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Such an effort is not necessary, because countless studies have shown a clear link between prostitution and the modern slave trade. There is a reason that most

Such an effort is not necessary, because countless studies have shown a clear link between prostitution and the modern slave trade. There is a reason that most modern abolitionist groups target sex trafficking - it’s all too common. It’s inevitable that where you find sex workers in any number, you will find sex slaves. [1] https://orgs.law.harvard.edu/lids/2014/06/12/does-legalized-prostitution-increase-human-trafficking/ https://orgs.law.harvard.edu/lids/2014/06/12/does-legalized-... [2] https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=link+between+prostitution+and+human+trafficking https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=link+between+prostituti... [3] https://www.huffingtonpost.com/chelsealyn-rudder/sex-for-sale-legalized-pr_b_769779.html https://www.huffingtonpost.com/chelsealyn-rudder/sex-for-sal... [4] https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/publications/links-between-prostitution-and-sex-trafficking-briefing-handbook_en https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/publications/links-bet...

emodendroket 9y ago
You will find lots of wage theft in restaurants, but it's not helpful to discussing the problem to start using wage theft and the restaurant industry as interchangeable terms.
- djsumdog 9y ago
  Exactly! You can keep the restaurant industry without the wage theft. Just do what Australia and New Zealand do: pay restaurant workers a living wage and not have a tipping culture. Both those nations also have legalized sex work too.
  - toomanybeersies 9y ago
    New Zealand doesn't really pay restaurant workers a living wage. Most waitstaff will be on minimum wage, or near minimum (~$16-17 per hour). The living wage in NZ is $20 per hour. Australia has it better. Most waitstaff I know are on at least $20 per hour, with penalty rates for working after 10pm or working on Sunday.
  - himom 9y ago
    UK and most of Europe has to. America the Great is stuck in the social Stone Age.
    - pmyteh 9y ago
      UK legal position is more nuanced than that. Money-for-sex is generally legal, but on-street soliciting, two prostitutes sharing a flat, some forms of advertising, and many other aspects of the sex trade are crimes. So you may be legal, depending on what kind of sex work you're doing. Or you may be not. It isn't Amsterdam.
  - CryptoPunk 9y ago
    That assumes one has a right to dictate how someone else will manage their private property. Ideas like a mandatory "living wage", that while possibly well-intended, amount to coercive impositions that are rationalized by dogmatic self-righteousness, and end up having pretty severe negative unintended consequences. They're in the same class of laws as those prohibiting prostitution and drug-use.
- duskwuff 9y ago
  And ironically, if you wanted to actually tackle human trafficking, restaurants would be a good place to start -- back-house employees often work long hours and rarely have contact with the public, making it easy to conceal trafficked workers. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/29/521971468/in-u-s-restaurants-bars-and-food-trucks-modern-slavery-persists https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/29/521971468/in...
- sintaxi 9y ago
  Not saying being restaurant worker is peaches, but lets compare the two... 1) A worker in a restaurant has legal recourse if treated unlawfully in any way. 2) A worker in a restaurant can start their own restaurant to compete with their employer any time they like. 3) A worker in a restaurant is free to leave for a better paying job anytime they want. 4) A worker in a restaurant can disclose poor treatment to the press if they want. Alternatively... 1) A sex worker often has no legal recourse without risking their life. 2) A sex worker often cant compete with their employer without risking their life. 3) A sex worker often cant leave their pimp without risking their life. 4) A sex worker can't disclose poor treatment to the press without risking their life. See the difference?
  - emodendroket 9y ago
    These do not sound like compelling reasons to continue making sex work a crime. In fact, they sound like arguments for the opposite policy.
    - sintaxi 9y ago
      Please read the thread, I was addressing the other point that was made. Which is that a restaurant worker is a slave just like a sex worker.
himom 9y ago
Your “link” isn’t “the” cause. The causes are manyfold, including criminals operating under sex work prohibition. Human trafficking victims also are forced to be maids, concubines, surrogate mothers, salon workers, factory workers, etc. You can’t “solve” human trafficking by attacking sex workers.
MistahKoala 9y ago
I believe you that there are 'countless studies' - whether they do show a link is debateable; the number of studies doesn't signify all that much on its own, other than the issue being belaboured by its proponents in gender studies, feminism, women's studies etc., as your links demonstrate. As is so often the case, the opinions missing from these debates are those of prostitutes themselves.

