I have to laugh when I hear people say: “Oh, I’ve never met a sex-worker before” and I have to say, chances are you have, you just don’t know it. – Valerie Scott
Men: Pay your hookers! Ladies: Get the damned money up front!
A 19-year-old…prostitute choked a [Florida] man to death after he tried to stiff her out of money he owed her for sexual services…Andrea Alvira…[chased] Brandon Day, 22…into a yard, where she dropped him by hitting him in the neck. She got on top of Day’s chest and forced her knees into his throat, suffocating him…
Politicians, cops and naïve, whiny women are a dangerous combination:
…Rebecca McHood of [Mesa, Arizona] said she belongs to “a community of women who have been affected by pornography and sex addiction of their spouses…”I have five close friends whose husbands or ex-husbands have frequented [massage] parlors…I have seen the effects [sic] this has on their families, including the effects of divorce”…Lynnette Greybull…said she has found a website that lists 36 Mesa sex shops masquerading as massage parlors. “They have a page…of acronyms…[detailing] what they’re able to do to these women…it’s very disgusting and perverted…These establishments are fake businesses…that…sell women.”
A Tale That Grew in the Telling
You know the oft-repeated lie that a third of teen runaways are approached by a “pimp” within 48 hours (when in reality, 84% of teen sex workers literally never meet a pimp)? Well, it’s down to 45 minutes now:
Last year, King County’s Committee to End Homelessness issued a fact sheet that [stated]…“76 percent of unaccompanied minors [are] approached by either a known gang member or pimp in less than 45 minutes”…“That study has been altered, revised and bastardized beyond recognition,” says…Captain Eric Sano…“The actual study was from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. They say that one in three teens will be recruited by an exploiter. In 2009 we…put a very youthful female member of the department [in a park in disguise] and within 45 minutes she was approached by two members of the Westside Street Mobb”…
It’s a good sign when a claim is too ridiculous even for cops and reporters.
An unusually-sensible attitude for a politician:
…I have decided to implement [activists’] recommendations…by introducing a bill to repeal “prostitution free zones” in D.C…transgender women…[say cops] regularly view and treat them as criminals…The prostitution free zones reinforce this bias…it is also critical that police officers help someone who is assaulted or raped, even if they were involved in sex work. MPD is responsible for the safety of everyone, including sex workers…
“…Cleveland police officer Gregory Jones [was found] guilty of raping and kidnapping a woman…Prosecutor Jesse Canonico said…’He was a rapist masquerading as a police officer’…” According to Canonico, cops and rapists are two mutually exclusive things! Obviously he’s never been to New York:
Yonkers police officer Alex Della Donna…arrested…Sonia L. Gomez…[and] coerced her into having [sex] with him at least a half-dozen times…continually [reminding her] that drug charges…might be reinstated if she didn’t continue…[the rapes] ended only after Gomez’s husband threatened to tell departmental higher-ups…
Or California: “…West Sacramento Police officer…Sergio Alvarez was convicted of…numerous counts of aggravated assault and rape…and…[given] a 205-years-to-life sentence…he raped women while on the job, sometimes even in his patrol car…” Or even Utah:
…police officer Jeremy Rose has been charged with 15 offenses in the collection of thousands of photos of a teenage girl in various stages of undress…Rose convinced a then-15-year-old…to pose semi-nude for photos he said he would sell for her on the Internet…he also allegedly hid a camera in the girl’s bedroom to record video of her dressing and undressing…
Note the moronic “people can be sold repeatedly” canard:
[California] officials say gangs have become more involved in human trafficking because people can be repeatedly sold for profit, unlike drugs and guns…The legislature is considering a…bill…[to classify] human trafficking…as “gang activities”…Sentences for gang-related crimes are usually stiffer…
Following in the illustrious footsteps of Lauren Hersh:
An assistant district attorney was verbally berated and banished from a Bronx judge’s courtroom after failing to reveal evidence that would have freed a man held at Rikers Island on bogus rape charges…“This is an utter and complete disgrace — not just for you, but for your office in general”…Judge John Wilson told…Megan Teesdale before dismissing the case…The defendant, Segundo Marquez, had been held…for more than eight months awaiting trial…
“A…Kansas City police officer who was accused of forcing two women to have sex with him was found guilty of acceding to corruption…and sentenced…to 15 days in jail…” When a non-cop does the same thing it’s called “rape” and gets more than 2 weeks in jail.
