I have just finished watching the debate. The following are just my own views (and my own rant!).
All speakers were in favour of criminalising the buying of sex and of closing down prostitution websites; there was not a single opponent to these matters. Was this to be expected despite the 3000 emails sent to local MPs, then? (Young Ms Redhead, can you tell us more on this point? Forgive any crassness and / or naivety on my part)
Sarah Champion MP said that to identify trafficking, like punters, police can make use of prostitution websites. If so, why does she want such sites closed down? As I said in my email to my local MP, in theory, these websites should make it easy to catch sex traffickers (if any such individuals are stupid enough to expose themselves in such a way in the first place).
Another speaker said that sacrificing the rights of the minority of those in prostitution, namely, consenting prostitutes, for the sake of the sexually exploited, these representing the majority of prostitutes, is a price that should be paid. This was in answer to objections to the possibility of legislating against consensual sex between adults. First, autonomously-engaged prostitution is one thing, sexual exploitation is another entirely. The two should be treated as completely different and separate phenomena, in my view. Second, if this speaker wants to play the numbers game, what proof does she have that victims of sexual exploitation vastly outnumber autonomously-engaged, consensual prostitutes? Third, even if she is right and we happy hookers are in the minority of sex workers (not that I class sexual exploitation as sex work since I class it mainly as rape and slavery), does she really expect criminalising the buying of sex and closing down prostitution websites to significantly reduce sexual slavery? What punters will buy will be "massages" and what we whores - along with sex traffickers, regrettably enough - will advertise will, correspondingly, be massages! Possibly, anyway. Or we could advertise actual escorting. (What we escort and to where will, of course, be up to us [and our punters, naturally]). As we know, there are already laws against sex trafficking (which include laws against rape, slavery and GBH, for instance). Sex traffickers take no notice of these laws. Why would they take notice of any new ones? And how can the proposed Sex-Buyer Law mean anything other than a) creating a whole new class of criminals who are, in principle, easy to catch but who, for the most part,
do no harm and b) treating adults like children? The fact that the Sex-Buyer Law / Nordic model and / or a ban on prostitution websites is in place in some countries shows nothing more than that the governments of the countries concerned see fit to treat adults like children, as far as I am concerned (and that they see prostitutes as nothing more than scum).
All speakers are of the view that either ALL or most prostitution is sexual exploitation and that prostitution / sexual exploitation is inevitably (and invariably) a form of violence against women and girls. Not one of them indicated having had any input from consenting, autonomously-engaged prostitutes. They have only ever encountered victims. Such blatant bias! (The few, fleeting [and muffled] references to [the apparently minimal number of] "happy hookers", as I put it, make no difference whatsoever to this point since these references were made only to justify denying us our rights and freedoms).
To help fight our cause, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE complete the survey at https://sps.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/university-of-bristol-research-on-prostitution-and-sex-work It is for a project being led by a staunch supporter of the FUCKING Nordic Model (
https://saafe.info/main/politics-and-academicmedia-queries/university-of-bristol-research-survey-to-inform-the-home-office-select-committee/) so it is in our interests to speak up.
The following is my own answer to question 13 in the survey which asks what it's like to be a prostitute in today's society (or something):
This past Sunday, I made £650. (I have since been off work with my period).
This past Monday, a prostitute with whom I am acquainted reported that she was finishing a 5-day tour (namely, a visit to a location where one does not reside in order to engage with prostitution in that area) with a net profit of £1900.
Meanwhile, on her current tour, another prostitute acquaintance of mine is, according to what she tells, enjoying a run of £700+ days.
The three of us are independent, autonomously-engaged, indoors-based prostitutes*. We all agree that we could never earn what we regularly earn as prostitutes in any other job.
(*In my own case, I can, of course, vouch for the truth in this. As for the 2 prostitute acquaintances to whom I have alluded, personally, having had them state - whether directly or indirectly - independence and autonomy as their position as prostitutes, I believe this of them)
When I describe prostitution as both fun and financially rewarding as well as being a job of complete freedom (paradoxical as this may sound given the meaning of "job"), my punters always understand me. They are often rather surprised, in contrast, to hear me describe it as dignified. When I make them aware of the vastly appreciative, friendly, and respectful manner in which they treat me, though, they immediately catch on.
Dignity, fun, freedom, and high financial rewards were all missing from my previous career. Rampant bullying, undue pressure, and a markedly poor work-life balance were what prevailed instead.
I used to be a teacher. I lasted 13 years (and the bullying that I suffered throughout those 13 years came from colleagues and pupils alike).
I am 42. I started working as a prostitute in July 2015. As I have implied, my one and only regret about this career-change is not having made it A LOT sooner. Moreover, from various sources of evidence (including my escort acquaintances, the SAAFE forum and numerous TV documentaries from recent years such as "My Granny the Escort", "A Very British Brothel", "High Class Call Girls" and "The Sex Business"), I don't believe that I am alone with this view.
