Comments

1
I, for one, am glad that the authorities have shut down this tool that enabled people to mitigate risk. If the government would only eliminate sex ed, I am sure people would revert to their natural state of God-given chastity and purity. The scourge of sex would be eliminated forever.
2
SPD being not actively involved makes it look like all the workers are in Seattle and the clients are in Bellevue. This really sucks for the sex-workers and could lead to a sex-starved maniacs with money epidemic on the Eastside.
3
What a stupid waste of law enforcement resources. Not just stupidly wasteful, but counterproductive in terms of public safety, well-being, and order.
4
This is what you get when you dump a bunch of money into to law enforcement to tackle the issue of "sex trafficking".
5
@3 Of course, if there were armed rebels taking over federal land right now, they wouldn't have time for trivialities like this.
6
Won't someone please think about the children?
7
We've officially entered moral panic territory with this shite.

Every time I hear the phrase "human trafficking" these days, I instantly think "Ritual Satanic Abuse".
8
It's not like law enforcement doesn't have the resources to carefully target only those who are actually engaged in this hyped-up "sex trafficking", and leave the rest of the site intact so that consenting adults can freely negotiate and share information.

"Sex trafficking", when it actually exists in the USA tends to be relatively small, the merest fraction of sex work, and the news tends to be significantly hyped. AND it would be far more effective to root out and solve if sex workers were able to aid law enforcement directly. If sex work were decriminalized then johns and sex workers could go to the police to report child prostitution problems without fear of being jailed themselves. Currently both johns & sex workers risk arrest to save the lives of someone who is actually being trafficked. So these potential allies in the fight against child prostitution are ignored and are themselves threatened.

Whereas "human trafficking" (aka forced labor) is a much larger illegal market, yet we somehow never hear about forced labor trafficking busts...

Taking down The Review Board is like shuttering Facebook because a tiny minority of there users were potentially guilty of a non-consensual crime. It's asinine.

In the immortal words of George Carlin... "Why is it illegal to sell something you can give away?"
9
Trafficking is always the excuse but when they arrest 98% consenting adults then what?
The interstate sting done recently arrested consentual adults mainly. And as for the children , these sites are a tool. Used by local law enforcement atleast in California when Myredbook went down to save these children but most are just Women paying bills and making a living .
See unlike Backpage these review sites have one up, the pics are real and if not there outed by hobbyists and not up for long because reviews explain all about appearance sessions, attitude and more. Also SAFETY, SAFETY ,SAFRTY SAFETY!!! If your careful like most of us who have been around awhile are , then Screening is our number one tool.
See the main misconception is what people outside are meant to believe. I don't have Daddy issues, I've worked for a major corporation until I was laid off, I've been Married and was a happy housewife at one point.I am independent , love life and i am not a victim! The majority of Providers are not Victims!!! I am not a minority , I am the majority of sex workers !!! I know there are victims but this is where decriminalizing would make a major impact on this proffesion.
It's not all drug addicts , pimps and violence like society is made to believe. It was the first commodity and it will probably be the last. We are not all victims. I love what I do. I am sure Seattle providers are scrambling to figure out where to post and how to screen now just like us in Northern California did when Myredbook went down.
Even amnesty international has recently talked of Decriminalizing sex work for the better of all involved. There will be new sites by the end of the month . We're fine in Cali now. So Seattle will survive. I know a lot of MRB Providers had to go to the streets which is even more dangerous but for the people who don't get it will think they have won some kind of battle with trb being taken down. If you think your keeping people safe , your not. It happens like it or not . Internet is just a safer way . The hobbyist can see reviews and us Providers can look up handles and screen via other Providers but now its been taken away but guess what? The sex work isn't going anywhere!!!!
There are real crimes out there . This is so ridiculous. The stigma is the main problem.
I am a 43 yr old sex worker who has 3 adult children in college that I pay for. . I am safe, I screen and except the occasional glass of Stella Rosa I am not an addict nor do I have a low self-esteem or mental problems. I was raised by a southern belle and I have manners and morals . I believe to ea h there own as long as there not hurting anyone.
Leave your religious beliefs out of our government. I get we all have an opinion but get your facts straight about who your neighborhood Sex Worker is.
I am a soccer Mom that no one would ever suspect of having this career. I am not ashamed . We have finally got off the pot smokers backs . Can us adults who chose to exchange intimacy for money be next?
If it were decriminalized a lot of positive would happen. For one std checks because not all sex workers are able to have health insurance like myself, safer places to work, less rape and more reporting, less robberies and more reporting, less trafficking !!
Now trafficking is disliked in our community too. I would not stand by if I seen a minor. As a matter of fact I had to report one to Myredbook a month before it went down,they removed the ad within seconds, Long story. But with MRB it was FBI and Mr Red not paying his taxes. So he kinda brought it in himself and took us down with him but of course the "trafficking" word was thrown around which later I believe was dropped, not sure don't quote me.


