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Sex workers fear violence as US cracks down on online ads: 'Girls will die'

theguardian.com

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Re: Sex workers fear violence as US cracks down on online ads: 'Girls will die'

#101

Post by meowface »

chacham15 wrote: post #98
dilap wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's also just an absurd restriction from a perspective that values individual liberty. "my body, my choice" "consenting adults" -- all that goes out the window when it's sex for cash? it makes no sense.

Honest question: if people wanted to participate in fights to the death where the winner gets an absurd amount of money, should that be legal? If not, then whats that defining difference? If so, what long term effect do you think this will have? Again, I'm asking because I dont know. To me, I think the above example would cause a lot of public harm in that people would be pressured into giving up their lives to poten…

>If not, then whats that defining difference?

In a typical/expected sex worker transaction, the worker performs a sexual act and then goes about their day without any lasting issues (other than perhaps minor symptoms like soreness). In a typical/expected gladiator duel, the person doesn't go about their day because they die. I'm not sure how you can compare those at all.

When done safely and with precautions, sex work isn't very dangerous. See: Australian sex workers, after it was legalized there.

Re: Sex workers fear violence as US cracks down on online ads: 'Girls will die'

#102

Post by Anon1096 »

skookumchuck wrote: post #32
dilap wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's also just an absurd restriction from a perspective that values individual liberty. "my body, my choice" "consenting adults" -- all that goes out the window when it's sex for cash? it makes no sense.

Governmental attempts to suppress "immoral" but natural human behavior has been tried for thousands of years and has never worked. I.e. attempts to stop: * drinking * gambling * prostitution * drugs * adultery * homosexuality * lending money * black markets

I mean, if you limit your view to what the government is trying to suppress to those narrow categories then I guess you're right. But one area that government enforcement of morality has resoundingly worked is child porn. It's very hard for a normal person to find it and I for one am glad the government is working hard to curb access to it.

Re: Sex workers fear violence as US cracks down on online ads: 'Girls will die'

#103

Post by esarbe »

yters wrote: post #91

It's interesting seeing all the men supporting 'sex work' when it is the woman who is left to deal with the repercussions of her body being used and abused for money. The real problem is not the crack down, but the social forces that make women feel like this is the only source of income available to them, and the dirtbag men who take advantage of them. This does not boost my opinion of internet "intellectuals", nor…

Sex work is work. Just like a job in a mine or on an oil rig it might be an unhealthy, dangerous job with serious health repercussions. But it's a job nonetheless.

Would I prefer a world where men didn't have to waste their health in mines and women theirs in prostitution? Sure, I'm all for a UBI. But it is hypocrisy to treat these professions and the health implications they have as any different.

Re: Sex workers fear violence as US cracks down on online ads: 'Girls will die'

#104

Post by yters »

What kind of 'feminist' community is HN when men want women to let strangers abuse their bodies? 'Feminist' men are merely cads taking advantage of women using politically correct language. Anyways, if this is the sort of 'pro-women' environment HN wants to foster, count me out.

Re: Sex workers fear violence as US cracks down on online ads: 'Girls will die'

#105

Post by oh_sigh »

skookumchuck wrote: post #93
oh_sigh wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It obviously hasn't stopped these problems from ever happening, but do you have evidence that the policies are not effective at all?

Drinking went up during Prohibition.

That is about a specific bad policy, not about the concept of instituting policies to reduce these behaviors in general. I agree that some policies do not accomplish what they intend to.

What about taxes on alcohol that fund anti-drinking campaigns and help fund treatment centers?

Re: Sex workers fear violence as US cracks down on online ads: 'Girls will die'

#106

Post by commandlinefan »

jdavis703 wrote: post #74
kartan wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "my body, my choice" "consenting adults" -- all that goes out the window when it's sex for cash? it makes no sense. This is true, only if individuals have a good education, job opportunities, a broad enough safety net, etc. Otherwise, you are just pushing abused women or women with no resources to submit to sexual servitude. When you have a high correlation between prostitution and poverty, you are just realizing t…

By that reasoning all dangerous jobs should be off limits to poor people. Young people shouldn't be able to register for military service (especially during wars when "bonuses" are high). Poor people shouldn't be allowed to work as garbage collectors (garbage collectors have a higher fatality rate than law enforcement). The list could go on...

> By that reasoning all dangerous jobs should be off limits to poor people

Or any other job, really.

Re: Sex workers fear violence as US cracks down on online ads: 'Girls will die'

#107

Post by rosser »

yters wrote: post #100
z0r wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is well worth reserving some things from being subsumed directly by the economic system. I don't understand the distinction ihsw2 is trying to make with the repeated argument about removal of consent, but I would agree if they simply were arguing that human sex shouldn't be commodified.

Economic and societal forces are making these women let men use their bodies. In form it looks different than traditional rape, but in function it is no different. Women are being forced to let complete strangers abuse their bodies in the most intimate ways possible.

Not all of them. Some women (and some men!) consciously and specifically choose to engage in sex work.

The way we're trying to "protect" the people being trafficked into sex work is putting them, and the ones who do it voluntarily, in even more danger.

Legalizing and regulating sex work protects them all so much more, but entirely too many of us would rather moralize about others' choices than approach the problem with harm reduction in mind.

Re: Sex workers fear violence as US cracks down on online ads: 'Girls will die'

#108

Post by mortenlarsen »

chacham15 wrote: post #98
dilap wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's also just an absurd restriction from a perspective that values individual liberty. "my body, my choice" "consenting adults" -- all that goes out the window when it's sex for cash? it makes no sense.

Honest question: if people wanted to participate in fights to the death where the winner gets an absurd amount of money, should that be legal? If not, then whats that defining difference? If so, what long term effect do you think this will have? Again, I'm asking because I dont know. To me, I think the above example would cause a lot of public harm in that people would be pressured into giving up their lives to poten…

>Honest question: if people wanted to participate in fights to the death where the winner gets an absurd amount of money, should that be legal?

You could say that about employment in some SV companies...

Re: Sex workers fear violence as US cracks down on online ads: 'Girls will die'

#109

Post by godzillabrennus »

patrickaljord wrote: post #19

I hate to use the argument but it's really sad that in 2018 we're still trying to make voluntary sex work illegal when every studies show that it 1) doesn't work and 2) makes everything worse for everyone involved. Also, the fact that the very president is known to have used prostitutes and that Washington politicians are well known to be big customers makes this hypocrisy really infuriating.

It's an issue people vote around. If people believe strongly that it's time for a change then support candidates who support that change.

Re: Sex workers fear violence as US cracks down on online ads: 'Girls will die'

#110

Post by hungerstrike »

chacham15 wrote: post #98
dilap wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's also just an absurd restriction from a perspective that values individual liberty. "my body, my choice" "consenting adults" -- all that goes out the window when it's sex for cash? it makes no sense.

Honest question: if people wanted to participate in fights to the death where the winner gets an absurd amount of money, should that be legal? If not, then whats that defining difference? If so, what long term effect do you think this will have? Again, I'm asking because I dont know. To me, I think the above example would cause a lot of public harm in that people would be pressured into giving up their lives to poten…

There is no objective truth to be had here. I want to live in a world where people have the freedom to decide for themselves. So I would let it be legal.

There is a precedent for this type of law - Mutual combat is legal in Washington - https://fightstate.com/mutual-combat-law-in-washington-lets-...

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