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In reply to the discussion: What are the main reasons men pay for sex? [View all]johnlucas
(1,250 posts)I learned this from reading the stories of the prostitutes themselves.
I am currently discovering that there is a WHOLE PACK of information on the prohibition/legalization subject & that the prostitutes themselves & those who actually listened to their stories are IN FAVOR of decriminalization.
I think the trafficking issue persists because of the stigma surrounding prostitution.
They are shunned by society at large even when it's legalized.
What I'm getting from the women in the trade is that their work is not recognized & put on par with Worker's Rights & Labor issues.
They want their work to have the same protections that other trades have from the Worker's Rights movements.
Because they are shunned & scarlet-lettered from society, nobody is taking the necessary efforts to police the corruption in their industry.
I was FLAT STUNNED to hear the fact that the United States was the country that spent the most money towards combating human trafficking...
...but that the amount they spent was only a pathetic $100 million!
What the hell is THAT gonna do?! An NBA star makes more than that!
That means the other countries are spending even less, WAY less.
And that a measly $100 million is not enough to adequately combat the problem in the FIRST place.
My suspicions why that is is because these countries benefit from human trafficking to begin with.
The slave trade never really ended & there seems to be a subtle backdoor *wink wink nudge nudge* acceptance of traffickers bringing in cheap slave labor.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) & the Global Slavery Index, there is an estimated 20 million to 30 million number of people forced into human trafficking.
I think that number is MUCH higher than that, honestly, but even there you see that is not an insurmountable number to overcome.
The world population is 7 billion & climbing.
This 20 to 30 million is only 0.03% to 0.04% of that number.
Three to four hundredths of 7 billion. That's only a little more than the populations of the Los Angeles & New York metropolitan areas.
That's baby food & if these countries were serious about rooting out this problem it could be stopped just like that.
They could track the sources & work to eliminate diplomatic immunity with those traffickers who run & hide in their own countries.
But you have to put the resources to achieve that & it doesn't look like these countries are really serious about doing that.
Legalization alone ain't enough. You need follow through with the Enforcement of Workplace Protections.
The prostitutes themselves say that Sex Work Is Work & needs the same exact protections as any other labor.
The food industry has inspections & watchdog groups to make sure that food is being prepared correctly or businesses get shut down.
Upton Sinclair & his Jungle book helped to regulate the food industry.
Nobody is listening to the actual prostitutes themselves.
They're more interested in grandstanding & moralizing. Acting more like missionaries than people trying to actually fix the problems.
I'm learning about this subject as we speak.
I already stumbled upon the informative writings of a former prostitute pen named "Maggie McNeill" in The Honest Courtesan a while back.
Probably stumbled upon it from Alternet or something.
Now I'm hearing even more stories from prostitutes themselves & I'll share these with you to read over.
"and deliver us from our saviors"
We Are Here To Win
Lies, Damned Lies and Stigmatizing Sex Workers
Opposing sex workers' rights is anti-feminist
Why I call them "anti-sex worker" rather than "anti-porn" or "anti-prostitution," and why you should too
There's a LOT of this stuff that I had no idea was going on.
Didn't even know there were prostitutes protesting feminists pushing for prohibition.
And it's a worldwide thing too! Had no idea.
It's an eye-opener, that's for sure.
I'm always of the mindset to defer to the people who actually live the life, who actually had the experiences rather than talk from on high from my ivory tower.
Sometimes the best thing you can do is just listen to their stories & learn.
Well it goes back to that Ducktales thing. Uncle Scrooge told me to Work Smarter Not Harder.
John Lucas