I apologize for my grammar and punctuation I am on my android , without my reading glasses and I really had to reply to this.

Have you hugged a prostitute today ? :-)

Frustrated Soccer Mom , Sex Worker in California...
Decrimanalize it , don't criticize it.
10
WTF? Sounds like prior restraint to me. Will police seize a printing press so a publisher can’t print something illegal? Is the ACLU or anybody else sensitive to the First Amendment looking at this?

11
Wow. It's weird when anyone calls sex work "A Hobby". I dabble in whoring. ;)
12
I'm glad the site is shut down. I've met dozens of survivors of trafficking, and every single one was advertised online on sites like this. The fact that men are scoffing just shows they'd willingly let women be trafficked and exploited if it means their easy access to female bodies is maintained. Disgusting.
13
Oh, I'm sorry - so the women who have no other possible way to get by except to make an illegal "living" (sure) trump those who are actually ENSLAVED and FORCED to perform sex acts against their will?

You do realize the military regularly goes behind enemy lines to save just one POW and police bravely often break into homes to save just one abducted or innocent person, don't you? The life of every single woman (and man) is valuable. That is why others risk their lives for them.

This particular story turned out to be a multi-state sting of deliberate criminals, exploiting some of the very women you purport to support. THIS WAS ACTUAL TRAFFICKING!!!

Do you acknowledge that The Review Board is encouraging illegal activity? Would you argue that a pedophile chatroom, meth or illegal arms dealer site ought to stay up, too?

Why don't you read a few of the ensuing articles about what our police force actually did, you immature/premature anonymous keyboard-pounding peanut gallery mouthtbreathers:

http://www.king5.com/story/news/local/20…

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news…

http://www.trust.org/item/20160108022656…

https://panampost.com/panam-staff/2016/0…

http://www.officer.com/news/12156654/was…

You probably agree with this piece of garbage:
https://reason.com/blog/2016/01/11/the-r…

As for today's prostitutes, these are not just "women making a living". These are men - and women - breaking the law (whether you agree with this law or not does not matter). These are people - overwhelmingly female - working under the table, it's a black market. They risk their own lives, their health, their self-respect, their families and all involved reputations by breaking the law. What happens when the "soccer mom" above goes to jail? What happens when her occupation is made public? Are her children going to be proud of her? Is the community going to embrace her? Are the other soccer moms whose husbands she f*cks for a living going to invite her to the next potluck? Please.

I'm kind of sick of sex workers who are hiding in comfort and unwilling to go public, yet keep ranting about how "emotionally healthy" they are and how wonderful their work is. You know that most sex workers ARE damaged, right? The cliche and sterotype is rooted in fact. I've met many personally in Las Vegas and LA, but all you need to do is some research if you disagree.

Are you sleeping with partnered and married men? Is that something you're proud of? Would you like someone to do that to you? Are you glad to encourage men to be less capable of learning how to date, pleasure, and treat a real woman? Is that what you teach your sons? Are you happy to perpetuate the entirely NON-feminist view of women as geishas, out to please men, whatever it takes? Is it honorable to share your most intimate self with pervy strangers for easy money? Are you feeling any guilt for not paying taxes like all the rest of us normal, employed people do? Do you expect the safety net to be there for you and your loved ones even as you avoid paying into it? No, I'm sure you're perfectly happy bullshitting yourself and ripping off society.

