As a former prostitute for 15+ years I thought I would wade into the debate. First off I have never met a sex worker, I believe the name stems from the movie Pretty women.. it also comes from the people who support and benefit from the comodification of women. I know prostituted women and was a prostitute and we were there out of poverty, racism, classism, sexism and a myriad of other reasons. I would have argued it was empowering and liberating and a great way to make money, I had too how else could I live with myself?Prostitution is a funny thing I thought all of those things, yet was always so sad to see a new girl enter into the "trade" and let me tell you I know of not one hooker who wants their daughter going into the horrific soul sucking industry that is prostitution. Whether I was in it to finance the "high life" or to feed my addictions at the end I was always greatly aware of the divide between me and the rest of the world.

I am against sex as work for it affects not only the women involved in it but all women and how we interact with the world.  We also need to realize that the conversation affects women globally, globally women are trafficked here(Canada, Vancouver) to feed the demand. Globally women are forced, coerced, beaten and tricked into it. Globally the face of prostitution is brown and poor.I want  ALL women to be free that is why I am against the sale of women to be used as masturbation toys.

http://orato.com/current-events/2008/12/16/challenge-prostitution-laws-will-not-be-heard

Quote "She's gotta pay the bills" seriously that is why we should allow the exploitation of women.. how about we provide them with education, opportunity, dignity, guaranteed liveable income,  go after fathers for child support,  make sure kids in government care have the tools and recourses they need when they live in care and move out of care the list of ways we can help just goes on and on.My friends who are still involved in prostitution know what I do, they know I am working towards making sure men cannot buy them anymore.. .they all support what I do. Even the ones who work to make their lives as a prostitute safer for they know they want no one else to enter into this lifestyle. So they work to make sure they are "safer" and I work to make sure the men are arrested before they buy them. I used to be beaten by my man, when I was beaten let's say because the dishes were not clean enough no one said let's go buy a better dish soap to make sure it does not happen again. They said "What he did was wrong" had him arrested and thrown in jail.  That is the same argument we are having by trying to make prostituion "safer" it is the very act of prostitution that is the violence you cannot make it "safer" So let's do that as well with men who buy sex let's punish them throw them in jail, let them know they cannot do that. For what they do is rape, the money appeases their guilt. Do we really think all men are capable of doing is orgasming on demand? Will they really blow up if they do not orgasm? I think not.. at least none of my partners have. I am not anti woman nor am I anti man, I just do not understand why we want to institutionalize the worst in humanity. We live in a pornified culture that comes from a patriarchal view of women what if we live in a culture that did not demand women to have sex ALL the time, have surgery to make our breasts bigger to rip out all our pubic hair, to tower on 4 inch heels... what if women were allowed to be women with all of our beautiful differences and flaws? As a former prostitute I am sad to see just how much of society is based on women acting like hookers.  

My last two statements.. as for the myth that women like to sleep with dozens and dozens and dozens of strange men why is it in men we would call this "sexual addiction' and get them help and in women we just exploit it?

Also why are women the only ones required to get health checks to make sure we are "clean" for me to buy and abuse? Why do we not make the men get checked to keep the women safe? I try to stay away from the individualistic agenda of "choice" and try to focus on the global argument that is recognizing the lealization of prostitution is an abysmal failure. There is no way to separate prostitution for organized crime, human trafficking, drugs and a myriad of other criminal activity.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/109373   

 I will end with a link to a satement by a group of ex-prostitutes that speaks volums as well as a link to a statement made by aboriginal women 

http://xpalss.org

http://www.womennet.ca/news.php?show&6300