emodendroket 9y ago

You will find lots of wage theft in restaurants, but it's not helpful to discussing the problem to start using wage theft and the restaurant industry as interchangeable terms.

djsumdog 9y ago
Exactly! You can keep the restaurant industry without the wage theft. Just do what Australia and New Zealand do: pay restaurant workers a living wage and not have a tipping culture. Both those nations also have legalized sex work too.
- toomanybeersies 9y ago
  New Zealand doesn't really pay restaurant workers a living wage. Most waitstaff will be on minimum wage, or near minimum (~$16-17 per hour). The living wage in NZ is $20 per hour. Australia has it better. Most waitstaff I know are on at least $20 per hour, with penalty rates for working after 10pm or working on Sunday.
- himom 9y ago
  UK and most of Europe has to. America the Great is stuck in the social Stone Age.
  - pmyteh 9y ago
    UK legal position is more nuanced than that. Money-for-sex is generally legal, but on-street soliciting, two prostitutes sharing a flat, some forms of advertising, and many other aspects of the sex trade are crimes. So you may be legal, depending on what kind of sex work you're doing. Or you may be not. It isn't Amsterdam.
- CryptoPunk 9y ago
  That assumes one has a right to dictate how someone else will manage their private property. Ideas like a mandatory "living wage", that while possibly well-intended, amount to coercive impositions that are rationalized by dogmatic self-righteousness, and end up having pretty severe negative unintended consequences. They're in the same class of laws as those prohibiting prostitution and drug-use.
duskwuff 9y ago
And ironically, if you wanted to actually tackle human trafficking, restaurants would be a good place to start -- back-house employees often work long hours and rarely have contact with the public, making it easy to conceal trafficked workers. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/29/521971468/in-u-s-restaurants-bars-and-food-trucks-modern-slavery-persists https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/29/521971468/in...
sintaxi 9y ago
Not saying being restaurant worker is peaches, but lets compare the two... 1) A worker in a restaurant has legal recourse if treated unlawfully in any way. 2) A worker in a restaurant can start their own restaurant to compete with their employer any time they like. 3) A worker in a restaurant is free to leave for a better paying job anytime they want. 4) A worker in a restaurant can disclose poor treatment to the press if they want. Alternatively... 1) A sex worker often has no legal recourse without risking their life. 2) A sex worker often cant compete with their employer without risking their life. 3) A sex worker often cant leave their pimp without risking their life. 4) A sex worker can't disclose poor treatment to the press without risking their life. See the difference?
- emodendroket 9y ago
  These do not sound like compelling reasons to continue making sex work a crime. In fact, they sound like arguments for the opposite policy.
  - sintaxi 9y ago
    Please read the thread, I was addressing the other point that was made. Which is that a restaurant worker is a slave just like a sex worker.

himom 9y ago

Your “link” isn’t “the” cause. The causes are manyfold, including criminals operating under sex work prohibition. Human trafficking victims also are forced to be maids, concubines, surrogate mothers, salon workers, factory workers, etc. You can’t “solve” human trafficking by attacking sex workers.

MistahKoala 9y ago

I believe you that there are 'countless studies' - whether they do show a link is debateable; the number of studies doesn't signify all that much on its own, other than the issue being belaboured by its proponents in gender studies, feminism, women's studies etc., as your links demonstrate. As is so often the case, the opinions missing from these debates are those of prostitutes themselves.