And by the way, if you're such a great sex worker, then that means you're probably in decent shape and healthy/attractive enough to do any sort of work. It is scientifically proven that slimmer, more appealing women make more money than average or below-average women. Go get a legitimate, upstanding job, it's easier for you, anyway!

If you truly are doing it out of desperation, then stop lying to yourself about it being such a great choice. Women should not be forced to do something beneath them just because day care is expensive and men leave us (to go sleep with younger, sexier women...hmmm...wonder where they get the idea that that is an easy way out?)

Guess what? Every guy partners up with a woman he wants to have sex with initially. Where does it go wrong? It's only the woman's fault, right? He whines to you about how awful she was...meanwhile, here he is expecting you to baby him like she eventually refused to. Think about that. So many men are immature and can't handle it when things get tough, so they cheat or pay a prostitute. Women often shut down sexually when their men are selfish, avoidant, disrespectful, or abusive. Then there you are, smiling in all your laced glory, rewarding him for being a jerk. Taking THEIR money.

Don't like the law? Spend your time getting educated and work to advocate for what you believe in, instead of lurking in the gutter in anonymity, shaking your fist uselessly.

When people began to advocate for changing the marijuana laws, they put up signs, stood up at rallies, and sat behind tables taking signatures.
Where are you? What's keeping YOU from getting out there? Oh, you're afraid of being embarrassed, I see. You can get naked with any strange Tom, Dick, or Harry, but god forbid you disclose what you do publicly. You don't really believe what you do is honorable and worthwhile.

So many sex workers hide their faces online. It's not because they are afraid of being arrested. They are afraid of being discovered. If you truly believe that being a sex worker is the end all be all for you, then why not set up tables and recruit your own teenage kids and other "legal" aged women? Are you excited to eventually enroll all those young girls playing soccer with your daughter(s) to go get jizzed on for cash someday? Is that what you thought when you delivered your girl? "Gee, I hope when she grows up, she earns thousands of dollars getting gangbanged by a bunch of awkward men or tied up by some random old guy." Sorry, it's not really the same as professional sex surrogacy or sex therapy when it's advertised as wildly as it is on those sites. Have you read the reviews on The Review Board? I have. It's quite sickening, and extraordinarily objectifying. It's worse than buying meat, assessing race horses, or reading disgusting comments on YouTube and reddit. Not at ALL respectful and completely dehumanizing.

To all you female sex workers out there: do you really wish for all the promising young women in the world to dream of someday being awash in used condoms, random stranger's body fluids, and dolla bills? I highly doubt it. It's not a glorious calling, it's a sad, eventually cruel and hollow lie.

If you're able to maneuver under the radar, you're probably smart enough to get into politics, so go for it, change the laws...and THEN we'll see what happens. Because even when sex work is legalized - such as in Amsterdam - it's a dirty business. Movies like Pretty Woman created wave of delusional women. A sort of Disneyfication. Sex work is sad, gross, and pathetic in the state it's in now. However, if you want to elevate what you believe you do to actual, clinical "sex therapy" - then look at the list down below.

No true safety is in place for anyone at this time. Abuse and exploitation occur, as well as actual trafficking and rape, oh yes. Taxes are not being paid. Men are being snowed with bullshit "GFE"'s, which affects their ability to function around women in normal society. On an emotional and spiritual level, this is damaging as well, when men who ought to be pursing actual relationships engage in these false, shallow, harmful exchanges. There's a reason so many sex workers and johns are ashamed, and it's not just because it's illegal. There is a spiritual level of crisis to this that is not acknowledged.

Many lie to their families, spouses, partners, etc. or simply don't disclose their activities. They waste huge sums of money. STDs from herpes to HIV get passed along. These interactions break up marriages, partnerships, families. They don't lead to proud, happy, successful, self-actualized individuals. Why? Because it's a sordid affair.

This is not a sport or health care treatment, but if you want to approach it that way and pull this all out of the gutter, well then...read on, because A LOT has to change for that to become true.

