This paper examines the various problems posed by the regulation of prostitution, and also considers whether this regulation helps to protect people who practise prostitution against infection by HIV/AIDS. The main focus of the study has been to ascertain the current situation in Spain. The paper analyses the different models which have been used to regulate prostitution in Spain since the nineteenth century, a common feature of which has been the non-penalization of prostitution by women who work for themselves, with the exception of the so-called Ley de peligrosidad (Law of Dangerousness) of 1970. Through a gender-based analysis, the author concludes that the democratic state should persevere in its fight against forced prostitution and the trafficking of people, and, with regard to this particular study, that it should fight hard against sexual exploitation in order to put an end to the sexual discrimination which women have suffered throughout history; moreover, if effective equality between women and men is to be achieved, the government should recognise and regulate sexual rights which are not clearly expressed in the Spanish Constitution. All this should be seen as a step towards the possible legalization of prostitution, since, if prostitution is to be dealt with from the perspective of equal rights, the solution should not only be considered in terms of abolition, but in terms of the recognition of rights.