To think the use of prostitutes just isn't that big a deal?

Interested to know where you are OP. You write about corner shops and use the phrase “a few quid” , which I would think is very British (apologies if I’m wrong on that) but have no knowledge of the UK benefits system?

Why have you not responded about what country you live in?

If it’s Ireland or most other EU countries paying out a similar amount the £200 a week figure is based upon what you have already paid into the system in National Insurance. If you haven’t paid it, you aren’t entitled to it.

In the UK you get around £73 per week as a jobseeker. That is after a standard 5 week wait. The government can loan you a month in advance but as soon as you get your first £73 you have to pay back the money you are already a month in arrears with. Benefits can be sanctioned for many minor reasons and then you might have to go through the five week wait again to get them reinstated. Thousands of people have died as a direct result of Universal Credit since it was introduced. It’s been well publicised.

Winesalot, I had an abusive boyfriend when I was a teenager and he used to rape me a lot. So I think I do tend to think of sex for a prostitute is a bodily function kind of thing, something someone can completely disassociate from. I used to, as it was my way of dealing with him, and a lot easier than saying no. You don't even need to feel turned on for the sex to work biologically, your body just does it. The only difference was I didn't get paid.

But I was vulnerable because I have abusive parents. But that paved the way for me to believe my body was just there for other people. I noticed that on the Louis Theroux documentary, two of the women had been abused in the past.

Genuine question btw, no hate

Is your hatred for sex workers due to having been cheated on with one, OP? Cos your clearly have a lot of hate towards them that you're not hiding too well.

Is the bottom line not: what kind of man wants to buy the consent of a tremendously likely extremely damaged woman? When they know that she does not actually wish to have sex with him. But is being paid to pretend to. This is not a nice man, nor a man with any shred of human decency and compassion.

We do, yes. Which country are you in that people are refusing free money, no strings attached, in order to work as prostitutes?

I think they’re all losers who have to pay for a bit of attention tbh.

I would really, really like to know the number of women who choose to be sex workers versus the number who are bribed, coerced, forced or manipulated into it. Really, I would. Because in my head I imagine that the number of women who've chosen it would be vastly lower than those who've been forced and until the numbers are weighted in the opposite direction, I can't ever feel relaxed about the fact that some men feel that they're able to use money and power to buy something that shouldn't ever be bought.

They guy gets what he wants (sexual acts), the women gets what she wants (easy cash)

You think risking your personal safety to have sex you don’t want with men you aren’t attracted to is “easy cash”?

The act of giving money, is buying someone, but if I pay a psychiatrist for an hour of their time it isn't different, but it is different at the same time.

This is very different unless you reduce allowing somebody to penetrate your body to being functional, without you needing any arousal to be able to perform such a function or if you find pleasure in this type of transactional sex.

Buying 'someone's' time as a professional service such as a pysch does not require intimate penetration of that person's body, they are in a safe environment and are sharing their knowledge with no physical contact. It is in no way the same except it is providing a 'service' for payment.

provided you are sure the person you are having sex with is not being trafficked

This statement is so ignorant I dont even know where to begin.You do realise the levels of coercion and abuse that are used to keep women in this trade? and no, there is no way to "tell" whom has been coerced and who hasn't because they aren't allowed to tell anyone for fear of brutal reprisals. Would you tell a punter you dont want to have sex with them if you know you'll get beaten to within an inch of your life for doing so?
No, I thought not. Women who go into this profession are usually desperate and vulnerable. Forget the stupid TV programmes you have seen about smart, independent women who have lots of other options choosing to be high class call girls- thats largely a fantasy to justify a tv programme featuring prostitution. No girl goes to their career advisor at school and says they have aspirations to be a prostitute because its what they've always dreamt of.
That isn't the reality for the majority of women in this trade.

I recently read about the Yorkshire Ripper murders and I was horrified at the way the media differentiated between the victims that that were prostitutes and those that were 'good girls'. It was really chilling for me, especially as the only reason why my DSis and I didn't end up where they were, as SA survivors, was that we didn't run away from home. (We grew up during that period.)

The vitriol that those victims suffered because they ended up in prostitution was horrific.

What country is this exactly?

Personally, I think that, provided you are sure the person you are having sex with is not being trafficked, then you are really just two consenting adults having sex

And what percentage of men do you think do their research and make sure the woman hasn’t be trafficked/forced? That point always seems to get brushed over.

Wait, in your country, people are turning their noses up at free money, no strings attached, to become prostitutes? Why is that?

Also, what county is this?

What I noticed about the prostitutes the Ipswich serial killer murdered is that,in addition to being beautiful young women, they were all apparently drug addicts.

Or they were working to fund their boyfriend's addiction.

I'm with the minority on this; Ive known several women who do it for extra cash, and whilst they don't love doing it, they are very willing and consenting. They guy gets what he wants (sexual acts), the women gets what she wants (easy cash). Everyone's happy and no harm done