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To all who responded to my post:

I have no problem with persons who sell sex and are happy, fulfilled, and truly making a choice in doing so.  I don't worry a lot about such people because they don't need my help.

The people I worry about are my clients, who DO need help, and who hate being in prostitution.  CPA has worked with 60 such women, who have sought our services because we do very little outreach.

By any reasonable measure, my clients have been coerced into prostitution and have not really made a choice.  There may be a problem with "the horrors of prostitution" stereotype dis-affirming those who are happy with sex work as a chosen profession, but I think there is a more urgent problem with the "Happy Hooker/Pretty Woman" stereotype dis-affirming those who are effectively coerced into prostitution and living lives akin to slavery. 

My proposed solution to the prostitution problem would be a civil ordinance whereby women coerced into prostitution could sue pimps and johns for money damages.  The law I advocate would define "coercion" broadly, in a manner that realistically reflects the power inequities  between women like my clients and those who sell and buy them for sex. 

Such a law would put the power into the hands of the abused prostituted person and would constitute no interference with the rights of persons to practice sex work if they so choose.

I support every woman's (and man"s) choices and freedom of expression, but we need to do something about the fact that some people have a lot better choices and a lot more freedom of expression than others.

As to the poster who asserts that the escorts he uses for sex "enjoy him," aren't you assuming a lot?  Saying "you're the best," etc.  has always been part of what was paid for.

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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As executive director for Portland's Council for Prostitution Alternatives, I have worked with dozens of women in prostitution.  Rather than considering women in the sex industry individually, I suggest it is more useful to take a big-picture-over-time approach in analyzing prostitution. 

Viewed as a group, and over their lifespan, women in prostitution present a tragic picture.  

A composite portrait of one of my clients before prostitution:  disproportionately often a child of color, always severely abused in childhood, 90% of the time incested, usually grew up in a home with addiction.

A composite protrait of my clients during prostitution:  impoverished, addicted, homeless, ruined teeth, victim of battery and rape, attempter of suicide, children adopted out, suffering from PTSD, unemployable, and a survivor of homicidal assault.

In the face of such a picture, focusing on those relatively privileged individuals who claim to enjoy their lives in the sex trade is irresponsible. 

In the face of such a picture, talking of "choice" to be in "sex work" is cruel.

In the face of such a picture, failing to note gender inequality is ignoring the fact there is a very large elephant in the room.  The vast majority of prostituted persons are impoverished women; the vast majority of pimps and johns are men with disposable income.   

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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