10 myths about prostitution, trafficking and the Nordic Model

[ismnotwasm]

Another interesting read

When the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women Australia (CATWA) announced the release of our new report on the Nordic Model, supporters of the sex industry began targeting our Facebook page.

When I followed up with an opinion piece for The Conversation on the success of the Nordic Model, a handful of men, and one prominent Australian feminist , spent hours trading inaccuracies about the Nordic approach to prostitution policy and disparaging anyone stupid enough to think that a booming industry which trades in women’s bodies is anything but inevitable.

These falsities and fabrications will be familiar to anyone who has written or said anything that publicly criticizes the sex industry. The same claims, usually without reference to relevant evidence, are repeated so frequently in certain spheres that they have practically become mantras. If you say it often enough, it becomes true, right?

http://feministcurrent.com/8347/10-myths-about-prostitution-trafficking-and-the-nordic-model/

[seabeyond]

1. become mantras. If you say it often enough, it becomes true, right?

and there it is. ignore what is being said, and only state the "mantra". ignore the many angles the problem is addressed and only state the "mantra". throw in prude too, or anti sex to diss a womans sexuality, as you insist anyone addressing the issue is "slut shaming" or taking womens "choice" from them.

convenient

and ultimately what must be done is it MUST be wrapped up all pretty, niice and neat in a cute little bow to digest....

then demand, respect for using other human beings and ignoring ALL issues and problems.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

13. in a cute little bow to digest

so Right ON, sea.

just really Spot On.

[pipoman]

2. pretending there is a way

Or even that we should prohibit "the oldest profession" is an exercise in futility. ..we should be looking at ways to make it safer for all involved, which isn't futile. .

[seabeyond]

4. that oldest profession bullshit is more conditioning to allow old ideas to stand. and every social

issue was stated that any attempt to address is a futility.

slaves. why would we try to stop slavery that had been going on from the beginning of time. the futility in it. and why should we even bother? it is conducive to others life to own slaves.

[pipoman]

6. The obvious difference is slavery

included one party who was used against his/her will...Most prostitution involves 2 willing participants..sex slavery does exist but could be minimized if the whole thing wasn't forced underground..much like the drug war has made criminal organizations wealthy and powerful and has had negligible effect on drug use..

[seabeyond]

7. slavery included one party who was used against his/her will...Most prostitution involves....

first. no. MOST prostitution is not "willing". MOST prostitution is out of desperation or forced. and this would be part of education. not banning. education. is not wrapping it up all pretty with bogus crap like "2 willing participants" when one is desperate. you know. a DESPERATE human being willing to do what they do, not want to do, to SURVIVE. kinda like those people and children that WILLINGLY work for pennies a day.

second. as ALL the countries that have legalized came to realize, legalization makes it that much harder to go after the criminal element. so that is a failed argue.

what is consistent in this argument is regardless how often told, regardless of the facts, people promoting the selling of others insist on ignoring facts... to wrap it up all in a pretty bow of consent, want, lust, like.... just a happy jolly choice in life cause these women are so damn sexual they want to get it on, you know, 20 blow jobs a night to total loser strangers.... to eat or support a habit.

ya...

lets pretend.

[pipoman]

9. I don't doubt desperation often leads people

To the profession..Most stay in out of greed. The Internet is full of paid ads for completely independent "escorts". I once assisted in a defense for an escort agency (ran by awoman) where the owner and all of the escorts were charged with prostitution..9 women..i interviewed all 9 1 on 1 and all said essentially the same thing about their choice of professions..that they knew no other way to make $300-500+ daily for 3 or 4 hours of "work". It was their decision..they had other options, just none as lucrative. .

[seabeyond]

10. "Most stay in out of greed." no. right there, no. uninformed, uneducated,

unaware. buying into the story that the life is all that. most continue thru life in desperation until they bottom out or die.

the world you paint is all about the "pretty woman" syndrome and the richard gere.

isnt that embarrassing.

now. we disagree. that simple. we see this argument differently.

but.... no where have my posts address what you want to give me. i laid out the issues i have. they are legitimate issues. in the future, if i get attacked for my views on prostitution, as merely being a prude, wanting to run others life, not allowing women to have choice.... i would like people to re read these posts. these are my issues. not what others want to give me so they have an easier argument. untrue argument, but certainly easier for them to argue

[pipoman]

11. my opinion is based on fist hand

3rd party knowledge..none of these 9 women would have agreed that they were victims..they stated repeatedly it was in fact their choice and that others should butt out of what they chose to do with their bodies. The masses of women who pay for online ads are choosing to place those ads.

