Decriminalize First
regulation deepens class divide among sex workers
Forum: protalk list
Date: 01/27/2004
On 1/27/04 10:27 AM, "drtm" wrote:
It is my belief that what the public is offended by is street walkers who embarass and draw undesirable traffic to neighborhoods.
Oh, excuse me for embarassing your middle-class sensibility. The fact is that street walkers are your neighbours as are the johns--they are entitled to be there as much as anyone else.
The solution is to bring sex workers off the streets and redefined as health care providers.
When going off the street is a plausible and more preferable alternative from the perspective of a street walker, they will. Can we start by building these alternatives by creating affordable housing and social services that aren't paternalistic, instead of relying on the police to drive people off the streets?
Sex workers should be routinely and regularly be examined for STD, HIV & hepatitis by the City Health Department.
And create an underground market of "positive" whores who are treated even worse than they currently are? I don't disagree that it's a good idea for anyone to be tested for STDs regularly, but get the government out of this, please. If we were to encourage more people to get tested for STDs, it must be offered anonymously.
Your "solution" only works for a very limited--and privileged-- group of "sex workers" (note the term "sex worker" itself is foreign to most street walkers outside of San Francisco). It will deepen the divide between the "good" prostitutes and "bad" (or "undesirable" to borrow your word) ones.
What part of "We Want Decrim" don't you understand?
Emi K.
--
http://eminism.org/ * Putting the Emi back in Feminism since 1975.