And it would still take a very narrow slice of the female population to fulfill these roles, as few are truly capable of keeping sex separate from emotion. They are designed by nature to blend together. I am not religious nor am I moralizing. This is biological, and why we bond as couples over having children. Remember, sex exists primarily for procreation. Yes, it's fun and does NOT have to be only about kids. However, it's like pretending that eating is only about sensuous flavors, not nutrition. The reason it's sensuous and flavorful is BECAUSE we require the nutrients to survive, not the other way around.

This idea of attempting to sanitize the darkness that is the current state of illicit prostitution and exploitation of women by sex worker activists and their johns - *ahem*, "clients" - will NEVER fully take hold unless all of the following is put in place:

1) EDUCATION/CERTIFICATION: You want to be taken seriously as a service profession, yet don't want to bother with the upfront investment of time, hard work, and money? Even food workers have to pass a certification! Establish a system, where would-be sex workers become EDUCATED and CERTIFIED. This could eliminate a lot of ignorance all the way around, and protect the sex workers by teaching/showing them what is acceptable vs. unacceptable behavior, and what is legal vs. illegal. ALL health care workers have to go through some form of education if they interact bodily with another person, this should be no different. And for advanced activities; more education and training.

2) PUBLIC REGISTRATION and LICENSING: This could eliminate much of the trafficking, since there would be inevitable jail time and a huge fine if a client is ever found to engage in a sex act for money with an unregistered sex worker. It would be up to the client to check and verify that every single sex worker is currently registered for every single interaction. Unregistered sex workers would be given treatment, protection, and asylum (if appropriate) if they were coerced into the work under duress. However, if they chose to break the law and it could be proven, they would be given a lifelong ban on future sex work.

3) TAX PAYMENT: One of the more "enticing" aspects of under-the-table work is the ability to avoid paying taxes - local, state, federal, and social security - not to mention unemployment, etc. This means that ALL the sex workers around the country are making money but NOT contributing to our safety nets, which they use up (police, clinics, welfare, etc.) Have them pay taxes, and have the clients pay taxes on the service.

4) ETHICS: Just as it would be unethical and illegal for a therapist, counselor, or psychiatrist to have a sexual relationship with a client, it would be frowned upon and unethical for a sex worker to engage in an ongoing outside relationship with a client. This is a sex service, not a dating or matchmaking service.

5) RESPECT FOR ALL INVOLVED: Similarly, if a sex worker discovers that a client is engaged in a steady relationship with anyone - whether married or not - he/she would be expected to decline offering the service. However, if a client shows proof that his/her partner is supportive of the exchange, the sex worker would be given access to communicate with the partner. It would be expected that the sex worker would look into the relationship status of their clients, and only move forward with a written release, kept on file. If a wife, husband, or (proven) long-term partner of a client discovers that the sex worker engaged with the client despite public knowledge of the relationship (e.g., Facebook status, public marriage records, etc.) then the sex worker and the solicitor would be severely fined and a large portion of that fine would go to the betrayed partner.
Also, this would go public. People lie about their status, of course, but there is nothing stopping a sex worker from plowing ahead, even knowing that there are family members who may be negatively affected by their actions.

It is true that human nature and the biological drive is powerful - for BOTH sexes, at different times throughout life. There are those who cannot find willing sex partners or partners willing to perform certain sex acts, but individuals in relationships MUST own up to their needs and allow their partners the knowledge that they are pursing this release elsewhere, for financial, emotional, and health reasons.

6) DEFINITION OF SERVICE: There is a great deal of difference between what a traditional sex therapist or surrogate and a typical prostitute or whatever they like to call themselves ("escort" "call girl" "girlfriend experience - GFE" "companion") does. The delineation would be made clear.

Sex workers would list what they are willing to do and not willing to do. These records would also be public, and accessible to all clients. If a client forces a sex worker to perform an act not listed, he/she may be taken to court and may be fined, jailed (if it's rape), and/or banned. Safe words would be mandatory, perhaps universal. Like "Stop!" or "No!"