In this interview with Valerie Scott (one of the plaintiffs in Bedford vs. Canada) she touches on the landmark case and the Swedish model; however, the more interesting part for me is her discussion of pre-internet sex work in Canada, sex work ethics, myths about sex work and “pimps” and the absurdity of trying to suppress the trade.
Where Are the Protests? (TW3 #48)
…The…son of a peasant farmer from…China has been in custody since being found in a…Dublin…grow house with an estimated €1 million worth of cannabis…Fergal Kavanagh…said his client…[was] imprisoned in the grow-house by traffickers…[and] should be released pending a full investigation into his case…
Another nursing home ignites controversy by hiring sex workers for residents:
The elderly residents of a Long Island nursing home…[attended a male] striptease in the facility’s rec room, a new lawsuit claims. The son of one resident, 85-year-old Bernice Youngblood, was shocked when he…found a picture of his mom stuffing dollar bills — which are supposed to be locked away in her commissary account — into a dancer’s briefs…“Plaintiff Bernice Youngblood was placed in apprehension of imminent, offensive, physical harm, as she was confused and bewildered as to why a muscular, almost nude man, was approaching her and placing his body and limbs, over [her],” the suit states…Youngblood’s attorneys argue she “lacks the mental and physical capacity” to protect herself…
Unless Mrs. Youngblood is unquestionably suffering from dementia, it sounds more to me like her son is just revolted by the idea that his mother might enjoy male strippers and might actually exert a little control over her surroundings instead of existing as a passive, passionless vegetable under others’ “care”.
Government officials in Phoenix are violating the law by compelling [sex workers]…to participate in a program administered by religious groups, Americans United for Separation of Church and State says…the program, Project ROSE, clearly violates the First Amendment…those arrested…are forcibly taken to Bethany Bible Church…in handcuffs…[and] given the option to avoid criminal prosecution by participating in a sectarian program. “Phoenix is essentially telling criminal suspects that they can go to church or go to jail,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn…
[Congresswoman] Jackie Speier…has apparently decided to introduce a federal “revenge porn” bill, which is being drafted, in part, by Prof. Mary Anne Franks, who has flat out admitted that her goal is to undermine Section 230 protections for websites…to make…third parties — like “Google, any website, Verizon… face liability”…[she claims] she’s not seeking to undermine Section 230 in any way…[because it] has never protected sites from liability of federal crimes — just civil infractions and state crimes. So her goal is to make the amorphous concept of “revenge porn” a “federal crime” thereby suddenly making third-party websites liable…this effort is fraught with dangerous consequences and potential First Amendment problems…
You’ve got to love the way she makes it sound as though it were her idea:
University of Colorado sociology professor Patti Adler has axed the prostitution skit…that led administrators to pull her from the classroom last semester…[she] cited difficulty with consent forms and worries among participants after the…skit drew national attention…In the end, Adler canceled the controversial skit and invited local sex workers to her class…Adler interviewed the sex workers…and then allowed the students to ask…questions…
More on the German politicians who want to make life harder for whores:
…the Union [Party] wants to impose stricter controls on brothels and threaten clients with punishment. The police and other authorities may also get the power to raid brothels without concrete suspicion, [sponsor] Thomas Strobl…said…clients should not be able to “make excuses” [if police declare that] a…prostitute has “obvious signs of ill-treatment”…the Union also wants [to reward] foreign prostitutes with…residence [if they agree to testify against]… “their tormentors” …presently, foreign forced prostitutes…do not report to the police because they…fear deportation…
Former porn actress Jennifer Ketcham incoherently argues that the best way for porn actors to fight for decriminalization is to draw an artificial line between themselves and other whores. Or something.
…Porn…advocates…are quick to distinguish between pornography and prostitution, and…it is way more okay to be a porn star than it is to be a prostitute…porn stars…[should] drop the label of “sex worker” and adopt the title of “adult film actor”…[to sever] it from the morally-loaded concept and illegality of prostitution…by drawing imaginary lines between sex work performed on camera and sex work performed behind closed doors, porn (unintentionally) debases the majority of sex workers…
The Sky is Falling! (TW3 #413)
Regarding the last line: what the hell does she think prostitution is?
