UK sex workers in 'dire and desperate' need amid coronavirus lockdown

[Old Greg]

I think ex-mrs-bp has ordered a BP look alike robot. She is just going to hit it with a hammer....

A poor and expensive substitute for the real thing.

[vetran]

Putting organised crime and female trafficking to one side for a moment...

Addressing any latent mental health* and drug and alcohol dependency** issues and support and training into productive work?

Unfortunately, this costs money -- it is a sunk cost with little prospect of a return on this investment in the medium, or even long-term -- and no-one is willing to pay. It's far easier to frame the discussion as one of personal choice and to look away.

Generally speaking, a liberal's default is to legitimise sex work and tax it, but commoditising women's' bodies and dignity isn't something that a civilised society should be endorsing.

Other opinions are available.


* No, not all prostitutes have mental health issues.
** No, not all prostitutes suffer from drug or alcohol addiction.

So you want to spend time money fixing the real problems in sex working but are unwilling to regulate or tax it, we are in the same position as drugs.


The liberal position is to allow it but protect the workers and make sure they contribute not detract from society.

If people are willing to sell sex then we should permit that subject to sensible restrictions. We should use the tax they generate to help support them.

[vetran]

A poor and expensive substitute for the real thing.

This is BP of course he is poor, the ex wives & HMRC are lined up with their hands out.

[LondonManc]

And therein lies the rub.

I agree with your other points.

Can't exactly give them a pay cut, can you!

Legalise, licence and tax the sex and drugs trades. They've slammed tax on alcohol and fags to treat abusers, why not pay for STD clinics, rehab centres, methadone, etc through taxation of use?

[wattaj]

So you want to spend time money fixing the real problems in sex working but are unwilling to regulate or tax it...

In short, yes.

I have no interest in legitimising the sexual exploitation of women. I find it quite odd that one would.

...The liberal position is to allow it but protect the workers and make sure they contribute not detract from society...

This definition of "protect" merely reinforces and regulates their further exploitation.

...If people are willing to sell sex then we should permit that subject to sensible restrictions. We should use the tax they generate to help support them.

I think that we would need to better understand why they might want to do this in a society that could offer other choices before cementing this generally one-sided dynamic.

[wattaj]

Can't exactly give them a pay cut, can you!

Legalise, licence and tax the sex and drugs trades. They've slammed tax on alcohol and fags to treat abusers, why not pay for STD clinics, rehab centres, methadone, etc through taxation of use?

Do you not see how the conflation of these two situations ignores the exploitation element? Drugs and alcohol can be provided without the subjugation of the people providing the service; prostitution cannot.

[vetran]

In short, yes.

I have no interest in legitimising the sexual exploitation of women. I find it quite odd that one would.


This definition of "protect" merely reinforces and regulates their further exploitation.


I think that we would need to better understand why they might want to do this in a society that could offer other choices before cementing this generally one-sided dynamic.

By regulating we remove gang control and drug addiction. These in my opinion are what causes the majority of exploitation. The morality of it doesn't really worry me. It used to be immoral to show of you ankles and in some cultures even now you have to wear a sack over your head to avoid exciting men yet you get stoned or beaten for any transgression. IMHO what a sane man or woman willingly does with their body that doesn't hurt someone else is not something society should judge.

There are a number of high profile & intelligent prostitutes / madams that have gone on record to say they did not consider it exploitation.

Cynthia Payne - Wikipedia

Belle de Jour revealed at last: scientist who penned Diary of a London Call Girl outs herself to foil Daily Mail | Media | The Guardian

If you consider prostitution / sex work something people are only forced into then you may be wrong.

many counties have legalised it, maybe worthwhile looking at their experiences?

Prostitution by region - Wikipedia


However if we don't grasp the nettle & deal with it then its going to become a whole lot worse. We turn a blind eye to prostitution when we should be in there helping the workers. We need to regulate and consider anyone not legal a trafficker otherwise we will keep up with Spain's figures on trafficking.

'Prostitution is seen as a leisure activity here': tackling Spain's sex traffickers | Annie Kelly | Global development | The Guardian

. Recent estimates put revenue from Spain’s domestic sex trade at $26.5bn a year, with hundreds of licensed brothels and an estimated workforce of 300,000.Supporters of decriminalisation claim it has brought benefits to those working in the trade, including making life safer for women. Yet this vastly profitable and largely unregulated market has also become infested with criminality, turning Spain into a global hub for human trafficking and sexual slavery.
Prostitution becomes sex trafficking when one person moves, detains or transports someone else for the purpose of profiting from their prostitution using fraud, force or coercion. In the UK, thousands of women are thought to be trapped in sexual servitude, but the scale of the problem in Spain is staggering. Until 2010, the law didn’t even recognise human trafficking as a crime. Now the Spanish government estimates that up to 90% of women working in prostitution could be victims of trafficking or under the control of a third party – such as a pimp – who is profiting from them. Between 2012-2016, security forces in Spain rescued 5,695 people from slavery but acknowledge that thousands more remain under the control of criminals.

Currently that is all happening under cover in the UK.

[LondonManc]

Do you not see how the conflation of these two situations ignores the exploitation element? Drugs and alcohol can be provided without the subjugation of the people providing the service; prostitution cannot.

You're conflating all prostitution. A high class escort isn't doing the same thing as a crack-addict hanging around Chorlton Street bus station offering cheap, toothless gobbles.

[xoggoth]

Vetran has said it all as far as I'm concerned.

Don't think we should compare it with the drugs trade as many drugs are highly damaging to health and well being generally. Sex is a natural need, not an addiction that can take over a person's life.

[Old Greg]

Vetran has said it all as far as I'm concerned.

Don't think we should compare it with the drugs trade as many drugs are highly damaging to health and well being generally.

Like alcohol and tobacco?