One of the biggest problems associated with prostitution is the public's opinion. The main view shared by most individuals is that they do not mind it, as long as it is off the streets and not in their neighborhood. Many individuals feel embarrassed and bothered simply by seeing the prostitutes on the street. A 1987 Survey of Public Attitudes Toward Justice Issues in Canada, found that Canadians were almost evenly divided on the question of whether or not prostitution should be legal (47% stated yes and 45% said no). But yet seven out of ten (71%) agreed with the law that makes street soliciting illegal . As long as the public does not have to see the transactions between prostitutes and clients, they do not mind it. Legalization would allow to move the prostitutes to a certain agreed upon area (for instance, create a Red Light District) and regulation could ensure that they only work out of these permitted areas. .
The third benefit of legalization is that prostitution creates an outlet for male sexual drives that might otherwise be channeled elsewhere . This may be a hard point to debate since there has not been much research done in this field. Yet one can argue that prostitution has always been around, so we do not know the effects if it were gone. These men always had somewhere to turn to fulfill their sexual desires. We must not forget that for some men, prostitution may be the only way to receive sexual fulfillment, and since that source has always been there, they do not need to channel their sexual drives elsewhere.
The fourth reason for legalization appears to be the most important and substantial. It is the fact that legalization offers the prostitutes protection from the police, pimps, and "bad tricks" . It is well known fact that prostitutes endure a great deal of physical and sexual assaults. The profession does carry a great deal of risk along with it. Prostitutes may be harmed by customers, pimps, police, strangers, and other prostitutes.