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Fri 14 Aug, 2015 07:26 am
Personally I do not see how a human rights organization could not vote to decriminalize consensual prostitution. Amnesty International voted to decriminalize prostitution this week.
It makes sense to support the choice these women and men make with their bodies. There is also an advantage to making a big distinction between consensual prostitution, and coerced prostitution. If you make the coercion illegal, rather than the choice, then you can focus on stopping the ugly and abusive parts of the profession.
The most persuasive anti-prostitution arguments to me involve the racial disparity in the experiences of prostitutes where white women in general are safer and better paid then minorities. This is troubling, but it is still not enough given the benefits of a decriminalized profession that can be regulated and where the employees feel safe going to the police without putting their livelihood at risk.
The arguments that claim that all prostitution is an act of violence, even where both participants want and benefit from the arrangement , seem like nonsense to me.
@maxdancona,
My impression of the various laws forbidding prostitution has been prostitution isn't illegal. Can have sex for moeny and film it calling it porn for instance. Or be a gold digger, sugar baby or whatever they call themselves,) etc. What's illegal is being honest and soliciting prostitution overtly and clearly.
So yes, since it already is, being honest about it should be made legal.
I am pleasantly surprised that we are all in agreement here. The US press (and I think has been the same in other Western countries) has been pushing a rather one sided narrative against the Amnesty International decision.
The arguments against decriminalizing prostitution seem to center around the idea that it is impossible for a woman to consent once there is money involved. The idea is that even in cases where the prostituted is clearly in control of her business (for example the woman offering sex to customers at the Zumba studio she owned and ran) the woman is a victim of a violent act.
The shocking thing about the coverage in the US, from CNN to NPR is the silencing of voices of the women in the sex industry. Women who are outside the industry, particularly victims of trafficking, are being featured.
Women who want to work in the sex industry and are asking to be given rights (which include the rights to have customers who aren't being harassed) are discredited and insulted. They are trying to talk, but you won't here their voices in the US media.
The slogan coming from people advocating for sex workers is "We want rights, not rescue". I bet many people reading this thread haven't heard this slogan before.
@maxdancona,
As a GDI (Gosh Darned Independent) Working girl why should it be a crime for me to accept gifts for providing a GFE for someone who is lonely? Heck they'd be paying a lot more if I was their actual girlfriend. I enjoy what I do and am proud of my ability to make men happy. I think the real reason why they don't want us independent working girls legitimized is because they have no way of tracking our income and thus being able to tax us. Let's face it it's only illegal BECAUSE it's tax free money.
@NightFlirt,
I don't think taxes are the issue. The US (and Western countries in general) still have a Puritanical attitude towards sex.
Our society wants to control sexuality.
I had to google what "GFE" is.
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