Maggie Gyllenhaal wants prostitution to be decriminalised

Los Angeles, Nov 25 (IANS) Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal thinks prostitution should be decriminalised to make it safer.

In an interview to ELLE magazine, Gyllenhaal, who essays a sex worker in her new TV show "The Deuce", said that it would be safer and healthier for everyone involved in the industry if it was no longer a criminal act, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

"Who needs a union more than a prostitute? I'm quoting David Simon (show creator) actually and I agree with him. My instinct is to say decriminalise it and make sure everybody's safe, healthy and taken care of," said Gyllenhaal.

Gyllenhaal -- who has daughters Ramona, 11, and Gloria, 5, with husband Peter Sarsgard, is working as a producer on the programme, which also stars James Franco -- because she wanted to be involved in the "storytelling process".

"There was a little part of me that was concerned (that) they weren't interested in telling the same story as I was interested in telling. That's why I asked to become a producer because I wanted to have some guarantee that I would be included in the storytelling process," she said.

"The joke on set was, 'Maggie what kept you up last night?' There was always one thing that I would write a long email about at night. I would say, 'Here are the tiny things. If you don't do these, fine, but you must do this'," Gyllenhaal added.