The Difference Between A Slave and a Worker (DMW TOP Salvage)
Before we go any farther, this diary is about Sex Work.
Some of this is from personal experience, some of this is from the anecdotes of friends who I have who do Sex Work, and some of this will be sourced.
However, this is an issue that must be discussed, and we'll start with the elephant in the room, which is Trafficking, and then go into the rest of it.
I must state that I've Known Sex Workers.
Having lived in L.A., it's the way many struggling actresses/actors made ends meet. They certainly weren't the slaves portrayed by the media in order to turn public opinion against prostitution. (No, it's not a road I ever went down, although the temptation was definitely there when you're making food calendars based off what restaurant is having a 39 cent sale. You're looking at that couple hundred bucks for a few hours of effort, and thinking that it's better pay than you're getting at the studios, or the people who want you to work for FREE because you'll get "exposure".)
And yes, some enjoyed the work. Some didn't. Much like any profession. I seriously doubt anyone would happily choose to work at a fast food joint if they could get any other work, and yet there are people who enjoy the work and excel at it.
Now, it has been claimed that trafficked women make up 30-80% of all Sex Workers. I have attempted to verify that claim online, and have found the DOJ reference HERE. Please note it is heavily skewed towards sexual exploitation of CHILDREN, which is in no way what I am advocating. The Polaris Project claims that in 2014, there were 3598 cases in the United States, specifically related to sex work, which is a horrible number but...
Some other interesting figures I can find are from 2010 related by the DOJ, which states that nationally 62,668 people were arrested for prostitution or related crimes. Not a word is said about how many were linked to trafficking.
This suggests that the number of trafficked women is far less than the amount who are in the industry for other reasons. Legalizing prostitution would allow us to go after the the MUCH smaller portion of those who are being truly harmed.
Another reference I have found is from the 2012 DOJ report which takes gleeful joy in talking about how they plan to engage in "Shaming" of Johns, Engaging in Stings, and numerous other methods to "Reduce Demand." In no way does it speak about reducing trafficking, or actually helping the victims of slavery.
The trafficking issue is because of the fact that there is NO legal recourse for sex workers who are being exploited. They have no union (At least none that can legally sanction or negotiate with potential employers. While C.O.Y.O.T.E. is an advocacy group, as far as the actual business end...), no protection and no status. The efforts by police to "Protect" them, often ends up with them being charged for prostitution whilst the people who engage in trafficking get away scot free, due to police resources being spent on "Stings" to reduce demand for their services, essentially hunting down what they consider crimes at the expense of ACTUAL crimes being investigated.
Honestly, I believe that the anecdotal trafficking figures are exaggerated because it's a great weapon to use. Slavery is evil, no argument here. Exploitation of children is evil. No argument at ALL here. Legalization of sex for money will eliminate the hammer of police falling upon those who are not in the industry by choice. Instead of being a sex criminal, they would be a victim of exploitation similar to undocumented workers exploited by factory farms to pick crops. In fact, the trafficking of people for labor is far more pressing and hideous, and yet the police and media focus on a tiny subset of the overall picture in order to stoke public opinion against Prostitutes and those that employ them.
Interestingly enough, the profile of the average person who uses prostitutes might be of concern to those who envision a sneering, misogynistic brute. According to the DOJ, that profile seems to be more akin to those who actually ABUSE prostitutes, and already have a history of other crimes. The average person (Male employing a female) does not express opinions that support violence against women. This suggests that the targeting of those that pay for sex might in fact be targeting those who are least likely to harm a prostitute, or degrade them.
The hypocrisy of the laws are insane. A woman/man can strip naked, simulate sex acts, and even have sex on camera, but the instant someone suggests that he or she be paid for it, it becomes illegal. The money must be for a "performance" or "time" NOT for what is actually being paid for. Even then, if the police choose, they can charge someone for a crime based off the nebulous definition of solicitation. This crime is one that charges criminals for the offer of sex for money. Similar to drug laws, no sex actually has to occur, or money need change hands. Just the offer is enough to publicly shame both parties in the transaction, as well as send them to jail.
