Should Rentboy & Sex Work be a Crime?

[Kurska]

[TreasonousBastard]

1. I agree. The only thing about it the government should care about...

is the normal commerce, labor, etc. regulations.

Casual sex is OK. Filming sex, paying the actors and selling the video is OK. It's just one player paying the other that's not OK.

[TexasProgresive]

2. No it should be legal so they can have the protections

of any other worker.

[hifiguy]

4. This, times a zillion.

And I have always thought so. The only proviso being that the parties involved are all 18+ and legally adults. Beyond that, it is no one's business but that of the people involved.

[TexasProgresive]

5. They could also have contracts with their "managers"

so that they aren't taken for a costly "ride."

[hifiguy]

9. Or work independently and be able to report

freaks to the police w/o getting arrested themselves.

[Warpy]

31. I've always thought good sex workers were worth their weight in gold

because they allowed (mostly) men to act out their fantasies safely.

What need to be gotten out of the business are the pimps and sex traffickers, something legality and regulation would go a long way toward doing.

[hifiguy]

33. Couldn't agree more.

And legalization would put the hammer in the hands of the people who could turn in those scumbags.

[Syzygy321]

37. And I've always thought women should be able to

hire male sex workers too,

Ones who knew their business, and could be trusted not to blackmail or rob the client.

Someone tell me if that's been arranged yet.

[hifiguy]

41. I have no problem with that.

And it probably happens.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

[awoke_in_2003]

36. Yep. nt

[Prism]

3. Consenting adults

With the profession licensed, regulated, and taxed for safety reasons for both workers and clients.

[LanternWaste]

6. Much like Pay Day Lending.

Much like Pay Day Lending.

[Nye Bevan]

7. Nope. Legalize, regulate and tax it.

Trying to stop it happening is very similar to the "war on drugs".

[phleshdef]

8. Locking up consenting adults for doing something thats otherwise legal when money isn't involved...

...is painfully stupid.

[stevenleser]

10. These threads usually go sideways.

15 years ago, I was against drugs being legal and against prostitution being legal.

I have come to the exact opposite place on both.

They should be legalized and taxed, destigmatized and in the case of drugs, 1/4 the money now being spent on investigation and prosecution should be spent on addiction and treatment centers and with prostitution, 1/4 of the money now being spent on investigation and prosecution should be spent on services to offer sex workers occupational training and other work options if they want it.

There should be all kinds of services for both drug users and sex workers. And you could pay for it with just a fraction of what we now pay for the war on drugs alone.

[jonno99]

11. ^^THIS^^ - Agree 100% nt

[hifiguy]

12. Indeed they do, but you are absolutely right.

Last edited Thu Aug 27, 2015, 05:37 PM - Edit history (1)

The moralists here use exactly the same sorts of logic as the fundies, albeit with different justifications and like the fundies, they BELIEVE rather than KNOW, it's EEEEEVIL, and logic bounces off of them like bullets off of Superman's cape. Everyone who disagrees is obviously wrong and a horrible person to boot.

If I wanted to argue with the fundamentalist mindset I'd go somewhere other than DU, but they always turn up here.

[prayin4rain]

22. I'm still some what on the fence, but I think I have to reluctantly agree.

It's a shame that so many people who have been exploited and abused in their childhoods seek out the only thing they know in adulthood. And it's a shame that there are so many waiting and willing to continue to use and exploit others for their own gratification because hey, they're 18 so now it is their CHOICE!

But, simply making it illegal does not offer help to the vulnerable people who need help. For the most part, it is a sad situation and we have to find common sense ways to get help to those who need it and not continue to make criminals out of so many of our citizens.

[LittleBlue]

13. We should legalize it. Take all the cops on vice sqauds and assign them untested rape kits

Mindboggling why consensual sex is being policed while actual rapes go unsolved due to lack of manpower.

[hifiguy]

14. Human beings are hard-wired to want to have sex

and monkey around with their consciousness. Hard-wired. ALL human beings since the day homo sapiens emerged on this planet.

Time for people to accept those facts and get over themselves and their sanctimonious Nosy Parker self-righteousness.

[LittleBlue]

15. Agreed

The moralizing of sex does no good for anyone except the fundies of many stripes.

[Syzygy321]

17. Consensual sex isn't a problem.

Exploitation dressed up as consensual sex, backed up by violence, and furthered by addiction: is a problem.

Any way of reducing exploitation is ok by me. I don't think there are easy answers. But as a start: criminalizing the buying rather than the selling, as is done in some European countries.

[hifiguy]

19. If it is legal, the pimps are out of business.

Sex workers would have the same recourse to the law as other workers. And pimps are the source of much of the violence. You cannot override what human nature has consistently been shown to be over thousands of years.

[melman]

40. I'm pro-legalization but that is not really true

There are a lot of pimps in the red light district in Amsterdam

[Syzygy321]

42. Maybe pimping could be made super-illegal

and workers could be employed/managed by a government health agency, or have solo/group practices?

Pimps do five to ten for preying on people's bodies: I am good w that!

[Syzygy321]

29. ?? I said I am against exploitation.

[Syzygy321]

32. I said "As a start" - or thought it, if I didnt write it - meaning,

that would be better than our current system of criminalizing sex workers themselves.

I would have to know a lot more than I do - and hear all sides and many stories - to push for any particular solution that's being touted as a cure-all.

To repeat: any strategy that reduces exploitation is fine with me.

[hifiguy]

20. Semi serious answer: the form of exchange for the transaction

is up to the parties as long as both agree to it.

[Mosby]

21. ok, thx

I deleted my post I can't discuss this here.

[Ruby the Liberal]

23. No

Noting I can't watch the video - just answering the question.

Rentboy was laundering money though - which is a whole different kettle of fish...

[Xithras]

34. Money laundering is a garbage charge in these cases.

It's the same charge they used against the MyRedBook site owners when they shut it down. They went through the financial history of the site, found every instance where the owners had transferred funds out of the sites accounts and into their own, and charged them with one count of money laundering for each instance. Under federal law, transferring funds from an illegal enterprise into your bank account is automatically money laundering. Even if that transfer is simply your "paycheck" from a business you believed to be legal.

Once upon a time, "money laundering" meant running cash through a third party to deliberately hide its source, usually to conceal the fact that it came from a crime. Nowadays, the federal government has simplified the definition so that any transfer of funds from an "illegal" business qualifies.

[Ruby the Liberal]

39. Did not know that

makes perfect sense though. Thanks! Learn something new here every day.

[hifiguy]

26. +1 nt

[Go Vols]

28. No

[davidn3600]

38. Focus law enforcement on trafficking

Going after consenting adults is a waste of time and resources. People are going to have sex no matter what laws you pass.

Anti-prostitution laws only push the activity further underground and make it more unsafe.