Right now, certain media outlets have been promoting a "debate about sex work". As usual, this is meant to shutdown any productive debate on the subject. You se

Right now, certain media outlets have been promoting a "debate about sex work". As usual, this is meant to shutdown any productive debate on the subject. You seem to start with a preconceived notion that "sex work" is harmful and people need to be prevented/protected from engaging in it. As with any aspect of our society, there are too many feedback loops involved here for anyone to have an opinion which is not based on anecdotes and propaganda, except the sex workers themselves (maybe!) So let's discuss the general case instead. Stigma and ostracism are very ancient tools for ensuring compliance within a social group by threatening members with social exclusion; however, quicker/earlier stigma prevents non-conformity earlier, but it also locks people out "on the outside" quicker/earlier. Stigma is also easy to abuse - it's the perfect excuse for hurting someone who you see as "less than human" due to their stigma, and then blaming them for it. If you're betting on a civilization collapse scenario where in-group cohesion is the decisive factor for survival, it would be rational for you to uphold stigmatization of any behavior that diverges from the established rituals of your in-group. Our present civilization, however, has decided that social exclusion is harmful in the general case, and (quite haphazardly) is trying to remedy _that_. As our systems become stable enough to support people safely "going further" with their diverse, even mutually incompatible lifestyle choices, the logical conclusion would be to eradicate stigma and replace it with a more humane way of nudging people away from potentially harmful actions.