The oldest profession should have more safeguards

Yesterday, I watched this video.  It is about prostitution, a subject I have discussed many times before.  

My view remains the same, sex work, ideally, should be safe legal and rare.  I suspect it will never be rare, but it should be safe and legal.  It should not involve human trafficking, coercion should not be present, and support to help anyone involved in it leave it, if they wish to do so, should be available.  And that also includes brothels run by women for women. 

I am under no illusions about the darker side of the profession, but this video is worth watching.       

Sex drugs and rock and roll

As I have discussed before, I think that sex work and drugs should be legalised and regulated.  Doing so would benefit the economy. 

As a teenager in a rough inner city comprehensive in the 1980’s, drugs were not available at school. My children grew up knowing where to get drugs. Basically, we are losing the war on drugs. I feel that drugs cause a lot of harm, but legalisation and regulation would allow the trade to be taxed, may reduce drug related crime and also may help get people into treatment to come off drugs. It has not caused major issues in Portugal.  Lastly, drugs are in effect legal for the wealthy, not for the poor. This double standard is unfair and is reflected in the help the wealthy can get for drugs which most people cannot access as easily.

The next matter is sex work. I mention this (again) due to Bonnie Blue being in the media for her work in this field. As mentioned by JK Rowling, sex work is an industry plagued by trafficking, abuse and this is an issue that has been raised by those who have worked in it.  But, people like Bonnie Blue are in effect working legally as a sex worker, while those who are not as famous are not as protected.  Already, thanks to women like her working in the industry, more and more women are looking at such work as a way of supplementing income. Regulation of sex work can protect the women who are in what is the oldest profession.  The line between what is sex work and what is not can be argued to be blurred with men finding love with women from other countries.  What I want is that women (it is mainly women) who make a choice to work in this area, are offered the help not to do so, and also the help and protection to do so in a safe manner.  I have seen how this can help women, working outside Ipswich.  When the murders happened in 2006, sex work in the area was in effect decriminalised to protect the women working in it.  

The second to last video is of a woman who regrets her work in the industry, one who since leaving it has found happiness.  I believe abortion should be safe, legal, and rare and I think that the same should happen to be an issue for sex work, though I accept that it is not going to be rare.  

The oldest profession should be legal

I have discussed this before, notably after Lily Philips had filmed her exploits.  Since then, her 'body count' has been surpassed by Bonnie Blue.  But this is not about that.  It is about how I think that prostitution should be legal.  And not just prostitution, but other forms of sex work as well.

As I have stated before, I do not want any woman (or man) to have no choice but to resort to working as a prostitute, but like it or not, for some men and women, this is how they earn money. What I want is a system to support sex workers, so that they can get the help and support to work in a safe manner, but more importantly, the help and support to get out of the trade if needed. Making sex work legal may also help to reduce sex trafficking as sex workers would be given rights. 

 

There are websites for men to be sugar daddies and many men seek ‘love’ from abroad in a way that many consider to be transactional for too many women. 

In a nation where we are looking at having to cut payments to the most vulnerable, legalisation and regulation of sex work may actually help the economy.  After all, lets face it.  Keeping the current situation has not stopped things.

Why I think the oldest profession should be legal

Sex work has been in the news again thanks to the exploits of Lily Phillips. Two other Only Fans content creators, Bonnie Blue and Annie Knight have also featured due to similar activities. Essentially, while not being paid by the men they are having sex with, they are having sex for money.  

Which brings up the issue of if prostitution should be legal. Let me get this clear, I do not want any woman (or man) to have no choice but to resort to working as a prostitute, but like it or not, for some women, this is how they survive. What I want is a system to support sex workers, so that they can get the help and support to work in a safe manner, but more importantly, the help and support to get out of the trade if needed. Making sex work legal may also help to reduce sex trafficking as sex workers would be given rights.

Like it or not, there are websites for men to be sugar daddies and many men seek ‘love’ abroad in a way that many consider to be transactional for too many women. 

In a nation where pensioners are having funds for heating taken away, legalisation and regulation of sex work may actually help the economy.

The oldest profession

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? 

13 Reasons Why; Nobody's Clean

Watching this with my son was interesting.  The two issues brought up were drugs and prostitution.  Drugs have been an issue in other episodes, but here, steroids were discussed.  Buying sex for money was also never mentioned before, and while this episode did not deal with the ethics of this, it did look at drugs.