…Équipe d’Action…has…[filed] legal proceedings against a “sugar daddy” dating site, which they accuse of operating a disguised prostitution racket. The existence of such sites in France…[was ignored until] the arrival of the US site Seeking Arrangement…If the complaint is upheld in court it could change the definition of prostitution in France…Angela Jacob Bermudo, a spokeswoman for the French Seeking Arrangement site…[said] “Seeking Arrangement is not prostitution…For many girls, this is a viable option to be able to concentrate on their studies without the financial burden”…
Chinese officials violently suppress a city’s major industry, then wonder why its economy dies:
Prostitution was once rife in Dongguan…Local analysts estimated there were more than 250,000 prostitutes at its peak, and that the business generated about 50 billion yuan (HK$63 billion) a year…But…in February…authorities started a campaign to wipe out prostitution…hotel managers estimate…up to 70 per cent of prostitutes had left the city. “The crackdown may not kill us, but it will kill [the nearby town of] Changping and then the city itself. Without our xiaojie [whores], Changping is going to be a ghost town”…Many people working in the city’s retail and service sectors – from taxi drivers to snack sellers, landlords to restaurant bosses – grumble that their business has suffered since the…raids began…At the New South China Mall, the largest shopping centre in the world when it opened in 2005 with more than 2,000 shops, at least half the stores are vacant…
In Canada, articles like the ones below and at right appear in the mainstream media:
…more than 300 of our fellow Canadian and international academics and researchers expressed their profound concern that the federal government is blatantly ignoring a large body of scientific evidence…that criminalization of any aspect of sex work, including the purchasing of sex, has overwhelmingly negative [effects]…banning the purchasing of sex is not scientifically grounded and sorely misguided by moral judgment of sex workers as victims. In fact, evidence strongly suggests that this approach would recreate the same social and health-related harms of current criminalization regime…there is no evidence that criminalizing the purchasing of sex reduces or eliminates prostitution…
The person who runs Saskatoon’s “john school” is disappointed because he hasn’t had any participants since the start of this year. Albert Brown…said that since the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the country’s anti-prostitution laws last year, his class has been empty…
Synopsis of the rest of the article: “Dirty, dirty, filthy, diseased whores!”
RE: Subtle Pimping (TW3 #403)
The canceling of the skit really isn’t surprising. The end result seems to be good though as the professor actually brought in some actual sex workers instead of just having a skit which probably would been more Hollywood-style street walkers. I liked the part about having participants dress like sex workers – I guess they’d just show up in their everyday clothing!
The story of the Chinese ‘tea’ gardener shows yet again that people you might think were ‘victims’ are treated as criminals; the treatment of this man has been condemned by local columnists, though there has been no furore.
Henrietta Place is beside Henrietta Street, the first Georgian Street in Dublin, and once the most up-market address. There were 13 houses, town houses for assorted dukes and others of the nobility. The area has been a slum for a long time.
I don’t normally read The Times as it’s part of the Murdock empire, though it has some excellent columnists. Today, Caitlin Moran (who, despite the name, is English) has a piece on sex work. She thinks caring for the dying is far more intimate than sex work; and she asks, if sex had only been recently invented, would we make sex work illegal. She also says that, “trafficking isn’t inherent to prostitution. That’s an abhorrent and illegal practice of the current sex work industry—not the sex work itself. By the same chalk, parts of the fashion industry are reliant on trafficking and slave work. But no one would suggest we criminalise the fashion industry—we lobby for human rights instead.” And, “I really don’t think we would criminalise sex work if it had been invented yesterday. And so today, we must look at it again, as 21st-century people—and not scared, sex-fearing medieval peasants.” (She earlier refers to syphilis in the 1400s, clearly not believing that it was the New World’s reciprocal gift to Columbus.)
Unhappily, The Times is behind a paywall, and you can only see the first couple of lines of her article.
I was a teen runaway in 1972…I am STILL waiting to be approached by a pimp…maybe if you took me out of the picture that stat *would* be down to 5 minutes?
Or maybe they made it up?
LOVING that attitude to any and all non paying customers, but I would expect a sex worker to have the sense to get the money up front…it’s not like she is a plumber (nothing wrong with plumbers, I consider all plumbers my equal and support their fundamental human rights at all times but GOOD LUCK with getting the money up front!)
If women would only wake up to the fact that porn and sex addiction are symptoms, not causes, of problems in their marriage there would probably be a lot less work for sex workers (and that includes porn actors).
I think wives get a bad “rap” when it comes to their husbands engaging in those activities. I think it’s more of a two-way street. First, the wives start the game with a handicap because men have a natural desire for variety and, no matter how hot or sexy a wife is – there is one thing she can never be – “another woman”.
