I've got to say I'm so glad that there's only a minority of Neanderthals who go on with the 'but it's the worlds oldest profession' and 'what if they just like sex.
I can't remember which link it was but (TMI) amongst the needles and drug paraphernalia there was wet wipes with blood on. That's a woman who is on her period and cleaned herself up before or after sex. How many of the clients are using protection?
Firstly I think prostitution is a lot different from say being an Escort where you make say hundreds of pounds, get wined and dined and taken back to a nice hotel. These are women that are having sex anywhere they can.
The fact the women look ill denotes possibly addiction and or vulnerability through mental health issues. Think about it, how many women honestly want a quick 10 minutes with say 10 blokes a night.
In both blogs it refers to the fact that it's men from middle class areas scouting for sex. People in the middle class areas don't want it on their doorsteps, why should the people of Holbeck? It wasn't the residents who said oh yes that's fine have a 'regulated' zone, which isn't actually regulated. It's just left as a no go area.
It's not the same as say places where it's licensed and the women are checked to see they're doing it out of choice, they're checked for STD's.
I thought about it last night when I was reading about it. You don't have the money to feed your family, you don't have the money to even pay rent. If you know that you can earn so much by being a prostitute, realistically how many people can say if they had no other option they wouldn't consider Escorting or prostitution.
Imagine being one of these poor women, likely under the control of a man, having to give into other men's desires, as it's the only way they can exist. The reference that got me was the Les Mis comparison. If you haven't watched it just watch till the poor woman dies.
Or listen to I dreamed a dream, or watch the I dreamed a dream scene, telling the guy he doesn't even have to take his boots off, drinking some sort of cocktail to numb it all.
How degraded do these women feel? How scared must they feel that if they don't get enough clients they're in for a beating. Another song Arctic Monkeys - When the Sun Goes Down.
They can't pursue love lives, or I highly doubt it. They need saving, they need treating. They need to be shown love, care and affection. Not by a Knight in Shining armour, but charities that work with such women.
Imagine living in an area where your kids can't play out due to dirty condoms, syringes, other paraphernalia littering the streets. Imagine the fear of parents with girls, that their child could mix with the wrong crowd ending up one of the girls working in this zone. Likely given a hit of drugs, then addicted. That's not what any parent dreams of as they cradle their child in their arms.
You don't look at that scan picture & fast forward 20 years to your daughter addicted to drugs and selling her body for cash.
Maybe that would be an emotive poster campaign, a scan picture, it's a girl, in 20 years she'll be in the regulated zone, providing services for middle class men who come into the area. She could have been anything, fell in the wrong crowd, now she's a prostitute.
Or a scan picture with 'it's a girl' balloons either side. Her parents had many dreams, now they have nightmares.