Well, this is interesting topic... Sex work. Prostitution, adult films, escorts... Controversy. Something I guess no one really thinks about, or wants to think about, and it's something that up until now, I haven't thought about...
If you have the time, take a moment to watch the video below, from Buzzfeed, titled Questions You Have For Sex Workers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2mnyro54xo
The lighter end of it. Professionals, who enjoy their work, well versed and willing to start a conversation. Which makes it kind of seem okay, and I think, for these people, for their clients, it is.
If you have the time, take a moment to watch the video below, from Buzzfeed, titled Questions You Have For Sex Workers:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2mnyro54xo
The lighter end of it. Professionals, who enjoy their work, well versed and willing to start a conversation. Which makes it kind of seem okay, and I think, for these people, for their clients, it is.
And next, a video called Everybody Cries Their First Time;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS5QOkrXsUc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS5QOkrXsUc
Dark. Unpleasant. The side that's... Just ugly actually.
On top of a lack of sex education, there is a lack of education about Sex Work. I'm going to try not to throw all the video links in and just get to the point here... It seems that there is a general consensus that the laws prohibiting sex work... Are not working. They're enabling the crimes they're trying to prevent. In South Africa, sex work is fully criminalized. So if you think this doesn't affect you, or your friends, or the people you pass every day on campus, or the people you graduated with, people in schools you have friends in, people walking the streets alongside you every day... You're wrong. Because someone might be struggling, and have decided to sell sex, and that makes them not only vulnerable to rape and other forms of sexual assault *but the law will not help them if they do get hurt*.
And the first thing you'll see, if you look at any of the comments, are sentiments like
"Am I supposed to feel sorry for these whores?"
"Did you expect him to be gentle and tell you he loves you?"
Okay, last one, I swear. A TedEx talk titled, What Do Sex Workers Want. You don't have to watch the full thing, but If you have the time, please do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJRBx0JjM_M
To sum up, if you didn't watch, this is what I want you as the reader to understand. First of all, in places where selling sex is fully or partially criminalized such as SA, carrying a condom can be used as evidence that one is selling sex. So already, there's a choice between risking arrest and risky sex. On top of that, because the law does not protect sex workers and instead criminalizes it, they have to go back to sex work to make money to pay fines because a lack of income is why they're in sex work in the first place and you can't get a job with a criminal record so you're stuck doing sex work since it's the only job you can get. Not only that, but let's look at the punishment for people who have regular jobs after getting out of sex work;
http://www.aol.com/article/2013/01/16/teacher-stacie-halas-fired-porn/20430517/
http://jezebel.com/5794355/worst-student-ever-gets-ex-porn-star-secretary-fired
http://www.fark.com/comments/7955428/Pornstars-who-seek-jobs-in-real-world-are-being-fired-because-of-their-past-theres-no-legal-recourse-for-them-to-get-their-jobs-back-Thats-right-were-in-age-of-porn-discrimination
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tericka_Dye
Notice how these are all articles about women? Let's just talk about the one time someone was fired for being... An underwear model.
http://metro.co.uk/2016/03/28/a-tale-of-two-teachers-one-is-fired-for-modelling-underwear-the-other-is-given-an-armani-contract-5780292/
So it's not like I'm making things up. I'm not yanking facts out of my asshole. Hell, I didn't even have to look hard, four words into Google and fifteen minutes later, there they all are.
It's criminalized, stigmatized and guess what... When it's your only option, you have to face the fact that your life is probably over, unless of course, you have the luck of a devil. So if you've stuck with me this far, and I'm glad you have, just try answer this one question... Why are adults being punished for using their bodies as a source of income? It's honestly just the oddest thing. For me, this matters more than legalizing Marijuana because criminalization of selling sex *actually aids* human trafficking and enables more sexual assault then it prevents.
So what can you do? Well, as a professional slacktivist myself, I'd encourage you to... Simply like and share. Comment, talk, bring it up in conversation, inform... Because it might be information that saves someone, it might prevent someone from making a bad decision, and it might just get us to change the legislation and make a difference.
We have so much power as just normal individuals. So just, spread the word. And simply by reading this, you've already made one step into making a difference. So good on you.
On top of a lack of sex education, there is a lack of education about Sex Work. I'm going to try not to throw all the video links in and just get to the point here... It seems that there is a general consensus that the laws prohibiting sex work... Are not working. They're enabling the crimes they're trying to prevent. In South Africa, sex work is fully criminalized. So if you think this doesn't affect you, or your friends, or the people you pass every day on campus, or the people you graduated with, people in schools you have friends in, people walking the streets alongside you every day... You're wrong. Because someone might be struggling, and have decided to sell sex, and that makes them not only vulnerable to rape and other forms of sexual assault *but the law will not help them if they do get hurt*.
And the first thing you'll see, if you look at any of the comments, are sentiments like
"Am I supposed to feel sorry for these whores?"
"Did you expect him to be gentle and tell you he loves you?"
Okay, last one, I swear. A TedEx talk titled, What Do Sex Workers Want. You don't have to watch the full thing, but If you have the time, please do.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJRBx0JjM_M
To sum up, if you didn't watch, this is what I want you as the reader to understand. First of all, in places where selling sex is fully or partially criminalized such as SA, carrying a condom can be used as evidence that one is selling sex. So already, there's a choice between risking arrest and risky sex. On top of that, because the law does not protect sex workers and instead criminalizes it, they have to go back to sex work to make money to pay fines because a lack of income is why they're in sex work in the first place and you can't get a job with a criminal record so you're stuck doing sex work since it's the only job you can get. Not only that, but let's look at the punishment for people who have regular jobs after getting out of sex work;
http://www.aol.com/article/2013/01/16/teacher-stacie-halas-fired-porn/20430517/
http://jezebel.com/5794355/worst-student-ever-gets-ex-porn-star-secretary-fired
http://www.fark.com/comments/7955428/Pornstars-who-seek-jobs-in-real-world-are-being-fired-because-of-their-past-theres-no-legal-recourse-for-them-to-get-their-jobs-back-Thats-right-were-in-age-of-porn-discrimination
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tericka_Dye
Notice how these are all articles about women? Let's just talk about the one time someone was fired for being... An underwear model.
http://metro.co.uk/2016/03/28/a-tale-of-two-teachers-one-is-fired-for-modelling-underwear-the-other-is-given-an-armani-contract-5780292/
So it's not like I'm making things up. I'm not yanking facts out of my asshole. Hell, I didn't even have to look hard, four words into Google and fifteen minutes later, there they all are.
It's criminalized, stigmatized and guess what... When it's your only option, you have to face the fact that your life is probably over, unless of course, you have the luck of a devil. So if you've stuck with me this far, and I'm glad you have, just try answer this one question... Why are adults being punished for using their bodies as a source of income? It's honestly just the oddest thing. For me, this matters more than legalizing Marijuana because criminalization of selling sex *actually aids* human trafficking and enables more sexual assault then it prevents.
So what can you do? Well, as a professional slacktivist myself, I'd encourage you to... Simply like and share. Comment, talk, bring it up in conversation, inform... Because it might be information that saves someone, it might prevent someone from making a bad decision, and it might just get us to change the legislation and make a difference.
We have so much power as just normal individuals. So just, spread the word. And simply by reading this, you've already made one step into making a difference. So good on you.
