Corbyn - "I'm in favour of decriminalising the sex industry"

Barefoot - how about 'I don't agree'?

I'm not arguing for legalisation, I'm arguing against expressing an opinion on a complex issue as objective fact.

The majority of men who pay to (ab)use prostituted women are married.

Not all opinions are created equally. There's a world's worth of strong evidence against permitting men access to an unlimited supply of 'comfort women' whose reproductive organs and digestive orifices he can rent by the hour.

I don't think being married stops men from using prostitutes does it...?

Firstly Palmer, I'm married, but well done on the cheap personal insult.
Secondly, I'm just taking issue with the posters who seem to believe their opinion is fact. 2 pages in and we already have posters calling feminists with a different opinion misogynists.

Yes, the Nordic model sounds better than what we have now, but there is an argument that legalisation, whilst not ideal, could help protect women on a practical level. You may not agree, but it's an opinion that a number of sex workers and feminists have.

Palmerviolet, some would say you're wrong for telling women what they can do with their own bodies.

I'm not telling women what they can do with their own bodies, I'm telling men they have no right to exploit women for their sexual and misogynist gratification.

Nice try though, 2/10 for trying to make yet another discussion about men buying consent about women choosing to do it. But at the end of the day, I couldn't give even the smallest shit about whether men like you get to stick your dicks into women who, if you weren't giving them money, wouldn't consent to it.

The people who tell women what to do with their bodies are the men who buy consent.

*other being prostituted

I do not believe that prostituted women, children and men should be criminalised. But the buyers and those who profit from others bring prostitutes should. They are participating in the worst kind of exploitation and subjugation.

I'm saddened but not surprised, sadly.

The idea that it is 'civilised' to view human beings as commodities, to view someone's consent as a commodity to be purchased, is simply wrong.

After the whole woman only train carriage thing I would like to see what he actually said and in what context.

"Just saying that someone with a differing opinion is wrong isn't really helpful."

What a strange thing to say.

Palmer and I think decriminalisation is wrong and the Nordic model is right. Those who disagree with us say we are wrong.

If we don't use the word wrong, what word would you like us to use, mr Iliad? Un-right?

There are some women on the labour frontbenches I quite admire too, he's put them there.

His treatment of Maria Eagle has been appalling. She is far superior to him as a parliamentarian yet he made a policy decision on her portfolio without discussing or even telling her. He then compounded it by appointing that twerp Livingstone to a defence role leaving her to find out about it via social media. Imagine what would be said if Cameron treated one of his best female ministers that way.

And that's aside from the fact, as someone else said "he didn't put her there"
Her abilities (unlike Corbyn or McDonnell) landed her the job.

In a moral debate, do you think that it is moral to take the stance that male sexual exploitation of women is perfectly acceptable and should be normalised?

Palmerviolet, some would say you're wrong for telling women what they can do with their own bodies.

Just saying that someone with a differing opinion is wrong isn't really helpful. This is a moral debate, not a maths question; their is no right or wrong answer. Society, women and feminists are all split on the issue.

It's not disingenuous, Mr Iliad.

Women who support prostitution as "just another job" are also supporting the continuation of a sexist system.

HTH.

No, what's wrong is women saying they're a-ok with men exploiting women for their sexual and misogynistic gratification.

Corbyn is just amplifying that.

It's a bit disingenuous to accuse Corbyn of sexism over this when plenty of women, including feminists and sex workers, are in favour of legalisation.

No surprise really, is it? After Amnesty came out in favour of decriminalisation, nothing would surprise me any more.

I can't remember which wise woman said it, but the Right thinks women are private property and the Left thinks that they're public property, so this aligns nicely with that. It's beautifully simple and easily achieved virtue signalling that We Protect Women, conveniently packaged for your right-on leftist bro. Of course it dismally fails to acknowledge that the actual sex class of women gets thrown conveniently under the bus. For some reason it's a stretch for the left in Britain to grasp that really progressive egalitatarian societies don't (can't!) offer up the bodies, the vaginas of the most vulnerable for trade. Business as usual. Heaven fucking forbid that men should ever be asked to gain control of their penises.

The left cannot have its whores and its politics too (thank you, Andrea). Morally bankrupt, the lot of them. Gah.

I certainly think he's wrong. "I want to be [in] a society where we don't automatically criminalise people."... in a society where we don't automatically criminalise thieves, murderers, rapists? What absolute rot. There has to be law and order. You can argue that the justice system needs to be focused more on reintegration rather than simple harsh punishment, but saying that there needs to be no criminalisation is silly wrong imo. On the plus side, this wasn't a formal policy statement or anything (yet) it is a direct answer to a direct question put to him at a student session which the media have picked up on.

" There are some women on the labour frontbenches I quite admire too, he's put them there"

Nope. That would be their talent and suitability. Corbyn has some admirable qualities, though I think he will be an electoral disaster, but no cookies for this please!

IMO is never ok to send a message that women are mere objects to be bought and sold. Perhaps he would like prostitution to be on the school curriculum as a career for young girls to aspire to...

Bungo, I like Corbyn as well, of all the candidates for the leadership he was the only one that really appealed to me on a purely political front.

This is a serious own goal from him.

However, like I said, not surprised. Just saddened.

Legalising the purchase of sex gives it a veneer of respectability and condones the commercialisation of women's bodies. Nobody wants to 'punish' prostitutes, and I don't judge them for doing what they have to simply to survive, but John's are absolutely beyond contempt imo, and the Nordic Model is the only righteous and fair solution to the prostitution issue.

Corbyn has lost my vote over this. Move been following the situation in Germany and it is horrific. As bad as things are in this country, I dread to think what would happen to us if similar laws were put into place over here. Funny how little is reported about the German situation in the uk press, mind. It's almost like our media overlords don't want us to know what the actual social consequences are for a prostitution free for all ...

I like Corbyn. He's at least as honest as a politician can be and has already facilitated a widening of debate. There are alternatives to austerity. Okay he is male and has blind spots like everyone else, I don't agree with everything he says, he is not actually a Messiah and we shouldn't expect him to do all the work. I can live with that. There are some women on the labour frontbenches I quite admire too, he's put them there.

prostitutes are not looked down on because they're committing a crime though are they? They're looked down upon because they are prostitutes

That is true. Posters here and in real life, many men and women look down on the punters but having legal brothels, pimps and madams won't change the "looking down on" the women. It's still going to be a job which almost no-one is going to admit to doing or would want their female friends or relatives doing. And it's still wrong.

Corbyn is a disaster. It was a disaster for the Labour party from day one. This is just the latest reason for wanting rid of him as quickly as possible. I have no respect for him at all.