Some argue that prostitution reduces rape cases. Without qualification or research, I would argue that it increases them. If a community grows up internalizing that it is alright to pay for sex; that it is a commodity to be bought and sold, then it no longer holds space for consent.
If I am thirsty, I will purchase some water. I won’t ask the water whether or not it wants to be consumed by me. I will just pay money, open it, gratify myself, and throw the bottle. In this analogy, the woman becomes the bottle of water. The rest is self explanatory.
In a country that accepts chauvinism as tradition and uses patriarchy as an excuse to deny human rights, prostitution only plays a reinforcing role. Sex isn’t a commodity and it isn’t okay to propagate the idea that it is.
Back to the analogy. If I am thirsty, but don’t have the cash to purchase a bottle of water, or I don’t want to spend money on something I feel I should be entitled to, I will steal it. (The question of a moral compass doesn't arise; we are talking about rapists here)
Rape will stop when men stop viewing women as commodities and sex as something they are entitled to by virtue of being male (synonymous with powerful and superior). That will take centuries of re-conditioning, and if that is to start, prostitution is to stop.
