I used to be a bit more definite on this issue, i.e. a) sex work should definitely be decriminalised or legalised as the safety of the workers is paramount, but as Thora said earlier, b) there are wider implications in regards to gender relations, and c) arguments that it is equivilent to shelf stacking are flawed.
Actually I probably still feel the same, but in a softer way and with less idea of what could/should be done.
a) I
do think the safety and wellbeing of sex workers has to be upmost priority, and that will only be possible in a society that can't arrest you for selling sex. The idea of criminialising punters has always sounded a sensible way forward, but if cesare is right and there's a suggestion that it could increase violence to workers then that's obviously not acceptable. Likewise I do acknowledge Edie's comment about it still leading to the work being stigmitised, with negative impact on workers. I would also very much like there to be proper repercussions for the more dodgy punters she mentioned earlier.
b) Wider implications - I still can't get over the fact there's something that angers me and makes my skin crawl about most sex work being gender biased in a particular way, with the traditional oppressers buying off the traditionally oppressed. However, given the point above and not wanting to get into "us and them" battles with other women, I'm not sure at this stage what the bloody hell to do about it. I guess it
partly depends on whether female sex work for men props up more general objectification. I'd suspect it does but I'm aware there's no real definite evidence on either side, and my gut is that page 3/lad mags/airbrushed adverts etc. are probably more important within the wider public consciousness.
Which brings me on to
c) the question of whether sex work is like any other form of work, and what insidious effect it has on the worker. Which is a bit like "how long is a piece of string", given that some workers blatently are fine and some blatently are not, and there's probably a lot of people who fall somewhere in between. I would suspect that many worker's own OKness with it will vary at different time points too. And I have to hold my hands up - I haven't worked with sex workers as a group. However, from working with various people where negative sexual experiences have been some sort of issue in their lives, I would hasten an educated guess that sex work has the
potential to fuck someone up more so than, say, hairdressing or stacking shelves.
You have hardly any knowledge of the UK sex industry, and no experience at all. That is obvious and not particulrly insulting. Your a man whose only first hand contact with a working girl is a mate of your Mums and an offer of a tenner suck.
