If you want to stop the sex trade, then advocate for things like universal basic income. Sex workers aren’t the ones who have decided to treat sex as a commodity, they just recognize that others do and that they can use that to eat. Dissociating and letting some boomer wet their dick bought me rice and butter when I didn’t have any other option.
Yes, I believe UBI or something is necessary. The worst excesses of the labour market are absolutely due to systemic economic coercion, including the vast majority of what goes on in the sex trade. Sex work advocates that view prostitution as some mutually beneficial exchange between equals are living in a fantasy world.
Okay cool. But until UBI exists, sometimes sex work is the only option. It is systemic economic coercion, just like working any other shitty and abusive job. Making sex work illegal makes it more dangerous for sex workers. The demand will always exist, and people desperate enough to submit to that demand will always exist, as long as we don’t provide for all human beings.
The biggest factor that made sex work not a “mutually beneficial exchange between equals” was the fact that it was illegal. I had zero protection from people choosing to stealth (ie, remove condoms mid act), or not pay me after the fact (always charge up front!). I did not have legitimate means of work, as the sex on my drivers license did not match my presentation. Punishing sex workers is the most bass-ackwards thing you can do.
