[Saya]

Originally Posted by Miss Absynthe

[color="SeaGreen"]A lot of the industry is different here.

In Australia it is legal to work as a prostitute, but illegal to make any money from another persons work, so that means that pimping and running a brothel is illegal. Brothels are legal, but with the definition that they are a premises that only two workers can use at a time and that they are not 'run' by a madame or something along those lines. What you tend to have is a brothel that will hire an assistant to make appointments, answer phones etc. and many of them also have security hired to keep the workers safe.

That I'm way more okay with. Brothels still make me uncomfortable because you don't have time to get to know who's coming through the door. Do the security guards watch to make sure everything stays okay, or is there a panic button or something?

@Saya - I agree with what you say, and I don't think that I was really clear in my post. I was responding to the post previous to mine and not to the rest of the thread. I should have quote tagged it to make my intention more clear. I make such a point about the difference between sex trafficking and the sex industry because I am usually up against people (often health workers and cops) who have the opinion that anyone involved in the industry is a junkie and doesn't deserve to be treated as a person. This is problematic on SO many levels... not in the least in that even if someone is a junkie they are STILL a freaking human. I have nursed a **** victim and had a cop refer to her as a 'non-human' casualty because she was ***** by a client of hers - the only time I really really lost my temper at work.

I don't think anyone here feels that way though, and it doesn't make it right. I got to speak to some harm reduction workers who have an organization in Montreal, they meet prostituted women where they are, give safe needles, they have ex sex workers on staff to help give them tips on how to keep safe, and exit programs.

Honestly given how even strippers are given the "you can't possibly be *****" treatment, I don't think its just the "junkie" aspect that makes cops and health workers look down on sex workers. They're among the hardest hit in a **** culture.

I'm not used to talking about this with people who do understand that those who get involved in the industry because they have no choice or because of trafficking are human beings - so I tend to create a divide when talking about it to show people that these situations aren't really people who are WORKING in the industry, but are people who are basically caught up as slaves.

Where do you make that divide though? Like, if someone becomes a sex worker because of financial needs, but doesn't really see it that way, is she a slave? There's trafficking but there's also monetary coercian; the money is too good to walk away from or you just can't. Like, in Amsterdam, where to use a brothel, you pay hundreds of dollars to use a room for a few hours. If you don't like any of your clients, its kind of too bad because you need to make up for the money you just spent. No one is physically keeping her there but the pressure is on to make money. I wouldn't necessarily call that slavery, but it is something terribly wrong.

I'm not saying that I don't think that the whole entire industry doesn't need to be overhauled. I actually think that would solve a lot of problems. If you legalise and legitimise sex work as a job, then you take away a lot of the power that the pimps and traffickers have.

I'm all for legalization, I think we agree way more than we thought XD I just think there is in some feminist circles a glamourization of sex work, you know? Like, issues about trafficking are silenced in favour of pushing the idea that its empowering work. I appreciate that's not what you're doing but I'm so used to hearing "We need complete legalization and it will work out", as if it won't create additional problems such as in Amsterdam or there doesn't need to be a overhaul, or that capitalism won't do what capitalism does best, exploitation without legal repercussions. I'm all for legalization, just with a lot of regulations, including keeping pimping illegal and making sure all sex workers have complete agency over their work.

I am not so naive to not understand that it is true that MOST people who are involved in sex work are being exploited and don't have a choice about what they do - especially in the current economic climate. I am simply saying that my personal experience is different from that... that I enjoy what I do, that it hasn't made me jaded, that I don't have 'dead stripper eyes' as someone talked about before... and I am aware of my level of privilege and recognise that a lot of these things are due to the fact that I have that privilege.

Again, I appreciate that, and its refreshing.