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I don't object to someone selling sexual services as a free agent. What I object to is the human trafficking associated with the vast majority of it. Life is

I don't object to someone selling sexual services as a free agent. What I object to is the human trafficking associated with the vast majority of it. Life is not awesome for most sex workers. If you're paying for sex, assume you're in the slave trade! Full stop.

tremon 10y ago
Life is not awesome for most sex workers. If you're paying for sex, assume you're in the slave trade! That's the war on drugs all over again: the violence and exploitation is mostly a consequence of the illegality, not of the profession itself.
- EdSharkey 10y ago
  Yeah, the world is screwed up in so many ways. How great would it be if you could assume every sex worker you paid for wasn't a slave? But, I have a such a convenient solution, hear me out! We can just delude ourselves into thinking the world already works the way we think it should. We won't have to acknowledge the misery we perpetuate AND we can get our rocks off in the most awesomest way.
tomp 10y ago
> If you're paying for sex, assume you're in the slave trade. If you paying for a fast food burger or for an iPhone, assume you're in the slave trade.
- EdSharkey 10y ago
  Absurd comparisons and moral equivalence all in one! Let's all pay for sex!!!!!!!
neoCrimeLabs 10y ago
I would be curious as to where you get "vast majority" from. One of the things I love HN community for is the overall interest in collecting and representing reliable statistical information. The reason I am questioning "vast majority" is that when something is illegal, it's very hard to derive accurate statistics on. When something is illegal your primary sources of information is law enforcement, people who have exited, and what a few people involved in the activity will volunteer. Since the activity is illegal, few people who are actively involved will volunteer information for the fear of having it used against them. Add to that the stigma that sexual services carries with it (regardless if they were cohered or not), and people REALLY do not want to divulge information about their activities in sexual services even after they have exited. Because of this any metrics derived will be very law-enforcement biased, or from a vastly small sample of the overall community. Neither of these are reliable sources of information. Just looking at how the FBI in recent years /reduced/ the number of statistics available on their sexual-service stings is a great example of this. It makes it impossible for anyone to derive reliable or trend-able information from the statistics they have released. Here's a great article that explains a lot of what I'm saying with links to verifiable references https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/04/24/why-you-should-be-wary-of-statistics-on-modern-slavery-and-trafficking/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/04/...

tremon 10y ago

Life is not awesome for most sex workers. If you're paying for sex, assume you're in the slave trade! That's the war on drugs all over again: the violence and exploitation is mostly a consequence of the illegality, not of the profession itself.

EdSharkey 10y ago
Yeah, the world is screwed up in so many ways. How great would it be if you could assume every sex worker you paid for wasn't a slave? But, I have a such a convenient solution, hear me out! We can just delude ourselves into thinking the world already works the way we think it should. We won't have to acknowledge the misery we perpetuate AND we can get our rocks off in the most awesomest way.

tomp 10y ago

> If you're paying for sex, assume you're in the slave trade. If you paying for a fast food burger or for an iPhone, assume you're in the slave trade.

EdSharkey 10y ago
Absurd comparisons and moral equivalence all in one! Let's all pay for sex!!!!!!!

neoCrimeLabs 10y ago

I would be curious as to where you get "vast majority" from. One of the things I love HN community for is the overall interest in collecting and representing reliable statistical information. The reason I am questioning "vast majority" is that when something is illegal, it's very hard to derive accurate statistics on. When something is illegal your primary sources of information is law enforcement, people who have exited, and what a few people involved in the activity will volunteer. Since the activity is illegal, few people who are actively involved will volunteer information for the fear of having it used against them. Add to that the stigma that sexual services carries with it (regardless if they were cohered or not), and people REALLY do not want to divulge information about their activities in sexual services even after they have exited. Because of this any metrics derived will be very law-enforcement biased, or from a vastly small sample of the overall community. Neither of these are reliable sources of information. Just looking at how the FBI in recent years /reduced/ the number of statistics available on their sexual-service stings is a great example of this. It makes it impossible for anyone to derive reliable or trend-able information from the statistics they have released. Here's a great article that explains a lot of what I'm saying with links to verifiable references https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/04/24/why-you-should-be-wary-of-statistics-on-modern-slavery-and-trafficking/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/04/...