AIBU to be annoyed by this?

[falcon]

We recently had an attack on a woman here in Glasgow, she was viciously assaulted and it's getting the appropriate publicity.

However what annoys me is that in every report they refer to the woman as a prostitute.

Does it really matter if she's a prostitute or a 'respectable' finance manager?

Is she of less importance because of her job?I think not, so why must they constantly make mention of it when they could just say 29 year old woman instead?

I understand it's of course relevant to the police and their enquries, but perhaps not so relevant to the general public.

It seems to me that it's almost a way of saying, it didn't happen to one of us, we nice normal respectable people.

Sorry Yorkshire but for a start if those women chose to ignore the fact there was a serial killer prowling their area, whom some of them had slept with and the fact that their friends hyad been murdered then I am afraid I really do find that slightly irresponsible on their part. Is like a horror film where they pointlessly run up[stairs knowing theres a killer up there. Its there fault they get killed too.

So they think they are doing right by their childrenby going out to possibly sleep with a serial killer they know is on he loose?LOL Anyway is my attitude towards them. And anyone else who deliberately walks into the path of a killer but am off anyway.

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Women as work as prostitutes mostly due to desperate circumstances.

They are usually poverty stricken, under educated and very often have an addiction.

It isn't so simple for them to quit their job due to a rapist or killer in the area,they may have children to feed, they need to keep a roof over their head, feed themselves and perhaps feed an addiction.

They don't just say to themselves, rapist in my area?, I'll apply to Asda tomorrow then, giving up prostitution isn't so easy.It may be all they know.

Sometimes I think we women can be our own worst enemies.

I don't ahve a daughter and I had a friend who was a prostitute and was murdered by a punter and even her mum said it was a problem with the job when she first started!

Anyway as I said I dont have a problem with prostitutes I it was in my post after the original one I put. I dont agree with how those women in particular behaved.

i know some working girls they dont work the streets they work in a parlour. they are some of the nicest women i have ever met and some of them are really great mothers.

they chose that job for a variety of reasons. single mothers trying to do the best for thier kids without having to work all hours to keep them in the clothes thier mates all have, girls who have been abused in the past and it seems 'normal' to them to be used by men, addicts and sometimes simply they just enjoy sex!

my point is there is a person behind the job. these women are not prostitutes, they are woman just like you and me who happen to work in the sex industry for whatever reason.

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Like I said, it sells papers. By your logic Mamadiva, all police should stay in and hide if there is a copkiller on the loose.

The descriptions of people does have an effect. Consider these lines :

"A man in his 40's walked down the street and was punched in the face for no reason"

"A 48 year old Estate Agent was punched today in an apparently random attack"

Those two sentences should be the same, but I'm betting there are one or two opinions forming over the same sentence. There is no justification for attacking anyone, regardless of their job. I f you don't like it then that's your opinion. But an occupation, even if it puts you in a 'dodgy' area isn't a reason to be abused. Should bar people in rough pubs expect to get glassed more so therefore it's therir fault ?

Don't think so. And they don't call it the oldest profession for nothing. More protection and less moralising I think

yes it would.
SheSells made some great points.

presume you are talking about the murder in Queen's park. I think a lot of the talk has come from the fact that it is an area where prostitutes are know to work from. Also it is only a couple of years since that young prostitute vanished and her body was found near biggar in south lanarkshire (still never solved).

dittany - you really don't like men do you? I just ran a search, because your name rang a bell from another man bashing thread and almost all your posts are being critical of men.

How about women taking some responsibility for what happens to us/in our lives? It won't change all the time we feel we can "blame" others rather than doing something about it ourselves.

yes dittany that is the reason one of them gave some one when they asked why they did it "i like sex and i like money so it made sense to do one to get the other" was along the lines of what she said. just because you cannot comprhend enjoying that sort of job doesnt mean some one else wouldnt be able to.

personally it would not be my choice of career but i dont look down on those who choose to do it.

I think that Dittany has a valid point. Most of the women I know who have worked /work as prostitutes started very young, mainly directly after coming out of care and are much more likely to have been previously sexually abused than the average population.

There are of course some women who have sex for money because they like sex. But for the vast vast vast majority it wasn't something they decided to do instead of another career. And all too often a large proportion of the money they make is taken from them. And in ever increasing circumstances all of it is.

I hate the way the press constantly refer to women who are prostitutes soley by their profession it is deeming and strengthens the public's opinion that the death of prostitute is less significant than that of any other woman.

But it is important that the profession is mentioned as it does heighten awareness for streetworkers in an area

But it shouldn't be to the point where they are defined only by their job.

Hey Dittany, calm down a little. We're not arguing, but I can see you feel strongly. Perhaps pimping is the oldest occupation, but with no one to pimp it wouldn't have lasted long so maybe by about 5 minutes. You may not want to accept it, but prostitution will probably not go away, and with the advent of the internet it seems much easier for prostitutes, male and female, to be 'self employed' as such. Yes the streetwalkers probably come from all sorts of backgrounds, may have drug problems, and almost certainly have money problems. And none of that is any reason to abuse them. I do not subscribe to the view that they encourage bad treatment themselves.

The OP was about how they are portrayed in the media though, not about prostitutes in general, or a debate on equal pay (which did sound a bit man-bashing). Our society has come to want more from it's media, more sensationalism in every report. So if a reporter can make a story more interesting then they will. I believe that if they did catch whoever attacked the girl then the jury is already tainted with knowing her profession, and that could lead to an unfair trial and another unsuccessful prosecution. So back to the OP, I think the media should find a better way to describe anyone if they need to, I don't think it helps anyone to go on about her profession. She's a person, not a job

I agree totally with your sentiment falcon, however it is relevent really. The thing is, as a prostitute, she unfortunately puts herself in a dangerous position - that is, alone with strange men (interpret strange how you will). There is little or no protection for these women, which is one of the reasons i think that prostitution should be made legal, taken off the streets and into a more controlled environment.

Very sad for the woman and her family

i agree with you Lucyellen - it should be legalised

actually nooki's right about the backgrounds of most street sex workers.

there was a survey done at a drop-in centre in Glasgow, the results were absolutely damning of the foster care and children's home system, a PHENOMENAL percentage came straight out of there, primed for drug abuse, prostitution and a lifetime of vulnerability by years of abuse.

and again the vast percentage of those not brought up in care had been abused in their family situations. massive drug problems etc, these were hopeless young women becoming even more so. absolutely tragic.

and nowadays, with trafficked women, who the hell knows what's happening behind closed doors? we're not talking sex parlours run by madame cyn here, we're talking about brutal, despicable men exploiting women to a frankly depraved degree. and you know, i'm not just talking about their pimps, i'm talking about the men who pay their gangmasters for sex.

but wrt this woman, her job is relevant. plenty of sex workers in glasgow think there's a serial killer (perhaps more than one) on the loose.

"One of the most striking aspects of the report is the fact these women survived at all. The statistics alone are stark. The average age of women working Glasgow's streets is just 21, with the youngest recorded only 13. One-quarter started at 18 or under. One-third of women who took part in a detailed study are homeless - 11 of them sleep rough - with many more living in precarious circumstances. Most (77%) have been homeless and almost half have slept rough; 92% inject drugs and 70% are thought to have Hepatitis C. Violence, often from partners, was the most common reason for becoming homeless and a frightening number were sexually abused as children."

this from a newspaper report about the research. 1000 women took part. am trying to find better.