We may disagree. I would like to see some new ideas on diminishing sex slavery and human trafficking worldwide. .here in the US most prostitution is consentual and even solicited by the sex workers..pretending all prostitutes are being exploited by others just isn't accurate imo..

[seabeyond]

12. that is so myopic. and please, again, do nto create an argument i have not made.

pretending all prostitutes are being exploited by others just isn't accurate imo..

it is NOT accurate for me either. where did you get that argument unless it was to create an argument for you to easily..... argue.

[xulamaude]

15. Women who are prostituted

say all sorts of things they do not really believe. It's part of what they get paid for.

[duffyduff]

17. Financial pressures is NOT "choice."

I doubt you truly understand what prostitution in all of its forms entails.

Nobody chooses to be used as a human toilet for as often as ten times a day without some underlying pressure to make "easy money."

[geek tragedy]

23. So you're basing your generalization based on 9 of your own damn clients?

That's just idiotic.

[geek tragedy]

22. "most stay in out of greed" that is just pig ignorant.

Prostition leaves women with drug addictions, PTSD, STDs, physical injuries, unwanted pregnancies.

What it does not leave them with: job skills and experience, retirement savings, or a viable future.

"The internet is full of paid ads for completely independent escorts"



You know who places those ads? Their pimps.

[xulamaude]

8. Right. Slavery is different

because half of the victims are male!

And that's the truth of it.

[duffyduff]

18. You don't even know what it entails. You are peddling libertarian lies

about "consent," but being forced through financial desperation is NOT consent.

Legal prostitution is hardly better for the women. I lived in Nevada for many years and knew women who were in the legal brothels...it was no picnic.

You just believe men have the right to buy and sell human beings under some crazy libertarian crap of "consent." Prostitution is NOT consent--the money factor proves it.

[duffyduff]

16. Not just that but the "victimless crime" argument is the biggest lie out there

A large percentage of men, too many, in my book, think they have the right to exploit others for their own selfish reasons with no regard to the rights of those who are being exploited. They do NOT understand prostitution is a human rights violation.

NOBODY "chooses" to go into something this degrading to the human soul and dangerous for the human body. People who are in this situation have either been forced into it because of slavery-like conditions or they are forced into it because of financial pressures. A very high percentage of these people in prostitution were sexually abused as children and suffer from mental illnesses.

[seabeyond]

19. yes. exactly. but why let reality into the illusion. how can one abuse another,

in awareness? what would that make that person?

[ismnotwasm]

21. Prostitution is a heteronornative, gendered problem

With males being the majority of purchasers regardless of sexual orientation.

The only way prostitution could be 'fixed' is if it was seen as a non-gendered profession, with purchasers all along the sexual orientation continuum, and with all genders as equals. This is not going to happen anytime soon. In the meantime, prostitutes need legal protection, and the Nordic model is the most successful one to date.


I can match each pro-prostitution anecdotal stories with anecdotal horror stories from the prostituted person-- easily.

[Stargazer09]

3. Excellent article

Very well-written. I learned quite a bit.

[thucythucy]

5. Bookmarked

for later reading.

Thanks again, ismnotwasm.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

14. prostitution

is about the power of money and, those who have it and, what they can convince/persuade other people to do for it.

The whole conversation that takes place before the physical acts begin is a negotiation whereby they come to an agreement of what one will do to the other for a certain set price.

How simple is it, to see that this is a subordinate in the work place being coerced by a higher up who is taking advantage of their position in the workplace.

That there may be a very small, miniscule amount of people who really are Free Love with Anyone and Everyone and the physical act, for them, does not require an emotional investment has nothing to do with prostitution.

[redqueen]

20. Just because everyone should see the way sex-buyers talk about the women they rent...

Trigger warning

http://the-invisible-men.tumblr.com/