The Ashley Madison case has proven that men and women will pay for sex. It has also proven that corporations are ready and willing to exploit that willingness. However, the corporation is not the one who faces financial censure. It is the man who wished to make an arrangement, and was callously exploited by a group that lied about what they were offering and what they were doing. In essence, fraud, but since that fraud was linked to the sex trade indirectly, the onus is on the men, not those that exploited their desires.
The government has gone after sites in the past that allowed prostitutes to screen clients, ensuring some stability and security for their work. Sites like Rentboy.com and Myredbook.com have been investigated for "Money Laundering" and "Prostitution", including shutting down the entire site. What this ends up actually doing is increasing risks for Sex Workers and their clients. With no way to check on potential clients, Prostitutes are required to gauge every client with only their gut to tell them whether a potential client is looking to pay them, or instead rip them off, beat them, or arrest them, or even kill them.
And now, Full Disclosure. I have employed the services of a Prostitute. In 2009. I had returned from Iraq, and went to the now defunct Wild Horse Ranch. The transaction was legal. However, the women I saw were completely ripped off by the company. For my 1000 dollars, they saw approximately 250. This is due to the brothel taking 50%, the cab company taking 10%, and the woman's need to pay for the room she uses, which is a flat rate of 200 dollars a day. However, since this is the only legal way for a woman to work in the industry, the standards are set by the men who run it, and the politicians who determine what they consider a woman to be worth.
I am NOT advocating for the Nevada brothel system to be exported. It is just as exploitative as the worst forms of human trafficking, and when it was explained to me by the woman who worked there, I never returned. (Yes, I actually talked to her. Very nice, intelligent, and beautiful woman, and her big pet peeve was men who called her name out in public when she wasn't working.)
What I am advocating here is a refocusing on real crime. Trafficking and slavery are hideous offenses against human rights. When a Sex worker can go to the police and say "I am being forced to work" without fear of being arrested for the work they were forced to do, then we can make real strides in the exploitation, and especially the "Legal" exploitation of people who have their own reasons for doing the work they do.
Comments
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It's a tough subject to discuss...
I agree. That's why I bring it up.
There's a lot of BS spewed around about Kids whenever this topic comes up, as if somehow the adult world must stay at the level of kindergarten frankness. Hell, there's a reason kids aren't allowed to vote yet, so there's precedent for something being legal and moral and not for kids.
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
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Would like to know up to which age a girl or boy
is considered a child when it comes to sex workers. May be for some a sixteen year old teenager is still a child, for others it's mature enough adult to have consentual sex working done.
Have you read Chris Hedges book that deals in detail what he thinks sex workers exploitation means? I remember having read it in the book. He writes about it so brutally honest that even I was amazed about his wording. Later he had a couple article written, like:
The whoredom of the left.
Here someone writes on Chris Hedges article:
Chris Hedges on Prostitution.
I think many can't get over the fact that Chris Hedges is a former presbyterian minister. I don't care much why has the opinions he has. Some I find very reasonable, like for example these:
Well, I am not in for discussion much. I found that to have the proper leftist, progressive, liberal bona fides these days, you have to support everything in human relations that others think is liberal or whatever. So, I know I am not supposed to see fake liberalism in some of these arguments. I am too old-fashioned to find anything appealing in it. And I have right now no time to do the research to source what I might find questionable in many commentary's arguments.
And of course, you have to discuss polygamy, polyamory, polyandry as well. Typical subject areas to be written about on leftist, progressive blogs to trigger people's impulses to show off with their "liberal and progressive" credentials.
Well, I like monogamy for a reason and am against polygamy for a reason as well and might write a book about it.
But certainly won't discuss it here.
I am also an opponent of "sex work" as a professional job category. As I said, I won't go into it. Just to let you know, that just because people pretend to be liberal they not always are.
Thanks for your disagreements...
For me I side with the legalization side because of personal autonomy. I believe people should be allowed to live and do what they want, provided of course coercion is not involved.
And then that leads to the whole argument about what is and is not consent, which is a ridiculously large can of worms when you start arguing whether or not somebody has made a "free" decision because of social/racial/economic power differentials.
