Sex Worker Open University

So are most prostitutes not drug addicts and trafficked slaves?

Most 'street' prostitutes are heroin and/or crack addicts.

However, in contries where prostitution is legalised and regulated most prostitutes arent addicts or illegally trafficked immigrants. In fact they have their own trade unions and the support of the police.

Countries where prostitution is legalised have a greatly expanded sex industry and *higher* rates of trafficking. As you say, most people in street prostitution are addicts - 90% in Glasgow, and so are a good number in brothels.

It is good to see people involved in the sex industry being supported to learn self-defence and assertiveness skills - it is a dangerous and exploitative business, but legalisation wont change that, it will simply legalise a dangerous and exploitative business.

Sexual exploitation is something that we should not be seeking to legalise, destimatise or normalise, but what we should be doing is targeting the legal measures, the stigma and outsider status at the perpetrators. This is where the new bill comes into its own, for the first time the men (and it is men) who sexually abuse people for payment are targetted and their behaviour addressed.

The key question for me is who is speaking on behalf of sex workers, because I dont see a whole load of street sex workers who are in the front line of male sexual violence, trafficked women who are enslaved for profit or drug addicts who are trapped in the cycle of abuse poverty and addiction at these conferences. What I do see is people involved in the background of the industry, together with articulate sex workers who can escape at any time.and are emotionally strong enough to withstand the abuse ...for now.

Some people chose to stay in violent relationships, and whether you agree with their choice or not, that is their right - that is no reason to legalise domestic violence. Just because some people choose to be involved in a sexually exploitative industry that doesnt mean that sexual exploitation shouldnt be outlawed.

I think there is lots of hyperbole here. Yes some women are exploited, but also some women choose prostitution as a means to make money. Some make money for drugs, others to bring up their children and others to pay for studies. Some people work in McDonalds to pay for their drugs others work in banking institutions in the middle of the city... others just steal.

At the end of the day prostitution boils down to a moral issue within society. People hate it because it's about sex and naked people. As I see it, if two (or more) people agree to have sex with each other, who cares if any of them are paying for it?

What we need is an end to exploitation and the dangers associated with prostitution. They way to do that is to legalise and regulate prostitution. If a brothel is allowed to exist and has to meet hygiene standards has appropriate security etc etc, then it is safer for the sex workers and their clients.

Making prostitution illegal will not make it go away, but will force it into seedy unregulated premisses and onto the streets which is very unsafe for sex workers and clients alike. Society needs to grow up and accept that people have been paying for sex ever since money was invented and will continue to do so until money is scrapped or the world ends in climate change (whichever comes first).

If it is indeed true that trafficking increases with legalisation, that obviously means that the country's regulation of the industry isn't working. In the UK trafficking also increases during Strawberry picking season... it is dealt with using investigations of workers on strawberry fields. The incentive has to be placed on working legally and providing a visible means of support to those who have been forced into exploitation.

Exploitation will never end whatever the law says, so why not adapt the law to concentrate on the real bad guys and not waste time on people having consensual sex that also happens to involve a monetary transaction.

Re: 'At the end of the day prostitution boils down to a moral issue within society. People hate it because it's about sex and naked people.'

Nope, certainly not true in my case. I hate prostitution because of the affect it has on women in general. There are parts of cities where women can't walk alone without being harassed by men on the street, due to them being prostitution zones.

Prostitutes also contribute to and legitimise the belief that sex is a commodity to be bought and sold. They set the cause of women's equality back a long way. The more we challenge the belief that women's bodies can be bought and sold, the better. Prostitution is a seedy, shameful thing, not summat to celebrate.

Even more reason to legalise.

Nasty, dirty street red light areas are a direct result of prohibition, which has been shown for millennia not only to not work but to make matters worse.

And who said its all about women, get off your high horse. Go to countries where theres more tolerance and you'll find booming gay, transgender and mixed couples prostitution as well as licenced swingers clubs.

I agree its a moral issue, but most people have sex, and everyone is naked under their clothes, thats not the problem. The issue is sexual exploitation..

Nasty dirty red light areas are a direct result of nasty dirty men looking for a cheap fuck from vunerable people, who have no resources and nothing left to sell but their sexuality.

Lets look at legalisation seriously. Would you be happy knowing that your public services were part funded through taxes raised through sexual exploitation? Would you be prepared to take a job in a brothel if offered on the threat of losing benefit if you dont accept? Is it a career choice you would like to see promoted to young people through the careers service? Would you like to see people certified for health in the industry? Would you be happy to see brothels listed on the stock exchange with the fat cats trading in sexual exploitation without getting their hands dirty. All of these happen to some extent where there is legalisation.

In countries where there is tolerence of prositution there is indeed a booming sex industry, but I dont find that something to celebrate. However in this country it is primarily women who are harassed or insulted as a result of prostitution activity.

In one respect tho you are entirely right, this is not a womens issue.

It is men who sexually exploit vunerable people; it is men who traffick children and youngsters from poorer countries, it is men who abuse children, priming to enter prostition at an average age of 15; it is men who sell their children and it is men who buy them. It is men who encourage other men to visit prostitutes, it is men who harass women not in prostitution in public places, Prostitution is a mens issue

How very politician like to leave out the word 'street' when responding about red light areas, but of course where prostitution is legalised the street areas all but disappear.

And since when have benefits been cut for someone not taking a job in a brothel? Thats utter bollocks.

As for healthchecks to work as a prostitute thats a good thing for both prostitute and client isn't it, or is ignorance better?

And finally theres no such thing as gigolos, male escorts and rent boys is there? Theres never been a woman convicted of child abuse or a madam convicted of running a brothel? There's no women working as maids in brothels encouraging men to see prostitutes? There's no women involved in trafficking organisations?

Stop blaming men, stop being repressed about the fact that many people actively enjoy working in the sex industry where it is legal. Prostitution will never be stopped whether you like it or not, isnt it better to therefore reduce the harm and make it as safe for all parties concerned as possible?