Yesterday and today's issue.. pretty extensive and scary....  

Be careful..

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Its right there.  I  never have an idea what may or may not break the TER rules.

These are stupid & shallow articles, but what do you expect?  

Trafficking, addiction and paid companionship do not automatically go hand-in-hand. Maura Healey, Elizabeth Warren & Tito Jackson (city councilor/mayoral candidate) are smart enough to know this but can't resist the urge to jump on a bandwagon. (Not trying to start a political rant, but ....)

How about, she's a person and a provider is not defined by her relationship to a client or a comparison to who she may be in the client's life?? If they really were concerned about stopping trafficking they'd legalize and regulate it. Then providers would be safe.

They should also recognize that the vast majority of sex workers are in the business because it's profitable and they enjoy it. This doesn't mean they come every time, because a job is a job, and this is a particularly taxing one. But just as nurses enjoy helping others even when it involves a difficult task, providers also enjoy making their clients happy in a way that few would be able to. The best providers are caregivers.  

In my decades of hobbying and years of working in the business, I've met many, many capable, strong, intelligent, powerful women. I've met one or two who had issues with substances or abusive relationships too. But my point is that providers comprise of the gamut of humanity, and reducing them to one archetype reduces providers, it reduces the women who are sex workers and women who aren't, it reduces clients who are very rarely bad people, it reduces those of us who work in the industry like myself who just want to see the providers work in a safe environment. I've never given anybody drugs but I have helped our providers with graduate school essays, filled out health insurance forms, visited their pets in the hospital, and bought them lots and lots and LOTS of ice cream and pizza.

I was livid when reading it, mostly because my relationship to our providers involves mutual respect, and we certainly don't tolerate drug use. But we're niche high end. The trafficking problem does exist and it really should be dealt with. Shaming women, removing their agency, and placing them in danger is not going to help. Education and social services would. That starts with the law not subscribing to sexist and patriarchal attitudes when describing sex workers.

As an industry and as a community, let's be vigilant and watch out for each other and keep each other safe. Weed out the bad ones. If one of us--whether it's a provider or a client--needs any help, my door is open.

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I absolutely agree with you 100%..  There is a presumption that force must be involved... I have been concerned and wondering about the women who were put out of work in the most recent  crack down... if they weren't desperate.. they probably are now..  

this week I had something scheduled and rejected the location as hazardous (potentially) The location was too small for easy anonymity. The article says something about training hotel workers to spot activity.. so that means being very careful..

All the media recently is taking up and twisting everything as human trafficking...if that is the case...that is wrong and government should spend their time and our money correcting that. But that is not the case most the time, especially with what the media reports. It is their political agenda they are promoting. A very simple comparison with the article stating how the online sites are making this so easy and such a problem. Well, hell, online makes everything easier, shopping for clothes, houses, cars, computers, anything...researching people, jobs, countries, governments...that is what the web does for everything...and so it does the same thing for meeting ladies or friends or connecting with anything and everything you want. Look at Facebook and Twitter, or watching movies and listening to music. Online is not doing anything any differently with the sex business than it is doing to everything else...nothing. Perspective and accuracy, not twisting facts to try to make things look the way you want. Two consenting adults...time to stop the bullshit...this is the only country on the globe who does this stupidity.

There are many level of providers, from low end (BP) to high end, but for all the politicians, only the low end girls get the headlines, lets face it when Eliot Spitzer got caught with a escort Ashley Dupré, no one said she was being trafficked, she was just a girl that got caught being an escort. Same thing with Hugh Grant and all the other that got caught, it all depended on the amount of money they charged. Also when a girl gets busted she can use the trafficking card to get out of trouble. We all know that is going to happen a lot more now.

But your idea of making it legal is crazy, First off you are looking for the government to run this, When was the last time they did anything right?? Now you have to get the bible belt in the south to agree to this, never going to happen. Now even if you can get it done on a state by state basis, good luck with MA, with all the puritans around here.

