On May 19, 2009, at 2:06 PM, Doug Henwood wrote:
On May 19, 2009, at 1:54 PM, raghu wrote:
I mean, doesn't it bother you that there are women in such desperate
poverty that they are forced to sell their body to survive?
This is a long debate, and not for PEN-L, but there are a lot of
women (and some men) in the sex work business who would disagree
vehemently.
But disagree with what? Surely they wouldn't disagree with the fact
that "there are women in such desperate poverty that they are forced
to sell their body to survive"? They may believe that NOT all women
who sell their bodies do so out of desperate poverty and for reasons
of survival. But that doesn't refute the stated point, since there is
no double implication as it is stated.
IOW, the statement as expressed skirts the contentious issue of
whether "sex work" is possible or can exist in the absence of
desperate poverty.
In fact, the right argues thus (or similarly), do they not? "Some
women choose sex work, therefore no woman does it against her will or
choice".
It may be clearer if we said "there are human rights issues with
prostitution", rather than "prostitution as a human rights issue". But
among human activities, prostitution today surely lies on that part of
the line where the human rights violations far outnumber the instances
of free choice, don't you think?
--ravi
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