And I don't pretend to understand what age society finds certain things acceptable. I find it ludicrous that you can be legally sent to kill people before you're old enough to drink, and SOMEHOW that is considered an acceptable stance.
Only reason I am leery about legalization of prostitution at ALL is because of corporate interference. As I said in the article, it's the worst kind of exploitation to make something legal, but still so tightly controlled by politicians and middlemen that the person actually doing the work is lucky to see any benefit. (Of course, that also ties into my criticism of capitalism in general, but that's an argument for another day.)
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
sorry I responded so cranky and with a temper tantrum
I don't mind anybody's business with regards to their sexual mores. I think Chris Hedges was talking about the exploitation of women, who work as sex workers for the porn movie industry, if I know recall it. Normal prostitution is as old as mankind, of course I don't want anyone, who chose to pay for their services, to punish or criminalize them, nor do I want the prostitutes to work under threat of their services being criminalized.
It's hard to know at which point their services can be considered as being abused and exploited. I am very sure it happens often. I have heard people saying a seventeen year old is a child, which I consider fake. Others say children over 12 are not children anymore. Fancy. I would like to see the regulations in writing. Probably also again in each state different. How do I love this?
I am having a headache and not much interest in the subject. I also didn't read your whole essay. Sorry, was too tired. 12 years ago I came from something named kuro5hin to dailykos. One reason I was glad about it was because there were some very nasty, abusive people on kuro5hin, who milked the whole issue ad nauseam and I saw this later on again on dailykos, but much less vigorous.
I do believe that this issue is staged by some people to exploit readers' reactions for whatever purpose. They have never something new to say and rarely come up with anything else but general statements and they tend to put some people down, they believe are "just not progressive, liberal enough, or religiously blinded or some such". I consider all that as nonsense. When it comes to polygamy it's even worse. Very few people know what they are talking about.
If you want I can redact my comment. These days I comment very badly, I know that.
No apology necessary.
I know for a fact that some people DO like to play "More Liberal than Thou" so I am not upset by the suggestion.
Thanks for your commenting, and I understand the topic can be a bit unpleasant, ESPECIALLY when folks are using it to play games.
(As far as the Polygamy thing, I have severe issues with the control aspect inherent in the religious applications of the theory...)
I do not pretend I know what I do not know.
there are non religious control aspects
in some forms of polygamy. Most people associate just those controls with it, which is just part of the picture.
But now I am going to listen to the debate. Thanks for not being upset.
Sex Work Is More Honest Than Matrimony
I stand in the camp which to a degree equates sex work with marriage, in that both involve sex and money. While there are certain emotional aspects to the latter which aren't intended to occur in the former, eventually marriages boil down to a service contract in which someone is supporting another and sex is a part of the agreement.
It's both my observation and experience that women -who aren't as educated about sex (not reproduction) as they should be- make agreements based on ignorance. Once they experience the reality of their promises, they too often back away refuse to honor them. In an extreme case, this can include a complete avoidance of any sexuality whatsoever, ring or no ring. They refuse to abide by an agreement they didn't properly research before sealing the deal with a kiss.
A sex worker thus doesn't take sex lightly, as it is the means to support. Turn down too many clients, and one might as well find someone to marry. At least the law can then be used to ensure support whether services are rendered or not.
Vowing To Oppose Everything Trump Attempts.
Good to talk about it
Thanks for discussing this. We should be able to talk about sex without experiencing shame, and the same is true regarding engaging in sex. Such shame assumes taboos which, for many of us, are as outdated as sealing wax. We all have principles, but they are not always the same principles our great-grandparents had. I agree that what is undesirable is exploitation and coercion, rather than the sex or sex work itself.
If there is no exploitation involved, and reasonable precautions and age-restrictions are followed, then there are no victims in sex work. No victims other than those victimized by inappropriate laws or inappropriate shame.
If a prostitute is defined as a person who has compromised his or her principles for personal gain, then some of our worst offenders are the politicians who have willingly failed to represent the interests of their constituents.
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