7) HEALTH/STD TESTING: Testing and health checkups would be ongoing, mandatory, and made public. If a sex worker is discovered to have been tested positive for ANY STD that he/she is not fully disclosing publicly and to every client, there will be an arrest, fine, and lifelong ban from sex work. Clients would be required to be FULLY tested and to provide current/recent verified records to the sex workers.

8) DRUG/ALCHOL TESTING: No illegal drug or alcohol abuse would be acceptable. Sex workers would be required to undergo drug testing and clients could be rejected if they are under the influence. Psychiatrists, massueses, bartenders, estheticians, manicurists, and accupuncturists do not take mind-altering substances when working. If it is discovered that they do, they are usually fired. Take your job seriously and be alert. Sex work can be brutal and dangerous, even if all conditions are optimal. Reasonable amounts of legal substances would be acceptable only if both parties agree, and this information would be logged.

9) ESTABLISHED ASSOCIATIONS: Professional associations would be established to inform, support, and protect sex workers and their clients.

10) COUNSELING: There would be counseling available to sex workers in the case of abuse, rape, or other exploitation.

11) ESCALATION: Both the sex workers and the clients would have a way to file complaints and report unethical, illegal, and/or inappropriate behavior.

12a) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE - CLIENT & SESSIONS: Clients and session information would be logged and these records would be available to the registration/licensing department but specific details would only be available to law enforcement in the event of any questionable or criminal activity. There would be a formal process for releasing these records, and to protect them.

12b) PUBLIC DISCLOSURE - LOCATIONS: A sex worker would have to disclose their profession to their landlords, and if landlords or housing associations forbid sex work on their property and it is discovered to be occurring, eviction and fines would ensue.

The locations where the sex workers work would be public and post clear signage, along with licensing. If you want to have your work accepted and pulled out of the dark recesses of society, deal with it being as common as getting a haircut.

These locations would undergo health code checks, sometimes unannounced. This would reduce the chances of trafficking. Sex workers would be encouraged to speak up anonymously to share information about anyone being held against his or her will or otherwise forced to participate.

13) LIMITATIONS ON SEX OFFENDERS: NO sex offendors would be allowed to engage a sex worker without disclosing their status, and sex workers would be trained to do thorough public, criminal, and even credit checks on every client. A sex worker would have the right to reject any client, including any with criminal records.

14) PUBLIC CAMPAIGNS: There would be an established public campaign set up to educate the population about all of the above. It would be partially financed by the education/certification/registration/licensing fees as well as a special tax on this pleasure service. In effect, the clients would be supporting this all, and the sex workers would be approaching this as a typical career.

15) POLICE BLOTTER RECORDS: Any violations by either party would be made public, just as police records are made public about breakins, theft, assault, and vandalism, etc.

*************
While I have some sympathy for those who have no other means to find sexual satisfaction, it is disengenuous to decry and dismiss the very real, grave concerns about this so-called "oldest profession."

Frankly, decriminalization has been spotty around the world. Better to focus on teaching people to stop abusing each other, and to manage relationships like adults.

If you can't manage to express your sexual needs to your partner before you make a committment, or update them when things change, are you really mature enough to be paying for sex? If you have so much trouble approaching women (or men) for dating, how about you put some of those high fees towards therapy first? And if you can't seem to get a date, why don't you think about the fact that both men AND women have this problem, yet it's only men who abuse the system and hire women. The Ashley Madison fiasco proves that point. There are plenty of celibate men out there, but way more women. You don't have a right to someone's body just because you're desperate. Sex work and the world of porn as it exists today seems to encourage that false belief. Note how many young men become enraged if their needs aren't met, going so far as to commit mass murder.

Female sex workers perpetuate this idea of a cartoonish, ageless body, which helps no one. How very empowering to go all out with fake hair, false eyelashes, tons of makeup, fake boobs and other plastic surgery, "sexy" costumes, debilitating heels, fully shaved, odorless bodies (for placating immature men), frozen smiles, red fishlips, scarlet talons, and spray-on tans. It's utter lies! I mean, sure, it's one thing to "look your best" but come on, ladies, you're kowtowing right to the male expectation of a painted whore. Where is the empowerment? It's all about pleasing the man! (Of course, some guys are excited to return the favor, but really, who's paying whom?) Honestly, it's just as bad as most made-by-men-for-men porn. At least a dominatrix doesn't have sex with her clients and literally takes control. Let's stop kidding ourselves.

