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I investigated this a few years ago in Australia. Sex work is legal in Australia, kinda. It is legal to exchange sexual services for money, but supporting and a
by marcus_holmes 4y ago
I investigated this a few years ago in Australia. Sex work is legal in Australia, kinda. It is legal to exchange sexual services for money, but supporting and assisting such a transaction is illegal. So a landlord who rents a property to a sex worker is breaking the law. A payment processor who processes the card transaction is breaking the law, and so on. There are some clauses around managing establishments that basically make brothels just, barely, within the law.
It's a ridiculous position in that it almost forces sex workers onto the street or into brothels (which often take a huge chunk of each transaction). There was no way of getting my client (I was freelancing for a sex worker to try and solve some of their tech issues) any reasonable ability to process credit cards. Or do a wide range of things that we'd consider normal for a small business (like set up a Stripe account, or even a business bank account, or rent an office).
This needs to change.
- wallscratch 4y agoI’m confused — why can’t the sex workers just claim to be independent masseuses or something else innocuous like that?
- chki 4y agoWhy can't drug dealers claim to sell recreational tea products?
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- some_random 4y agoWhy can't hitmen claim to be bespoke pest exterminators?
- RajT88 4y agoOK, so I don't know about the hitmen thing, but there's been plenty of news stories about "independent masseuses" and "incense", "bath salts", etc. People do stuff like this. I too wonder how they get away with it for as long as they do.
- some_random 4y agoIt's totally a solution on an individual level, if not a long term solution. It's just not a solution at the societal level.
- jeromegv 4y agoLying to your payment processor about what you really sell typically always ends up in the same way. They catch up with you and your account is terminated. Ask all those CBDs sellers that pretended they were selling "supplements", takes a while but eventually.. all shut down.
- yakireev 4y agoMeanwhile, there are places in the world where CBD oil can be found in a supermarket, among other supplements.
- fknorangesite 4y ago> it almost forces sex workers onto the street or into brothels (which often take a huge chunk of each transaction) Exactly. It makes sex work more dangerous, not less.
- formerly_proven 4y agoCake-eating-and-having exercise. To progressives: "See how progressive we are, not criminalizing sex work!" To conservatives: "See how conservative we are, endangering sex workers and making life hard for them!"
- feet 4y agoIt's almost like conservatives only want to harm people who aren't like them. Weird
- vorpalhex 4y agoI don't think conservatives are attempting to endanger sex workers - they believe sex work is fundamentally risky and leads to abuse. There is no safe way to do sex work that doesn't result in problems. Therefore they believe it should be discouraged and made illegal, the same way many progressives believe firearms should be illegal since they are dangerous. Tribal groups are alive and well, and even if you dislike your opposing one you should try to at least understand their motives if only for selfish reasons.
- TremendousJudge 4y agoI thought they believed sex work is fundamentally sinful and that's why it should be banned. I guess we talked to different conservatives.
- feet 4y agoFreedom of religion was supposed to be a thing in the US. Sin is not a good reason to make a law that binds those who don't follow the same religion
- a-user-you-like 4y agoYes, it needs to be made permanently illegal and the activity driven underground. This would solve the problem you are mentioning.
- pjc50 4y agoYou forgot the /s tag.
- a-user-you-like 4y agoHah, except that you get more of what you subsidize. Besides being immoral, it’s destructive to society.
- pjc50 4y agoMy point is that the "war on drugs" approach is pretty ineffective while at the same time inflicting significant collateral damage. It already is underground, and it already is almost illegal in most jurisdictions. (Actually criminalizing the exchange of valuable consideration for sex hits the problem that things that look suspiciously like it are endemic in hetero dating and "giving money to your tinder date for a taxi" becomes an offence)
- a-user-you-like 4y ago
- marcus_holmes 4y agoJust say you're filming a porno and in most of the western world it suddenly becomes legal.
- rtkwe 4y agoThere's a lot of paperwork you have to keep around that IIRC dealing with actor's ages and everything.
- kodah 4y agoOstracizing sex work has become fully normalized, so unfortunately people read this and immediately think, "Why not pretend to be someone else?", "Why not just do other illegal things (like tax evasion)?"
- DiggyJohnson 4y ago> has become fully normalized I don’t think this is a new phenomenon at all. I would guess it’s the norm through much of history.
- UncleMeat 4y agoIn early modern venice, the state operated and promoted a special place for prostitutes to work (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponte_delle_Tette https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponte_delle_Tette - "Titty Bridge") because they were afraid that men not getting enough sex would turn them gay! The history of sex work is fascinating and wildly diverse.
- giraffe_lady 4y agoYou would guess wrong then.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- retrac 4y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_prostitution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_prostitution
- osrec 4y agoWhat were their tech issues?
- marcus_holmes 4y agomainly "is there any way I can accept credit card payments?"
- JamesBarney 4y agoThis is why so many sex workers prefer decriminalization to legalization. Because many times legalization comes with these shotgun laws that prevent anyone from helping out a sex worker in any way without facing legal consequences that were built to be severe enough to punish the worst sex traffickers. Do you want to pay your ex-marine brother to sit in the next room to make sure you're safe? You can't, he'd face severe penalties for supporting the transaction.