Prostitution

Oct 23, 2007 19:14

Having just been reading the comments on this article about disabled people visiting prostitutes, I'm wondering about people's views:
Poll

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Comments 27

soon_lee October 23 2007, 18:45:52 UTC
Prostitution is no longer a crime in my country. While many would rather not think about it, disabled people are sexual beings too.

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spaj October 23 2007, 18:46:18 UTC
Legal, if it's properly controlled. Prostitution encourages slave-trade in sex, and drug addiction. I'm against both of these things - if people can make a living from sex, without fuelling these other practices, then fine. I have no moral objection to "sex for money".

Which wasn't an option in your poll, and it seems unclear how I should vote if that's my opinion, because you gave so little context.

Dick.

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guyinahat October 23 2007, 19:45:08 UTC
Andy does seem to enjoy putting up inadequate poll options.

(I agree with you, btw)

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surliminal October 23 2007, 21:40:16 UTC
Legal in properly controlled brothels, illegal for the client soliciting women on the street, not illegal for the prostitute at all, but they get redirected towards the regulated areas.

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thorn11 October 24 2007, 16:56:14 UTC
what is exactly is 'properly controlled'? that sounds a bit big brother to me.

a lot of people involved in prostitution have lives that are too chaotic to fit into 'properly controlled' brothels, where working times are specific and often the workers are fired for being late, etc.
street prostitution will never go away because there is both need and demand. what needs to happen is better understanding of harm reduction techniques and welfare-centred policing.

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themongkey October 23 2007, 18:57:24 UTC
option 4: "unnecessary"

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andrewducker October 23 2007, 22:22:33 UTC
What do you mean by "unnecessary"?

I mean, on one level everything outside of your basic food/water/shelter requirements are uneccessary, but I'm not sure how this is terribly useful...

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guyinahat October 23 2007, 23:18:21 UTC
Using vague statements on the presumption that you're audience will know what you really mean?

hmmmmm

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themongkey October 23 2007, 23:34:12 UTC
Perhaps I mean that in an ideal world everybody would be having the sex they wanted and nobody would need to buy or sell it.

Or perhaps I just like fucking with your polls ;o)

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slammerkinbabe October 23 2007, 19:21:06 UTC
I'm with spaj; prostitution's safer when it's legal, and I have no moral objection to it. Or, I should say, no intrinsic moral objection to it. If being a sex worker is a choice that someone makes freely and without coercion, then I have no blanket objection (some people may choose it for unhealthy reasons, but that goes for a lot of things that aren't illegal). The amount of coercion increases exponentially when it's illegal, though, so I think it should be legal.

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la_marquise_de_ October 23 2007, 19:25:22 UTC
This issue was debated in the academic press about a decade ago, and at that time there was a vocal minority declaring that carers should provide sexual services along with other help to people with disabilities. THe article seems to indicate that things have moved on somewhat -- carers are no longer seen purely as functions. I have no issues with protitution (except in so far as its criminalisation makes the women so vulnerable to all kinds of abuse and ill-treatment). I do have some issues with the idea of a right to sex, though. It interests me how male-focused the article and many of the comments were: underneath this the old old idea that men have a right to get laid is still alive and well -- and sadly, this is the same idea that has justified so much abuse of women over so many years.

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andrewducker October 23 2007, 22:25:58 UTC
Yeah, I have to say that the idea of a right to sex baffled me as well. I mean, if everyone has a right to sex where' mine?

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