The sex industry.

" What a tangled web we weave ". Efforts to regulate the sex industry have taken something that was essentially simple and created a monolith of unimagined complexity.
Decades ago sex for sale was illegal. Despite that, every city had it's share of well known brothels - which the police studiously ignored. The system worked well and apart from an occasional bleat from the churches it was business as normal.
Then the powers that be decided that there was no way of stamping out the oldest profession - so the answer was to legalise it. Conditions were put in place. Soliciting was legal - provided it did not occur within sight of a school or a church. Brothels were permitted, provided that they met the planning laws and had the necessary council approvals.
And thats where things fell apart !
Applications to open a brothel saw moralists and church leaders organising demonstrations and petitions that cowed elected council members. All sort of obstacles were put in the way of what was now a legal activity. A few owners pushed the envelope and took the matter to a higher court - and won.
But - the average brothel owner simply didn't bother making all that effort just to get an official piece of paper called a permit. The brothel industry continued to embrace the " black economy " and remain illicit.
Suddenly the rules of the game changed. Those running a legal, council certified brothel upped the pressure on councils to remove their illegal competitors - and councils found themselves hiring private investigators to actually have sex in illegal brothels so that they could be called at witnesses in court to testify that premises were in fact offering sex - and were therefore illegal brothels.
Some ratepayers found use of their rate money to buy sex in such circumstances appalling - and this created a new headache for councils.
So we now have the bizarre situation where well known stretches of road in certain suburbs are the recognised " beat " of street girls who legally offer their services - and run the risk of predators - while the suburbs contain a mix of legal and illegal brothels offering a better class of service.
Public opinion seems to be a contrast between those who demand that all sorts of sexual services be ruthlessly stamped out - and those who take the liberal point of view that sex has been with us since the days when the pyramids were being built - and as such is a normal service that should be freely available.
The wise people will bet that nothing changes anytime soon !