Sadie Lune - "I want you to be nice to sex workers."

[lightningandsnow]

Run time: 01:38 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4G_7CzddUR4   Posted on YouTube: September 22, 2008 By YouTube Member: Views on YouTube: 0   Posted on DU: October 25, 2009 By DU Member: lightningandsnow Views on DU: 633

 
This is about a year old, but it's still powerful stuff.

Around DU, I see a lot of people presuming to speak for sex workers.

Here's a sex worker speaking for herself.

[Warpy]

1. I'm always nice to sex workers

I cared for a lot of them when I was a nurse.

It's a dirty and dangerous job and worth every penny they charge.

Like all other illegal "sin," it needs to be legalized and regulated to protect the workers and their customers.

[JonQ]

2. Amen to the legalizing and regulating bit

the terrible parts of prostitution (drugs, physical abuse, intimidation, and so on) exist only because it is driven in to the black market.

In more sane countries where it is legal and they also have labor laws those things don't occur.

[girl gone mad]

4. Nope.

Holland has some of the worst statistics for trafficking and crimes against prostitutes. Legalizing did not help improve conditions for sex workers. It simply attracted criminal gangs who brought in young girls from poor countries, often under false premises. Germany had similar problems, with child prostitution rising significantly. Amsterdam has just spent a significant amount of money buying up brothels to try to clean up the red light district which has become over-run with crime. They figured it was cheaper just to shut these places down than to keep trying to police them.

We should work to end this dehumanizing practice, not condone it.

Sweden has a good model. Prostitution is legal, but purchasing sex is illegal. Under such a system, prostitutes have full protections under the law, but the government is able to keep out a lot of the unwanted aspects that accompany legalized prostitution, such as trafficking, drug gangs, violent crime and increased disease and poverty.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-03-16-sweden-prostitution_N.htm

[JonQ]

5. Ah but child prostitution is a seperate thing

no doubt ending prohibition did nothing to end the illegal flow of narcotics. You're trying to equate two different things.

How are conditions for the adult, voluntarily prostitutes compared to here?

[saltpoint]

3. Important post, no matter the date.

No good reason to treat sex workers as anything but human beings who should be accorded full rights and respect owed to everyone.

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