To be upset a brothel has opened next door to my child's school

[OneJadeEagle]

Walking past school last week I noticed a shop next door that had been shut for ages has now turned into a 'massage' place. Curtains firmly shut, doorbell on, locked door, 'calling cards' left on the outside for people to pick up discreetly. Checked online and the gumtree ads and reviews from men leave no doubt the type of massages they are offering.

The school is a special needs school and some of the older children, whilst vulnerable with learning disabilities, do walk to school alone past the premises. The whole thing just really gives me the creeps, the idea of a bunch of creepy men being attracted to the road right by all these kids, possibly drugs etc.

Anyways I messaged the class WhatsApp to try and co-ordinate complaints to the council and the general vibe was I was overreacting. We are in a big city, there's always going to be something going on in the vicinity. Why put some ladies out of work when they're trying to earn an honest living and as long as they aren't parading into school what's the drama.

I don't know, AIBU?

Ahh. So you have no evidence to back up your outlandish claims then?

Do you know any sex workers?

I am convinced they do not. I am not pro-sex work per se but do have a very close friend and acquaintances who are currently / former FSSW who would reject people insisting to them that they are rape victims who just don’t realise that yet.

I also have an old friend who, while not a sex worker directly, had “benefactors” and was very clear she would not think of having sex with a man who was not financing her life (this was when she was criticising me for thinking differently.)

I just don’t get why some people here think they should he the sole arbiters of the “correct” contexts in which people may have sex.

What kind of man wants to have sex with a woman who does not want to have sex with him? Not someone I'd want anywhere near kids.

I wish in these discussions people would realise the difference between individual and societal. Just because some individuals have chosen to blind themselves to the realities of prostitution (abuse, rape, exploitation, trafficking, to mention a few - there are plenty more) doesn’t mean those realities don’t exist and doesn’t mean the wider negatives for women and for don’t exist.

It’s not about someone’s happy hooker pal.

Same issues when trying to discuss surrogacy.

There are potential harms associated with many activities in life. That doesn’t mean we should prevent people from choosing to do them.

She is part of the same industry that involves trafficking, exploitation, unsafe practices, sexual disease. Like the entire drugs trade is joined up, so is the sex industry. You can't just pick out the 1% as being fine.

Really? Society does make all sorts of rules which people have to follow. Wearing seat belts, not speeding, not smoking in public places, not carrying guns in the UK, not jay-walking in the US, not selling body parts, not soliciting for sex on the streets.......in fact selling sex is legal in the UK but brothels are not.

agree.

life doesn’t work like that. You cannot just assume you know how everyone feels or how everyone behaves. That’s is not how to do

thats like saying everyone hates the colour red…..ridiculous claims!

I fully back safer working conditions for sex workers

i fully back that some people like their jobs and I know one of them myself.

not everyone hates the colour red but of course they can’t back up their outlandish claims.

Now I am not saying everyone likes it and everyone is safe and everyone is consenting. No no no. I am not saying it is ok and right I am saying that the assumptions they are making are massively incorrect

im am trying to open their closed minds to the fact that some people choose it.

Agreed and we don’t tell them what they feel and what they think. We allow them their own opinions and their own views

we do not control how they react or feel or think. Or tell others how they feel react or think.

I misread your post.

excuse me

And how do you know it's between consenting adults? Why shouldn't we be able to sell body parts if we can sell our bodies for sex? What's the difference?

Well putting all the ethical discussions of brothels aside, I’ve never seen a pub or an off license directly next door to a school (sure down the road but never next door) and I am guessing this has to do with some sort of planning permission and what is appropriate and what isn’t. I don’t see why an adult only premises would be appropriate right next to a children’s one.

So you wouldn't mind living next door to a brothel then?

Perhaps because you're not actually selling your body but a service. In this regard it's no different than any other service that has to be done with the body, eg acting or massaging.

There's no comparison with selling an actual body part.

Are you or have you ever been a sex worker?

Not relevant. I don't owe you my story.

I'm not asking for your story, (nor do I care tbh). I want to know how you could possibly know what it feels like to be a sex worker. Do all sex workers see it as "not selling their body, but a service"?

What 'it feels like' is irrelevant. The simple fact is they're not selling their actual bodies but a service.

That is why sex work should be legal but tightly regulated, in the same way as other potentially harmful activities.

Obesity is harmful to society- it causes millions of deaths and serious health issues and costs the NHS billions. That doesn’t mean the state should be telling people they can’t eat chocolate cake, but there are rules on ingredients and marketing.

So getting a dick shoved inside you by an old fat perv is exactly the same working in Tesco's is it?

I'm pretty sure that's not what I said. It seems comprehension is a lost skill.

They're both "providing a service" according to you. That one can put your life in danger seems to have passed you by.

It’s exactly what you mean when you rebrand prostitution as sex work.