Let's for a laugh say they do make it legal in MA, OK, now they are going make all the sex worker register with the state, so their real names and personal information is going to go into a data base for anyone to look at. Oh the ladies are going to love that idea. Now we get to the fees, licenses, taxes and rules and regulations, regular test for STD(not a bad thing) from an approved state testing site, what do you think this is going to cost, a lot of money. So the ladies are going to have to raise their rate to cover all the costs. So lets say the average rate goes up to 650+ an hour to cover all the costs. Now you think all this is going to stop the illegal escort business, NO it is going to even become more popular, since they don't have to jump thru all those hoops, they can charge a much lower rate.

Just like the idea of Legalizing pot, you will have the choice to either pay 150  to 200 an ounce of pot in a store or 80 to 100 for the guy on the street. So were are you going to buy your pot from??  

 
Now lets talk about pimps, they are no longer going to be pimps, they are going to be business managers, since you have now made prostitution a legal business, they can hire a business manager, wither they want one or not. Now the LE can't touch them since it is all legal now. So yes legalizing it would get rid of pimps.  

It's a great idea, but in the long run I don't think it will every work.  

But I do agree that something needs to be done about Human Trafficking, but I am not sure what will work the best to make it go away.  

 
P.S. I really have not idea what the price of pot is on the street or in the store, just using the numbers to make the point.

my 2 cents on the matter.

The embedded 3-minute video on The Herald articles says there is a need "to educate men about how harmful sexual EXPLOITATION is ..."  

Someone needs to educate Healey and others that encounters between CONSENTING adults are NOT SEXUAL EXPLOITATION. They can be empowering. Income thus gained is often used to gain access to new opportunities.  

I still can't see how Healey cannot recognize that State control of sexual freedom and freedom of choice is somehow wrong.  

From wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maura_Healey

 In 2007, Healey served as Chief of the Civil Rights Division, where she spearheaded the state's challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act.  
 Healey’s women’s rights platform focuses on sex education, expanding access to abortion services in Massachusetts and ensuring that every woman in Massachusetts has access to abortion regardless of where she lives, her occupation or her income.
 She is the first openly gay state attorney general elected in America.  
 She is openly gay, and lives in Charlestown, Massachusetts with her partner.

A few years ago, she would have been trying to legislate herself into a prison sentence.  

STOP REAL DRUG ABUSE. STOP REAL TRAFFICKING. SUPPORT REAL FREEDOM OF CHOICE.

-- Modified on 3/14/2017 4:20:09 PM

And it means that a bunch of newly-trained hotel workers may take their new-found skills and blackmail hotel guests to keep their mouths shut.

Decriminalization could be a better choice.  
  Good points.  
  There should be help available to anyone who wants to avoid or stay out of trouble. Help to conduct their business safely (e.g., TER advice and more). Help to escape an addiction (support and encouragement). Help to leave the business if they so choose (support and encouragement). Etc. If everyone is constantly looking over their shoulder for LE, it distracts from that.  
   Agreed. Good points.  
 

-- Modified on 3/14/2017 4:56:06 PM

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I think everyone agrees that sex trafficking should be eliminated.  However, Princess Maura seems to define trafficking as all prostitution.

Princess Maura, the Mass. AG, with an eye to running for higher office, is out to eliminate all prostitution.  

Yes, the proverbial "oldest profession" is going to be eliminated for good.  All those males that are the root of the problem will be incarcerated and stigmatized so that all females and society can live happily ever after, and our sisters, daughters and mothers will never date those horrible males ever again!!!!!!!!

Sisterhood reigns supreme.

Completely agree!
The part of the article that concerned me was the tips that le gives to hotel workers, i.e., women who check in without luggage, foot traffic or live in fairly close locales.  Do providers consider these concerns when using hotels? Maybe the girls could carry empty luggage with them when checking in?

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