Curious why pro-sex worker advocates have been so silent since Epstein file release??

[ThatZanyFatball]

The latest release of Epstein files has further laid bare what most of us already know, that powerful men exploit vulnerable women.

Not intending to cast aside the minors who were abused by these men, but being that there were also many women who were over the age of consent, I'm curious as to why pro-sex worker advocates haven't come out in defense of the men implicated in the Epstein files. I mean after all, they're all allegedly consenting adults, right?

Where are the pro-prostitution advocates who would simply label these activities as sex work? A woman is offered the opportunity to sell her body to a man, she accepts, what's the harm, right? No different than a desk job? I mean, could it be that Epstein and his ilk truly show the depths of danger and depravity that occurs when men believe they should have free rein over women's bodies? And that women who are coerced (or forced) into such situations are actually at risk of being abused and exploited, not "empowered?"

Would love to hear statements from sex worker advocates on all this.

If you look at photos of Virginia Giuffre as a teenager it’s all smiles and parties in Cannes with Naomi Campbell and so on. Presumably to our pro-prostitution guests this is evidence of a glamorous lifestyle - yet she was damaged so severely to kill herself after having been exploited by these men for years. Does the line between 17 and 18 mean that suddenly these girls are fully autonomous “sex workers” doing it as a high paid lifestyle choice? Obviously not. Despite all the smiles, they were still being coerced into sex they would never have freely had without the grooming, exploitation and control over them by rich men. But then I suspect a fair number of those pro-“sex work” posters are also the type who think rape is often just a case of a woman “regretting bad sex”…. 😬

Yes, I've come across these ideas. Underground at the moment, but at base this is what empowering sex work as work means. Exploitation dressed up in designer clothes is still exploitation.

All paid for sex is abuse, if there was full consent what is the money about? Prostitution is abuse of women, and demeans all women. Reduces us all to objects to be bought and paid for. HE who pays the piper calls the tune of course.

I saw Zack Polanski being interviewed on Sky News very recently and enthusing about the Green policy of legalising prostitution being good for women and after a pause he remembered to add 'and men too if they're involved in sex work' 🙄 The man lives in student politics cloud cuckoo land.

Indeed.

I've also read that the flight records show that Bill Clinton flew on Epstein's plane a number of times [the number is disputed] but that none of the flights were to Epstein's island, and they were all in the early 2000s before Epstein was convicted.
Is giving credence to this plausible set of facts, instead of your set of facts, 'being gullible', or just keeping an open mind until the facts are established objectively?

Oooof so we should make more women available to men to stop them raping?

That, my friend, is incel ideology. Something I did not expect to see on mumsnet.

Eh?

What a weird post. How on earth does wondering if Epstein should have been investigated and arrested for attempting to pay women for sex mean they want to make more women available to men? It’s the exact opposite!

A misunderstanding of the grammar, I think:

Perhaps if he had been investigated and arrested

Not

Perhaps if he had been hiring adult prostitutes

his sleazy predilections wouldn't have escalated

Yes, the best thing trans rights activists could do for their safety is work towards the abolition of prostitution and safe routes out of poverty for the more vulnerable of these men.