Brothel owner on This morning

[FrillyMilly]

Sorry if this has been done but I couldn't spot a thread. A brothel owner from Nevada and his prostitute girlfriend where on This Morning today advocating legalising brothels. They want to speak to Boris Johnson about doing so before the Olympics. He claims that doing so would prevent underage sex trafficking. They came out with all the usual stuff, it's safer for the women (who have to have regular STD and HIV tests as if a 'client' catches HIV the brothel is liable), it's a valid career choice where you can make loads of money in 5 years then retire, legalising it would mean more tax. Apparently we are in the dark ages here.

The woman just made me feel sad.

Holly and Phil did seem to disagree with it but I really wish topics like this were taken seriously and that they would have someone on to voice the downsides rather than just read out statements.

[Prolesworth]

This topic has been doing the rounds over the last week or so: there was a debate on it at the Oxford Union which the abolitionists won, and there have been some other media appearances (Woman's Hour for eg) with both pro-legalization and abolitionist views represented. A bit odd to have just the pro-legalization view on This Morning though I've got to say

[LRDtheFeministDragon]

There's a whole world of things could be said here (ranging from 'fuck off' on up), but it's this awful: 'who have to have regular STD and HIV tests as if a 'client' catches HIV the brothel is liable'. Yeah, but I wonder, are the men liable if a prostitute catches HIV?

[alexpolismum]

Prostitution is legal in Greece.

There was recently a large number of women arrested as they were HIV+, they were charged with "causing serious bodily harm" or something along those lines. Their faces were published, they were named and shamed. Very nice for them, I'm sure, that prostitution is legal.

Men (their clients) who came forward to be tested were not arrested, those who were married and presumably "causing serious bodily harm" to their wives were not arrested.

Sex trafficking is rife in Greece - legalisation has only exacerbated the situation. Plus, now that they fear arrest, women are refusing medical attention.

Yep, legalised prostitution really has been great here.

[FeministPixie]

This has also been the case in Australia and the Netherlands. I can't find the stats offhand, but it's not been a positive thing there either. We should look to the Nordic Model, of criminalising those who buy sex, rather than those who sell it.

action.web.ca/home/catw/attach/Ekberg.pdf

[KRITIQ]

The guy was clearly touting for business, and like any "good" marketeer, he's going to spin all the benefits (evidence or not) of his product/service and rubbish anything that doesn't support that.

If legalising prostitution in the US has been such a resounding success, why has it been adopted in only ONE of the 50 states?

[FeministPixie]

action.web.ca/home/catw/attach/Ekberg.pdf

Sorry, getting used to the forum software, link is clickable now.

[BobblyGussets]

This makes me mad. I didn't watch This Morning, but I'll bet my tits that Phil and Holly didn't ask the right questions.

Those brothels in Nevada are sex slavery prisons basically. I don't think the women are allowed out unaccompanied, they are in the middle of nowhere and they have no transport. They have "sex worker" or some such explicit label on their documents, which makes it very difficult to get a non-expoitative job.

Never mind brothels, if people want to sell sex, it would be a co-op rather than a prison, with total freedom if I had my way. No one should own such a service.
The Guardian (yeah, wouldn't you know it) has some good reporting on this, but I am shit at links.

[JustFab]

I saw some of that and the fact she calls him Daddy really makes me puke.