My daughter is watching a TV series featuring underage prostitution. I do look forward to a question about the grey areas with her. This is an issue that I have discussed in the past, and there are blurred lines between what is acceptable to society and what is not.
Let me be clear from the beginning. No person should be forced into sex work and those in it should be offered the help to leave it as well as help to address any addiction issues they may have.
But there are those for whom working in this or related areas has been a positive choice. I have even met one of them, though most of those who I have cared for had left it (one was in it to fund her then drug habit). The one who was still working in it appeared to be a good mother, but she had housing issues which I suspect may have been related to her line of work and the alcohol issues she later came out as still having (which I suspect helped her cope with her job). Needless to say, I suspect there have been many others who I have looked after who I was or am unaware worked in this role.
The grey line is when relationships or marriage is involved. Does having a sugar daddy mean that you are a sex worker? How about if you marry one? Caroline Aherne, in the guise of Mrs Merton, opened an interview with Debbie McGee, the partner of magician Paul Daniels, with the query: "So what attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?" We can see similar issues now with Melania Trump and her husband, many wondering what attracted the foreign born model to the (then twice married) millionaire Donald Trump. The reason that I bring her up is that Stormy Daniels is often called a prostitute for having had sex with Donald Trump, but Melania, who many see as marrying for money, is not considered to be a sex worker herself by most.
There are those who call for a ban on prostitution, this has consequences for those working in that field, just as it does on other areas of sex work.
I do have concerns that this can demean women in the eyes of some men, but I suspect many of those men would not have much respect for women. I have one patient who has found it hard to have a relationship due to his behavioural issues. I do think that seeing sex workers is going to make it much harder for him to find the love that he craves, but is meets his desire to have sex. He has had issues with getting attached to some of the women he pays for due to his need for love. The bottom line is that I would rather he paid for sex rather than raped a woman to satisfy his primal urges. He is not alone, there are many men who are going to find it much harder to find love. It is really right to forbid them from ever having sex so long as this can be done in an ethical way?
