Number 10 petition to criminalise men who buy sex

[policywonk]

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don't we already have those 'repercussions' in any case? you're presumably talking about back rooms full of drugged, trafficked women, children etc? we've got that. it all exists. in a way i see that as a different matter, tbh, much like dittany's point about criminalising murder not driving murder underground, despite the fact that there will always be more or less sordid crimes.

by criminalising the day to day punters, we at least have a chance of removing the top layer of arseholes who think it's coolio to pay to fuck women for a few minutes, rather than the super-seedy cunts who want to abuse women without repercussion.

it's what those 'normal' men say about our society that worries me so much. ordinary guys who, if the laws change in the way you want, are having that belief sanctioned by law.

i guess that this is turning round the titanic, and that there will be casualties (as there are under the current arrangement) but it is nevertheless an important statement to make. i'm surprised that you are so sanguine about the fact that women who prostitute themselves 'by choice' (as opposed to the women trafficked into this country and enslaved) are damaged, vulnerable people but that men should be able to continue damaging them under the protection of the law.

in all sincerity, and knowing as much as you clearly do about the subject (why is that, btw?) what percentage of prostitutes do you think do so 'to finance their children's school or college fees, some do it because they "like sex" and consider the cash an added bonus and some females use prostitution as a means of financing their own education.'

i really hate the sarcastic 'whispers, like sex' in that line, as if anyone who's not pro a guy with a few quid being able to order a girl to fuck him is somehow prudish, btw. it's really pretty insulting, i think.

i've been looking for exact figures, btw, for research conducted at a prostitute drop in centre where i live, i can't find them unfortunately. but as i recall, 90% of the women who used the centre had been abused as children. perhaps a percentage of that percentage will land in your 'happy hooker' part of the venn diagram, right enough, but christ, i want society to offer more by way of job opportunities to abused girls.

male escorts with females thing is, as i understand it from documentarist chums, pretty much a myth. we see the few male escorts working with women on tv because they wouldn't come clean about men, or so i've been told.

tbh i really would make paying for sex illegal, so it's not like it makes any difference in any case.

it's a bit cringey that you only responded to one point that i made, btw. you're being ultra-selective in your approach i think. would you, with all your specialist knowledge, like to attach a percentage figure to your assertion that there are women happy to prostitute themselves for their kids school fees. how do you think that figure might overlap with the vast majority of prostitutes interviewed at the drop in centre i mentioned, who had been abused as children?

it does seem to me like you're arguing 'aha, but here is the exception that proves the rule', which is a bit adolescent imho given the seriousness of the subject.