Re: It's about free choice over your own body
anonymous
July 6 2006, 22:41:28 UTC
I agree that legalized prostitution (at least in this country) screws women over, which is why virtually ALL women in prostitution want it decriminalized, not legalized. The difference is that legalized prostitution means being pimped by a brothel on which you are a virtual prisoner (can't leave the compound). The establishment takes half their earnings, and if a customer arrives by taxi, an additional 20% of her earnings goes to the cabbie. Brothel workers must abide by strict rules and can't turn away clients unless they are intoxicated or have visible signs of an STI, yet they are considered contractors and therefore they don't get employee benefits and they must pay self employment tax, which is much higher than what they would pay as employees.
Decriminalization means that sex for money is not a crime. It doesn't make slavery legal, it doesn't make rape or physical assault legal. It means that adults can engage in consentual sex for pay/profit without fear of getting arrested for it. The overwhelming majority of prostitutes will tell you that they don't want to get arrested and they don't want a decrease in the demand side of the equation. Less demand means more risks taken and lower earnings. When business slows, gut instincts are ignored as character assessments become non-existent.
When you read numbers like 2-4 million women and children trafficked annually, don't alarms go off in your head? That's a margin of error equal to 2 million or 50%-100%. What do you make of these numbers? Did you notice that a few years ago, the State department said that 50k women were trafficked into the US, and now it's < 15k? This can't be due to the efforts of law enforcement since they haven't had much success in finding these trafficked women.
Remember Operation Gilded Cage in San Francisco? 100 women deported, and of the people charged with sex trafficking, some were convicted under the Mann act and charged with using a telephone to facilitate a crime- sentences were < year total for each person found guilty with credit for time served. Many didn't even go to trial because all of the women came here voluntarily. This isn't surprising given the crackdowns in S. Korea after being bullied into action by the US.
Decriminalization means that sex for money is not a crime. It doesn't make slavery legal, it doesn't make rape or physical assault legal. It means that adults can engage in consentual sex for pay/profit without fear of getting arrested for it. The overwhelming majority of prostitutes will tell you that they don't want to get arrested and they don't want a decrease in the demand side of the equation. Less demand means more risks taken and lower earnings. When business slows, gut instincts are ignored as character assessments become non-existent.
When you read numbers like 2-4 million women and children trafficked annually, don't alarms go off in your head? That's a margin of error equal to 2 million or 50%-100%. What do you make of these numbers? Did you notice that a few years ago, the State department said that 50k women were trafficked into the US, and now it's < 15k? This can't be due to the efforts of law enforcement since they haven't had much success in finding these trafficked women.
Remember Operation Gilded Cage in San Francisco? 100 women deported, and of the people charged with sex trafficking, some were convicted under the Mann act and charged with using a telephone to facilitate a crime- sentences were < year total for each person found guilty with credit for time served. Many didn't even go to trial because all of the women came here voluntarily. This isn't surprising given the crackdowns in S. Korea after being bullied into action by the US.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Korea/FL22Dg01.html
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200506/kt2005062316534211990.htm (Please read)
-FrenchKiss
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