Prostitution

[ewx]

[Poll #1053551]

(NB for the last two questions - "results viewable to none" means "viewable to ewx", and of course in theory to LJ's operators.)

Comments

[mooism.livejournal.com]

I don’t think it makes sense for prostitution to be legal from one side but not the other.

[naath.livejournal.com]

Selling> My body, my choice as to whether to sell it or not. Why *shouldn't* I be permitted to sell sex just as I am permitted to sell my code or my novel or my cleaning skills?

On the other hand if you are *buying* it might be the case that the person you are buying sex from was forced to sell it rather than opting to do so. And if we (society) take the view that *most* prostitutes were forced into it then we might say that if we take away the demand for prostitutes then the people doing the forcing might stop it because they would stop making money. I don't think it's inherently unethical to buy sex but I think it is inherently unethical to buy sex from someone who doesn't want to sell it - that is very like rape. I'm not convinced that making it illegal to buy sex would stop people trading in it though - so I don't think this is a very good law.

What I think we need is better regulation so the people doing the unethical forcing of women into prostitution get arrested and the women (it's mostly women) who have been forced into prostitution get help to put their lives back together.

[mooism.livejournal.com]

If, as a result of taking the view that prostitutes are forced into it, we criminalise everyone paying for sex as well as the pimps, then we criminalise those who pay for sex with someone who’s not been forced into it. I think that would be wrong.

And also counter-productive. We need to persuade men who use prostitutes to not use prostitutes who’ve been forced into it. Prosecuting men who pay for sex with women who’ve been forced into it, whilst leaving legal paying for sex with women who do it by choice, may be a way of doing this.

I was shocked to read that 100% of men who pay for sex wouldn’t be put off if the woman they’d paid for sex had been forced into it. (100%: Not a single buyer of sex in the poll sample said they’d be put off.)

[truecatachresis.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's a horrifying statistic. Where was the survey taken, as I can imagine that there may be differing groups of clients with different opinions?

[mooism.livejournal.com]

It was mentioned at the end of a recent news article on the government’s proposal. I don’t know who carried out the survey, the sample size, whether it was carried out in a single location or across the country, any useful background information really :-\

[ewx.livejournal.com]

I have trouble believing the 100% figure; I'd at least expect some people to lie about it.

[armb.livejournal.com]

Why would anyone lie saying they wouldn't be put off when they would? The other way around I can understand. Or do you mean that a reported 100% figure must be wrong even if it's the true figure because even if none of them would be put off some would lie and pretend they would?

[ewx.livejournal.com]

The latter; I'd expect some people to hide the fact that they would not be put off.

[mstevens.livejournal.com]

I've heard different results (iirc that it's mostly but not totally the other way), I think there was something about it on this blog: http://www.wakingvixen.com/blog/ somewhere.