to think that truely feminist stance on prostitution, is to support legalisation?

[StuckInTheMiddleWithYou]

I recently moved to an inner city area.

There is a known brothel here and a homeless shelter.

I have seen some very sad, desperate sights walking past our home lately.

I wouldn't want any child of mine involved in this trade, however this does strike as something which desperately needs regulating - for the sake of the women, girls and boys involved.

Prohibition has failed miserably.

AIBU?

"I care because I'm a feminist and I want to stop harm to women"

Who isn't and who doesn't? That's a fatuous argument.

Conflating one issue (selling sex) with others (trafficing, drugs etc) is instructive; the thing they have in common is their illegality. Once you are involved in one illegal sphere, often the only alternates that follow are along the same lines. Every activity, every business that can wrested from the control of gangsters is another small but essential victory.

LOL, ditanny, and you complained when LadyAnon said you'd twisted her words! You do it all the time; I guess you can't help it, with those blinkers on and all.

Am I only allowed to disagree with you if you're a threat to me? I can't just, like, have my own opinions?

Heracles, yet again; selling (or buying) sex in the UK is not illegal.

Well you have a point there EAM I just don't like telling people they have no accountability.

The Swedish law I just don't think it works it just moves the problem doesn't solve it or more importantly improve the conditions for the women who continue to do it.

Would it not just mean that women would increasingly end up homeless as men do, prostitution is not a nice option at all but it is still better than living on the streets.

"Heracles, yet again; selling (or buying) sex in the UK is not illegal."

No, but soliciting in a public place, kerb crawling, keeping a brothel and pimping are and they're all stock in trade of the denizens of Planet Illegal Prostution. I'll be more careful with my phrasing from here on in.

Thank you. It really is important.

No, I brought up radfem dogma as a reason to seek the truth, just as I would with asking anyone to examine the political statements of any pressure group. Nothing to do with the rights of men. Why do you insist on turning it back to "teh menz" whenever female sexuality (and freedom of choice therein) arises?

How does making it illegal stop it? We're back to the same old argument here.

^Not fatuous in the slightest Heracules.

"Who isn't"

Lots of people aren't feminists. Surely you must have noticed.

"and who doesn't?"

People who think that legalising prostituion clearly don't give a shit about the demonstrable harm that prositution does and has done to women.^

Ah, but you're taking one thing and making it another, aren't you (and I was obviously referring to the thread here, rather than the larger world out there, but never mind)?

I'm all for legalising prostitution precisely because of the values you're accusing people like me of not sharing with yourself. So, y'know, fatuous.

Actually, ditanny, I have read far and wide on this topic. And I am convinced by the voices of Swedish prostitutes - street workers, the most vulnerable - who say it has made their lives worse. I am convinced by the statements of people in neighbouring countries, who say it has simply shifted the problem. Criminalising the punter does not make prostitution vanish.

Many other options have been explored, and are still being explored. Much research needs to be done, preferably by peer-acredited academics rather than the politically-motivated-with-a-clear-agenda. We need real information about the real extent of forced prostitution.

"Prostituiton isn't about female sexuality. Where do you get this shit from? Prostitution is about women ignoring their sexuality (who they find attractive) and catering to men's. "

You really didn't take any heed of the Wgs here the other week, did you?

I wonder why.

And you keep hitting the antis.

Maybe we just, like, y'know, disagree?

They (who?) say what stuff, ditanny?

"If you knew anything about the subject you'd be well aware that it makes things worse for the vast majority"

There's no reliable evidence to back up this claim. A cursory glance at the collected figures will give you plenty to suggest countries with less criminalization of the industry perform better in the areas of crime, social welfare and health, but then it's no more useful to take those figures at face value eiuther. The very invisibility of the trade makes any stab at comparing pre- and post- situations a pointless activity.

Sorry, just re-read; do you seriously think that sex workers come on to MN, with nics that have no relation to their working names, in order to suck up to punters?

That, is by far the weirdest thing ever on MN, please humiliate me by pointing out how wrong I am!

Your facts are rarely facts, that's my problem with radical feminism. Why do you have to twist the stats, if your case is so good? Why were Operations Pentameter 1 and 2 such failures?