We’re working to regulate sex trafficking out of existence in Pittsburgh. I’ll be writing a lot more about it here, but wanted to update everyone before it gets big. Here’s the front-page, above the fold article on it.
Inspirational Quote:
“Slavery is no scholar, no improver; it does not love the whistle of the railroad; it does not love the newspaper, the mail-bag, a college, a book or a preacher who has the absurd whim of saying what he thinks; it does not increase the white population; it does not improve the soil; everything goes to decay.”–Ralph Waldo Emerson, speech, Aug. 1, 1844
So your goal is to “regulate trafficking out of existence”? You do realize that you are feeding right into a pretty significant liberal stereotype with this, right? While I’m no fan of human trafficking, and I think sex work (just like any other work) should be regulated, to keep both sellers and consumers safe, I think it’s an awful idea to try and regulate it out of existence entirely. While it can be demeaning work, it doesn’t have to be, and certainly you don’t speak for all sex workers when you actively campaign for the destruction of their livelihoods. Frankly, this tack is naive at best, malicious at worst.
Hi Mr Silver,
What I am trying to regulate out of existence is *not* sex work, but is sex trafficking. There is nothing in this ordinance which prevents sex workers from working through Backpage, or Craigslist, or escort services, or a hundred other venues without the high risk of sex trafficking which exist in massage parlors because of their economic and management structures.
I have no problem with sex work. For some, it is a cruddy job with low pay and unpleasant customers–like working at a Dennys. For others, it is great fun (see: Mistress Matisse).
Sex trafficking is not the same as sex work, just like working in a factory with a union and a 401(k) is not the same as doing the same labor in a sweat-shop, chained to a sewing machine, with constant threat of violence from your supervisor. Sex positive activists and sex worker activists are against trafficking–here is sex positive activist Violet Blue on the distinction:
http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-09-11/living/17120054_1_san-franciscans-prostitution-dear-readers/3
And working dominatrix Mistress Matisse:
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/control-tower/Content?oid=787527
Even in the theoretical world where sex work was legal, the 16 hour days, constant confinement, and lack of pay which trafficked women experience in these brothels posing as massage parlors would *still* be a crime:
http://www.polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/sex-trafficking-in-the-us/massage-parlors
If you are interested in reading the ordinance, comment here and I’ll email it to you.