I have mentioned before, that I do think that drugs should be legal and regulated, but I am not sure about steroids.  The first post-mortem that I saw was of a body builder who had a massive heart due to steroids.  The muscle growth outstripped the blood supply to it and he died.  Since then I have seen ruptured ligaments which do not heal and also others with heart attacks thanks to the use of illegal steroids.  I have suspected that it has contributed to behavioural issues with some, and I see one person on occasion who uses them but has muscles that are so developed, they have joint issues because his body should not have that build.  And he has acne and very small testicles.  Saying that, drugs screw up lives, and just because I think that they should be legal and regulated does not take away from the many lives I have seen ruined by drugs, and too many ended.

As for prostitution, again, this is something I think should be legal, but again regulated. But this view applies to all those who work in the sex industry. Help should be offered to aid those who are forced into sex to get out, or ideally, not to get into it.  The ethics of using a prostitute were not addressed in this episode though.

Needless today, I told my son not to use drugs.  Hopefully he will listen. 

"It's a boy!" I shouted, as I ran from the Thai brothel.

There have been some interesting discussions about the death of Hugh Hefner and how he exploited women through pornography.  And this brings up the issue of those who work in pornography and the sex trade.

There is no doubt that too many adults, and children have been exploited to work in both, and actresses like Shelley Lubben has spoken out many a time on her experiences as a pornographic actress.  But, some are willingly drawn to working in pornography or prostitution.

Prostitution has been described as the worlds oldest profession, and going back in time, where women have had less rights than now, I have no doubt that exploitation occurred then as well.  I do not like the idea of women selling themselves for money.  But in my work, I have encountered women who do so, one being a pornographic actress who despite the help she was offered, wanted to work in the business, but also people who were working and those who have worked in the past as sex workers.  But, we have to remember that this is not just an issue where women work in the industry.

Listening to women who have been brave enough to talk about the work they have done as sex workers (or strippers) there is no doubt in my mind that this work should be legal and that those women who work in the trade should be not only offered protection, but also to help workers leave the trade.  And when it comes to regulation, this is to reduce risks to those who work in the trade as well as to reduce the risks of people being forced to work in the sex trade as well as stopping those who are underage being forced into it.
And while some of the customers of sex workers that I have met have expressed views that I find to think of anything other than loathsome (though this has not changed the treatment that they are entitled to or what I have given), the customers who use sex workers are varied, and some, have no other real choice in life.

"It's a boy!" I shouted, as I ran from the Thai brothel.

Catarina Migliorini, one of the many reasons why I think that prostitution and other forms of sex work between consenting adults should be legal. By legal, let me say that I also mean regulated. Working in the sex industry, for many, most even is a horrible job, one which rots the soul. In the process of my work, I have encountered sex workers, most of which have had issues with addiction. Some have managed to do quite well, but I have yet to meet one without scars. But the thing I have noted that with many (but not all) of those I have encountered, they have had issues with addiction. Regulate the industry and you can offer those people help. But then I also think that many of the drugs that people use should be made legal, and again regulated.
Some people I have met have admitted to using sex workers, one being a lady my wife and I met when we were on holiday!  Some were people who would be very unlikely to have a meaningful relationship, others were in a relationship but needed for one reason or another to have sex elsewhere.  Just looking at men who use sex workers, there are many reasons for doing so.  Some men are going to find it hard to have sex due to physical disabilities, mental health issues or just due to issues with their personality.  Other men who are in relationships are going to seek sex outside the relationship due to mismatched sex drives, sometimes due to problems with the health of their partner, at times as well due to their partner not being able to meet some sexual need that they have.  Some of the reasons for a person to use a prostitute are going to be more acceptable than others, but this is the oldest profession in the world, and it is so for a reason.
Criminalising this act also makes it easier for people to be exploited.  Far too many people are trapped into remaining in prostitution due to drug addition, but also there are others who have been forced into it and others who are subject to human trafficking.  Through regulation sex workers can be helped to leave the job is they so wish.  Without this, there will be a market, one which will be exploited and people will suffer.  Lots of sex workers face violence at the hands of customers, those they work with, or more often for as well as physical and mental health problems.  In addition to this, it encourages people to travel abroad where there are even less restrictions, more exploitation and more harm to workers and customers.

There are those who have worked as a sex worker as a 'positive' choice and have left that, but too many do not have that choice. In addition, there is a line between a formal exchange of money for sex, and an informal one.  Why ban one and not the other?
What is important to do, if sex working is to be legalised and regulated is to learn from what has happened abroad, to prevent people being forced into the industry, to try to reduce demand, but most of all, to help those who work in it, leave it.