim. L. Rev. 1197 (1991-1992)
The Dilemma of Prostitution Law Reform: Lessons from the Soviet Russian Experiment

handle is hein.journals/amcrimlr29 and id is 1211 raw text is: THE DILEMMA OF PROSTITUTION LAW REFORM:
LESSONS FROM THE SOVIET RUSSIAN EXPERIMENT
John Quigley*
I.  INTRODUCTION   .......................................        1197
II. MARXIST ANALYSIS OF PROSTITUTION ..................... 1199
III. THE AIM OF ERADICATING PROSTITUTION IN SOVIET RUSSIA           1204
IV. THE ELIMINATION OF REGULATED PROSTITUTION .........            1208
V. ANTI-PROSTITUTION PROGRAMS IN SOVIET RUSSIA ........            1214
VI. PROSTITUTION AS A PUBLIC ORDER VIOLATION ............. 1219
VII. THE INTERNATIONAL IMPACT OF THE SOVIET RUSSIAN AP-
PR O A C H   . ......................... ......... ..........  1227
VIII. IMPLICATIONS FOR LAW AND POLICY ..................... 1231
I. INTRODUCTION
Legislative policy on prostitution is a matter of continuing debate, a re-
flection of the fact that no universally acceptable approach has been found.
In the United States, the predominant approach has been criminalization
of the act of prostitution and all related activity. In Europe, the predomi-
nant approach was historically regulation of prostitution without making it
illegal. More recently in Europe, regulatory schemes have been abolished,
leaving prostitution legal for the prostitute but unlawful for those who or-
ganize it.
The United States approach of criminalizing prostitution and all related
activities has been criticized as a fruitless attempt to prevent the unpre-
ventable, with high cost to taxpayers that serves no purpose.' It has also
been attacked as a violation of the rights of women who work as prostitutes
by critics of two schools. One school views criminalization as inappropriate
on the theory that some women are compelled by economic circumstance to
* Professor of Law, Ohio State University. LL.B. Harvard Law School 1966, M.A. Harvard Univer-
sity (Soviet studies) 1966. The author is grateful for assistance in tracing coverage of prostitution in
Soviet periodicals to Ann Bigelow, Associate Editor, and Deborah Hunter, Translator, of the Current
Digest of the Soviet Press. He is grateful for assistance in identifying relevant legal literature to Val
Bolen, Foreign and International Law Librarian, Ohio State University.
I. JULIE PEARL. THE HIGHEST PAYING CUSTOMERS: AMERICA'S CITIES AND THE COSTS OF PROSTITU-
TION CONTROL 769, 790 (1987) (The composite elements of prostitution control, in terms of both
public fiscal expenditures and decreased protection from other crimes, appear highly disproportionate in
light of the stated priorities of citizens and judges alike, and the apparently minimal benefits
attaine4).

1197

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