[Moe12].
Another argument against legalizing prostitution is that because prostitution is dangerous, it is therefore harmful. [Moe12] Researchers argue that prostitution can lead to venereal diseases, drug abuse, violence and underground networks. [Moe12] In a study done in 1998 by Melissa Farley and Howard Barkan, it was found that 82% of the prostitutes they interviewed had been assaulted physically. [Moe12] Another study done in 2008 by Ulla Bjorndal and Bjorg Norli concluded that 72% of the prostitutes they interviewed were victims of violent acts such as biting, slapping, choking, raping, punching etc. [Moe12] Moen uses the homosexual argument again to counterattack these statistics. He states that these same findings were found in homosexual research. [Moe12] Homosexuality was also found to lead to venereal diseases, drug abuse, violence and underground networks. [Moe12] Moen argues that these research findings aren't sufficient enough to prove that prostitution is harmful. [Moe12] .
Another argument against legalizing prostitution is that prostitution is objectification and therefore harmful. [Moe12] This argument states that it appears to be harmful to use people as objects and this is what appears to be occurring when customers use prostitutes for sexual gratification. [Moe12] Moen gives two definitions for objectification each from different researchers. The first definition comes from Thomas Mappe's "Sexual Morality and the Concept of Using Another person", in this article, objectifications is defined as using a person by force or fraud in a way that manipulates and disposes of the person as they please. [Moe12] Moen argues that although prostitution does sometimes involve force or fraud or both, this argument isn't sufficient for the act of buying or selling sex. [Moe12] He goes further to argue that concluding that just because it is harmful to defraud or force someone to have sex doesn't mean that having sex is harmful in general.