Second, I hear guys complain all the time about not having sex in the marriage. This is almost foreign to me. With the exception of two years around the time my wife went through menopause – we always fucked like rabbits. Now we’re back to doing that again.
So I’m left wondering – why do some wives start “rationing” sex to their husbands? Mine never did. It doesn’t make sense. I think the husbands are a lot more to blame for this than a lot of people assume. I don’t claim to be the world’s greatest husband … lord knows … but I also know I didn’t marry a hypersexual “fuck bunny”.
I don’t mean to suggest the wife is always at fault, just that there is a problem, and cutting off access to porn and adultery will not actually reduce the problem – whatever the cause is.
So all this “anti porn” “anti sex addiction” energy would be better spent on sorting out, or leaving, the marriage.
I would not want to be with a guy who was watching porn (just a personal, not a moral, thing, football scores even lower) but to me a guy who was into porn and not watching it (or pretending not to) because of legislation is exactly the same.
You can’t legislate personal relationships into shape.
LOVING that attitude to any and all non paying customers, but I would expect a sex worker to have the sense to get the money up front
Was he really a customer? If the non-payment was deliberate, then he was just another opportunistic criminal targeting someone vulnerable. In that sense it’s similar to the cop abuse stories, the predators think that they will get away with it.
Either way, the incident was greatly facilitated by criminalization.
I’ll tell you something, I have been stiffed like that and it feels like rape…it should, sex has been STOLEN from you outside your consent.
“LOVING that attitude to any and all non paying customers”
Let’s do a role reversal. If a customer took this attitude to a WL who took his money and didn’t supply service, do you think this would be a reasonable way to react?
Murder is bad. It is a Bad Thing. If you want legitimacy for sex work, it’s important not to give the impression that sex workers are violent criminals, one bad business transaction away from murder.
PS: google “misandry”. This has nothing to do with what’s right and wrong in contract law, and everything to do with the fact that customers are men. The Canadian notion, that it should simply be legal for any woman to kill any man any time, for any (or no) reason at all.
Also, if I was a paying customer under a criminalization regime, I would be weary of paying up front. I am sure there are many fine sex workers but there are also common thieves who impersonate such and then try to run off with the man’s money. Such women basically are using criminalization as a invitation to steal and run. That case in Texas where the man shot the woman who claimed to be a sex worker I suspect was a case of a thief making money by pretending to do sex work and then run off with the johns’ money.
She was also guilty of being in Texas.
That had absolutely nothing to do with it, though pretending it did was popular for a while.
“…presently, foreign forced prostitutes…do not report to the police because they…fear deportation…” The larger majority of sexworkers in Germany are EU nationals. They cannot even be deported.
Ugh the story about the nursing home strippers is really disgusting. The son’s attitude and his lawyer’s statements are horrendous. His mother was “defiled” by watching a strip show. Really? And in the follow up story he had to wheel her out in front of the press and get her to speak about how “traumatized” despite the fact the residents voted to bring in the strippers and she could have asked to leave the room if she felt uncomfortable, or just wheeled away herself. The picture shows her enthusiasticaly stuffing dollar bills down the stripper’s underwear. And she never complained to her son, he only realized they hired strippers until he saw the photo. He’s either faking the outage for the lawsuit or he’s just such an overbearing jerk that mom just nods and goes along with him whenever he feels outrage!.
This is just part of the larger movement to infantilize people Maggie often talks about. It mostly happens to kids and young people but it happens alot to old people too. Yes obviously some elderly do need watching over due to mental and physical infirmity but there’s alot of assumption that just becuase someone’s old they can’t make their own choices anymore, especially in regards to sex. I know an 80 year old woman, totally of sound mind, whose relatives tried to stop her from taking up smoking again. I almost bought her a pack just to support her. She’s a grown woman, who’s obviously not demented or insane but she’s treated like a baby who doesn’t know any better and needs to be controlled. Granted smoking IS bad for you but she’s EIGHTY, its not like she has a long lifetime of good health to enjoy that she’s ruining with her choice. Let an old woman have her vice. Jeez.
“I have seen the effects [sic] this has on their families, including the effects of divorce”
Tell me Rebecca – in how many of these divorces was it the wife who filed?
As Krulac correctly says above, men love variety. I wonder if monogamous marriage will even survive this century. Sex and porn addiction claims seem as real to me as sex trafficking. Frankly, it seems like an attempt to pathologize normal male sexuality. I am sometimes surprised, given the male sex drive, that monogamous marriage has survived this long.