Repeat after me: “Prostitution is NOT empowering!” Next time someone gives you that bullsh*t line tell them to up shut because prostitutes are forced, coerced, threatened, bribed, lied to, and sold into the sex trade. The few women(1%) who CHOOSE to sell their bodies for sex do it for MONEY, not empowerment. Women are not a weak and stupid gender, we can be just as greedy as any male. That said, men are the major buyers or JOHNS that support this crappy job/enslavement industry.
When I worked at the domestic violence and sexual assault resource center we trained about prostitution and sex slavery. They have become the same thing. Whether you talk about prostitution in the “good old”(eye roll) USA or some brothel in any so called “third world” (more eyes rolls) country, it sucks sweaty stinky balls.
Women may be the majority of prostitutes, but men can be victims (or survivors) as well. So I am not on some anti-male rant right now. It is not our nature to ‘buy sex’, but our nature to want and crave sex. Before you brush off sex trade as the worlds oldest profession(that’s a lie, it’s agriculture and the trade of food and supplies for survival and what does being a profession have anything to do with it being okay?) let’s look at the effects. Prostitution objectifies people as a product to be used and not humans with feelings and brains. It increases the spread of venereal disease, including that deadly one, AIDS/HIV. It encourages and promotes violence against women. It can lead to drug use, crime, and hatred towards the opposite gender. It helps cheaters cheat which breaks your little sisters/best friends heart. If none of that bothers you, why are you reading this?
Now it is time for some resources. Get your ass off the couch and GET INVOLVED with ending prostitution. But, what can I do? You can support these programs with TIME and ENERGY or donate money. You can tell your friends that jokes about prostitutes are not funny. You can use your voice to tell your government officials that YOU care about the problems prostitution cause.
Learn all that you can at The Coalition Against Trafficking In Women: http://www.catwinternational.org
Contact your government officials and tell them your concerns: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/
Get out of prostitution or help someone get out with these resources at WomensLaw, http://www.womenslaw.org/gethelp_national_type.php?type_id=1063
What bothers YOU most about prostitution?
What other information should I have added to this post?
Individual Empowerment 
I think we can end in agreement that’s a pretty wack argument on several levels! As I said above, trafficking is a form of slavery and absolutely should be abolished.
In fact, come to think of it, it might be a good way to get around that whole argument by focusing on the kidnapping and slavery aspect. I think anyone would have a tough time trying to justify those! Be a fool to even try!
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I am getting lost in details again, so I will restate my main point which is that prostitution is not empowering. I hear that argument a lot as some form of consolation to pretend that sex trafficking is not a problem everyday people can find solutions for. What I want is for people to get involved with ending sex trafficking and urging them to get involved, thus the links on the end. We can end the exploitation of people if we try. We are capable.
Thank you for the notification, I have fixed the link.
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BTW: your link to the CATW page is broken. That site looks like it’s still growing and changing (I found a lot of empty pages). It might be useful to just link to the base URL.
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Let me be clear about one thing first: sex trafficking is a form of slavery, something I would hope all sane peoples would vehemently oppose.
If humans want something, especially when it amounts to a craving, how is not in our nature to try to obtain it any way we can? If it can be obtained through payment then people will pay. To me, that seems better than stealing it or coercing it. If the payment is legal and regulated, then presumably both parties benefit.
I agree it’s not a cure-all or perfect solution! Sex is deeply entwined in human nature, so there will always be perversions. It’s not that legalization is the “fix” or is even ideal. It’s that it is better than the alternative.
Alcohol was made illegal in the USA, and crime took over. The situation was so bad, the law was repealed. Abortion was made illegal, and women died in back alleys. Now women can get safe, legal abortions. Drugs are illegal, and crime controls them (consider what’s happening in Mexico, for example). In none of these cases did alcohol, abortion or drugs go away, but in all cases the situation for society was worse.
It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to control how individuals treat others. We can try to educate, as that seems one successful way to “get through” to people. Beyond that we can try to mitigate the damage and harm to society.
We have a fair bit of history suggesting that one way to limit any illegal traffic is to remove the incentive. Traffickers are in it for one reason: money. If they can’t make enough money to justify the risks, we remove the incentive.
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I didn’t realize that it was human nature to buy people for sex. I understand that it is human nature to want and crave sex, but not to pay for sexual services.
As for it being legal, that argument has holes. It is legal in some places, but that hasn’t stop sex trafficking or abuse and coercion of women and men into prostitution by pimps or parents.
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Thank you for sharing your view.
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The bonobos, one of our closest ancestors, routinely use sex for negotiation and favor, so I would argue that teaching and prostitution are indeed the oldest human behaviors if not professions. That fact doesn’t mean brushing off anything, and it doesn’t at all imply not being disturbed by the sex trade or its effects on society.
The problem is dealing with an ancient equation: so long as someone is willing to pay for a service, someone else will provide that service. To change that equation, you have to find some way to change human nature. That’s a very steep hill to climb.
I believe that, as with many human behaviors, suppression just doesn’t work. Suppression merely drives the activity into illegality, causing the operation to be run by criminals. (Consider what happens when you make abortion illegal.)
I suggest it is better to accept the inevitability of human behavior, bring it into the light and control, regulate and tax it. This helps remove the problems with disease, violence and coercion. It also provides a revenue stream that can be used to help society.
The question boils down to whether you believe you can change ancient human nature or find some way to minimize the damage.
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