If a sex worker thinks he/she is just "owning their agency" they ought to think about all the stupid risks they are taking willingly: committing crimes, inviting unknown people into their personal space and bodies, courting disease, abuse, and even rape.

If you are a sex worker "proud" of what you do and what you think you're accomplishing, then you ought to be working HARDER at making the changes listed above, not just demanding to continue "business" as usual. If you're not a desperate streetwalker, but still advocate for sex work, then know you are encouraging women without agency to step into an abyss of untold darkness and lifelong damage. Touting your situation over the majority is reckless. There are MORE sex workers nationwide and worldwide who do so out of desperation and force.

You want to legitimize the profession? Put your money where your mouth (and other holes) are, complex pun intended.
14
How selfish and sadistic do you have to be to put scare quotes around the word trafficking? This is slavery we're talking about, it happens everywhere, and the most vulnerable members of society - women and children - are the victims. But oh no, let's not encroach on men's supposed entitlement to the bodies of the marginalized, willing or unwilling, because a man has a sacred right to do as he pleases! No matter how much people try to separate sex work from trafficking there's one key element that ties them together: demand. One would think that a multi billion dollar industry that spends so much money on sanitizing its image would have the wherewithal to provide support to workers when they're unable to make ends meet for whatever reason. You really have to wonder whether these sex worker organizations we keep hearing about aren't just pimps who are more concerned about good PR than anything else.

As for women who are voluntary participants and don't want to be seen as victims, fair enough, but what makes you think your rights are more important that those of women and children who are forced into it through addiction, desperation, force, or though ritualized abuse and grooming? You have rights but so do the people who've suffered such horrific acts as rape, forcible confinement, assault with a weapon, and making child pornography. If we are to choose between the competing rights of those who have the privilege to say yes or no and those who don't have a choice, why do you think your voice should be elevated over theirs? How dare you use this as a platform to gloss over the suffering of others?

Finally, though I admire the efforts of wietog to provide such a detailed response, I have to object to your framing as females as being naturally anything. We're not naturally emotional, soft, intuitive, or any other garbage we've been told in order to keep us in our 'place'. We're not born nurturers simply because we have the anatomy to reproduce, birth, and feed children. This is classic sexist stereotyping. Many, many women will tell you that they don't seek sex because they want an emotional attachment. As a woman I resent this patriarchal positioning. Sex is fun and it feels good. Yes, it's better when there's intimacy and you really like the person you're interacting with but there's also nothing wrong with consensual (not talking about paid here) sex and women avidly seek it out just as men do. The difference between the two sexes ultimately comes down to our socialization. Males are simply told and shown over and over again as they grow up that it's their birthright to dominate and possess women so if they don't want to constantly have sex they're not 'manly' men. The truth is that if you believe males are sex obsessed as a default that's exactly what they'll be. Stop lowering the bar and demanding less of them. This 'boys will be boys' nonsense is exactly the sort of rhetoric that's used to justify paid sex in the first place and the reason women don't pay for it like men do is because we're not raised to believe we're entitled to another person's body when we're feeling insecure, lonely, or straight up frisky. It's hard to make an argument that the sexual behaviour we see is natural rather than socially produced to some degree with we brainwash people like this. Let's not resort to biological determinism to make our points. It's not necessary and it's actually harmful.
15
I agree, LavenderBlume, that it's sexist to say that only women are more emotional. I didn't say it was just women, but that sex itself is hard to separate from emotions for many, because it is part of being human. I don't wish to perpetuate the "boys will be boys" mentality either, it's just odd how much these stereotypical ideas play out IRL - what with there being an entire sex industry mostly catering to straight men. I will say, however, that after having children, it became clear both personally and scientifically (through research) that women and their babies bond in a unique way by sharing DNA, not to mention the same body. Perhaps there's something to that. You're right, socializing and our culture seems to demand less of men and their control over their libidos, and that's not OK.
16
Good lord. Obviously, in all that ranting... I'm only called to address one huge misperception:

SEX WORKERS ARE AGAINST ABUSE, FORCE, FRAUD AND COERCION.

