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

[AdamSmith]

The press is finally starting to line up in defense of sex workers. Only a beginning, but at least that.

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

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/apr/10/sex-workers-fear-violence-as-us-cracks-down-on-online-ads-girls-will-die

[Latbear4blk]

Do you mean the British press?

I hope you are right. I did saw last night a block of Fox 5, DC local station, promoting the project to decriminalize sex work in the city, with a female prostitute as a guest.

[Cany10011]

I think everyone has options. If the girls do not want to "walk" the streets for fear of their lives, don't they have other employment options???

[Riobard]

5 hours ago, Cany10011 said:

I think everyone has options. If the girls do not want to "walk" the streets for fear of their lives, don't they have other employment options???

Do you mean slinging burgers?!

The recent crackdown makes safer options illegal. Unsafe street-hustling will potentially increase if women are prosecuted for online ads or for indoor venues that prosecutors deem to be sex brokerage houses. 

[Riobard]

10 hours ago, Latbear4blk said:

Do you mean the British press?

I hope you are right. I did saw last night a block of Fox 5, DC local station, promoting the project to decriminalize sex work in the city, with a female prostitute as a guest.

There has been intense advocacy legwork in many countries that has aimed at repeal of laws directed at prosecuting providers. Where such mobilization has been effective for the workers, some jurisdictions maintain or harden laws penalizing consumers. I have already summarized this in more detail.

But I do hope it all works out for both sides of sex commerce. 

[JKane]

Has the Cheeto Mussolini even signed the damn thing yet?  

I'm not surprised there's better coverage of the issue in the countries that were lucky enough to get rid of their puritans.  

There may be a slight opening here for legalization with regulation, much like is happening across the US with pot.  People can point to the Nevada brothels as the best alternative.  

[Riobard]

One strike against legalization is that prosecution statistics are surrogate markers for crime prevalence, and Nevada has one of the highest prostitution arrests rates in the nation. 

[JKane]

31 minutes ago, Riobard said:

One strike against legalization is that prosecution statistics are surrogate markers for crime prevalence, and Nevada has one of the highest prostitution arrests rates in the nation. 

Yes, but that's because there're two Nevadas. 

Where the brothels are is nowhere near where the people (nor the crime) are.  (Very rural--the statute for legalization requires sparse county population.)  

Vegas is run by surprisingly conservative officials and they go out of their way to setup stings and bust people.  Those people often assume that anything goes and are easy to entrap.  

Now, the fact they have legalized recreational pot without limits like those on the brothels... just maybe they'd reconsider those limits. 

Come to think of it, "they" wasn't the officials, it was passed as a referendum.  So the citizens of Nevada could choose to do the same thing for prostitution, seems it'd be the easiest place to do it since all they'd need to do is remove the county restriction from the existing law...  but then Clark County would probably still try to disallow it...  

[Riobard]

Yeah, the brothels do seem to set a precedent for separating church and state, bible and sex. 

[tassojunior]

On 4/11/2018 at 3:28 AM, AdamSmith said:

The press is finally starting to line up in defense of sex workers. Only a beginning, but at least that. 

1

That's UK press. In the US we lost the "spin" on this. We're on the "evil" side.  It's a liberal progressive crusade against child trafficking:

 

 

[axiom2001]

My formerly go-to escort [male] in San Francisco had a job at Trader's Joe's but left it; he could not live on the minimum wage vs what he made hourly in sex play!  His rentmen ad is up but not his phone number; he rarely posts at Facebook as well.  I'm thinking he might have a "sugar daddy!"

I DO NOT like what has happened with backpage and craigslist and hope the feds don't try to shut down www.daddysreviews.com as well as this site and http://.rentmen.com.

[JKane]

I was just debating this with friends and it really drove home how fucked all of this is.  

2 weeks ago you could leave a home where you were being molested, a relationship where you were being abused, and support yourself by placing ads.  To do unsavory things you might not love doing, yes.  But you had options.  You could specify what you would and wouldn't do.  Safe Sex Only, ETC.  You could screen the respondents and if you chose to meet you would have a 'paper' trail that you could forward to a friend.  You could make a living.  You could work to better your situation.  

Tonight all of that is gone.  You're desperate for money.  You'll probably be living on the streets soon and will be forced to take whatever you get offered.  Maybe before you were doing ok giving massages and handjobs, now you may well be forced into unprotected anal or all manner of horrible situations.  Maybe somebody offers to buy you a meal and a give you a place to sleep in exchange for doing things with whomever paid *them*.  Thousands of people are in this position tonight, and most of the people vaguely aware of this happening applaud it--because the children.  Those children weren't saved though.  They're in an even more desperate situation now too.  

What the fuck, indeed.