Shaming sex workers is not okay.

Thank you for commenting. I’m in the same position as you with respect to users of hard drugs. I think hard drugs are terrible and would never do them myself, but I‘m not sure if criminalizing them is the way to go.

Curious: Do you accept porn actors/actresses? Strippers? There are lots of personal reasons a person considering sex work would turn to prostitution as opposes to these other more socially accepted forms of sex work. Example: those hiring for porn actress and stripper positions heavily favor a certain age range (18 to mid-20’s) and level of conventional attractiveness. Not everyone meets that standard. As a prostitute it’s also easier to be your own boss, set your own schedule, and work part-time, and your work can be kept more out of the public eye.

One problem in this area is that it can be very difficult to determine the 'why.' Maybe they are not alll addicts or otherwise victims, but are there many who are. Sex work is also full of potential abuse, including sex trafficking, low wages and long hours, even involvement in organized crime. And as with sex trafficking the victims are often offenders as well. Not a strong enough argument to justify the treatment of sex workers, but strong enough that it can't be ignored either.

Hmm. No skill, training, or education may be right, but sex workers need to have certain qualities. The most successful obviously have looks, but also talent for acting and people skills.

Fair analogy. But out society needs the ditch-diggers and assembly line workers, too. Not what I’d want to to with my life, but I think their work deserves at least minimal dignity. It’s not fair to shit on a necessary job.

And yes, if sex work is indeed the world’s oldest profession then it is indeed socially necessary on some level.

Totally agree.

I'm not a fan of prostitution, but if you want to do it and it's not infringing on me, I say go do you. As for those who didn't have a choice, I do think there should be more free job-training programs for everyone. America is running short on semi-skilled workers like electricians or commercial drivers, we should make it easier for people to get the skills to do jobs like that.

Agreed, jail is not the answer but why do we continue to promote prostitution and pornography instead of helping these ladies learn life skills that could really get them a job that promotes dignity a respect for sex and marriage and one that they needn't be ashamed of. Sex work leads to a host of other problems like abortion, rape and emotional and physical abuse that no man, woman or child should have to endure in order to put food on their table.

We can agree to disagree on many of these points. I think we do teach those skills, mostly, but the fact is that our modern economy is incredibly harsh toward a huge number of people who don’t have top-notch academic credentials or social connections. I’m not sure how to fix that. In the meantime, some women will make the choice to become prostitutes and as long as they are not coerced or subject to violence, it is none of our business. Legalization would empower women and cut down vastly on abuse. I’m quite pleased to see a broad consensus here against criminalization of sex work, regardless of people’s personal feelings about sex.

Marry one of them. But get them screen for stds first