Local sex workers from SWOP-Seattle have met with elected officials, including the prosecuting attorney's office, asking clearly to be involved in discussing the policies and procedures that used to target such abuse. We have repeatedly asked to be a part of the solution.

17
justmeinSea: Great. Thanks for dismissing everything I said as "ranting". Wonderful tactic to get more people on your side. My life has been DESTROYED by a prostitute, OK? And I read about many women whose lives have been broken, who go get tested for STDs, worrying the entire time about their health, their current and future children's health, and the possibility of not only being alone as single mothers, but also having a disease that will make finding a future mate that much more difficult, if not impossible.

I'm glad some local sex workers from SWOP-Seattle are attempting to make headway, but I stand by what I wrote. You want to be respected and legitimized? Then clean up what you're doing, and turn this into a clinical, certified business that's above-board.

I'm not saying all sex workers are actively promoting abuse - but you have to admit the history of the "profession" is quite spotty, if not grotesque at times.

If you read the original article and followed this story and the COMMENTS prior to my lengthy one, I was responding to what THEY WERE SAYING. The ones who were dismissing the idea of suspending TRB while the trafficking investigation was going on.

Maybe pay closer attention if this is all so important to you. And I hope you're smart enough and have enough integrity to both do all you can to promote your business in an ethical way, to be tested prior to every interaction, and to reject any "clients" who are married, misogynistic, or abusive.
18
ETA to my last comment: If you truly believe being a sex worker is not also "promoting" abuse, then maybe take a look at what many ads show - submissive women, women who are forced, tied up, on their knees, gang banged, choked, bruised, covered in ejaculate with makeup running down their faces, crying, looking scared, etc. This is a common image in male-oriented, male-produced, male-run sex work, but also by independent "providers". That element will be hard to shake off. This is why meth will not be legal, but pot can be. The sordid truth of what goes on can't be negated by intermittent activism. You have to reject what your OWN kind are doing to create this mess. But why do they do it? Desperation. It's a vicious circle. Good luck.
19
Oh, and maybe read this:
"Legalized prostitution would lead to more human trafficking. As a 2004 report from the Department of State states, “Where prostitution is legalized or tolerated, there is a greater demand for human trafficking victims and nearly always an increase in the number of women and children trafficked into commercial sex slavery.” The report also says that of the estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people who are trafficked internationally yearly, 80 percent are female. A 2012 study of countries where prostitution is legal found that countries with legalized prostitution have higher rates of incoming human trafficking than countries where prostitution is outlawed."

Cited from: The truth about prostitution - AvvoStories http://stories.avvo.com/rights/the-truth…
20
Thank you so much for your comments wietog....you get it! My husband was a heavy user of these "services" for 15 years. After I discovered it and we both had extensive therapy, it turns out that he had been molested by a second grade teacher, had an abusive father, and a distant mother, and all that added up to a severe personality disorder and a bad case of Madonna Whore syndrome. I was pestering him all the time for sex, but he rarely wanted any from me, because I was the sacred "mother" and sex was only for whores. He's a completely changed man now and is incredibly ashamed of his past behavior...he likens it to someone who eats hamburger suddenly being disgusted by it after working in a slaughterhouse. But the sad thing is, it's great that he can have a normal sex life with me now, but not before giving me an STD....HPV....that I can't shake and has already caused precancerous cell changes in my cervix. I'm ok for now and no cancer yet, but it could happen down the line, and that could leave our son motherless. Not such a "victimless" crime now, huh? Had these "services" not been so easy to come by he might have gotten help sooner and maybe not wasted so many years of his life, and my life. I suspect a lot of "providers" and "customers" may have been drawn to this life from prior sexual abuse.

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