Sex workers fear violence as US cracks down on online ads: 'Girls will die'

I hate to use the <current year> argument but it's really sad that in 2018 we're still trying to make voluntary sex work illegal when every studies show that it 1) doesn't work and 2) makes everything worse for everyone involved. Also, the fact that the very president is known to have used prostitutes and that Washington politicians are well known to be big customers makes this hypocrisy really infuriating.

It&#x27;s really sad to hear about sex workers fearing for their very lives, let alone their livelihood. These are some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable members of society. Their lives could be so much better if we moved towards Netherlands&#x2F;German-style legalization. Instead, we seem to be going in the opposite direction.<p>I wonder who exactly the opponents of sex-legalization are trying to &quot;protect&quot;. Trafficking victims? They will be vastly better served by a well regulated workplace. The sex workers themselves? I think this article debunks that myth. The Johns? Hah, there&#x27;s a good laugh. The criminalization of the sex industry seems like Prohibition all over again.

Just legalize it already! It&#x27;s been proven time and time again across many countries around the world that legalizing and regulating prostitution creates a safer environment for the girls AND the customers.

I think the missing discussion is that some bad law exists, but that SESTA&#x2F;FOSTA is not that bad law: Websites should not be immune to prosecution for intentionally facilitating criminal activity. Section 230 is a bad thing and it going away is a good thing. Headlines I&#x27;ve seen like &quot;sex workers are the canary in the coal mine for free speech&quot; are not really accurate, because this is about activity which <i>is and has been illegal</i>, not suppressing speech.<p>The problem is that there&#x27;s no good reason for prostitution in general to be illegal in the United States. While I have no interest in partaking in such activity myself, I realize that the sole interest in banning it appears to be religion... something which cannot and should not govern our country&#x27;s laws. I&#x27;m a Christian, but I don&#x27;t think Christian views should be the determining factor in our legislature... that&#x27;s the Constitution&#x27;s job.

Two attempted kidnappings yesterday:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sfgate.com&#x2F;crime&#x2F;article&#x2F;Teen-girl-young-woman-escape-kidnappings-in-12819197.php#photo-11304920" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.sfgate.com&#x2F;crime&#x2F;article&#x2F;Teen-girl-young-woman-e...</a><p>FTA: &quot;Just two hours earlier, in what police said was an unrelated incident, a 19-year-old woman was walking just three blocks away from the kidnapping when she was dragged into a car by a group of two men and two women.&quot;<p>The northeast mission remains a center of drive-by prostitution. Hard to read these stories without speculating this is an indication of what&#x27;s to come thanks to SESTA&#x2F;FOSTA.<p>Can&#x27;t believe that Kamala Harris supported this. It&#x27;s not helpful to say this is a reasonable law and that prostitution&#x27;s illegality is the problem. In the world we live in it is and will remain so.<p>That makes this a bad and dangerous law.

&gt; Donald Trump is expected to sign the law this week, but sex workers across the country told the Guardian they were already suffering consequences. Craigslist shut down its personals section, and federal authorities seized Backpage.com, releasing an indictment this week accusing its founders of money laundering and “facilitating prostitution”. The list of charges did not include trafficking.<p>And just a reminder this law was 100% unnecessary to prosecute Backpage.<p>This was purely puritanical bullshit designed to hurt sex workers in the US that are here legally. They just needed a &quot;cause&quot; to sell to rubes.

I&#x27;ve wondered if a solutions is to allow prostitution &#x27;brothels&#x27; as legitimate businesses by those prosituting like Amsterdam or in a legalized Red Light District or even operate as semi government owned and taxed like they do weed (still in the works) and alcohol in ontario canada.<p>It would take out all of the danger and illegality as for example one doesnt go into shady corners or connections to buy cigarettes or alcohol like weed because its legalized and policed correctly.

It&#x27;s interesting seeing all the men supporting &#x27;sex work&#x27; when it is the woman who is left to deal with the repercussions of her body being used and abused for money. The real problem is not the crack down, but the social forces that make women feel like this is the only source of income available to them, and the dirtbag men who take advantage of them. This does not boost my opinion of internet &quot;intellectuals&quot;, nor of the HN community who seem largely in favor of taking advantage of women in this way.

another headline: Drug dealers fear violence as DEA existing. Drug dealer is also dealer!

What kind of &#x27;feminist&#x27; community is HN when men want women to let strangers abuse their bodies? &#x27;Feminist&#x27; men are merely cads taking advantage of women using politically correct language. Anyways, if this is the sort of &#x27;pro-women&#x27; environment HN wants to foster, count me out.