Have you guys seen the documentary Tricked? Just saw it on Netflix. I'm posting this on the LV messageboard because half the documentary focuses on LV - referred to as the "ground zero for human trafficking in the US."

Makes me wonder if there are any true independent girls out there. Most hobbyists probably don't care about why providers do what they do, but after watching the documentary, I think I'm done with this hobby (though I've barely even gotten my feet wet). I really wish I had seen this documentary before I started doing this. I'm not into being with a provider who doesn't want to be there or is being manipulated into thinking she wants to be there.  

To the ladies I've seen, I hope you're doing what you're doing by choice. And if you're not, remember there is always a choice whether you know it or not.  

The hobbyists who have been doing this for a while now probably won't care for the documentary (as it pertains to their hobbying) but to those who just started (like myself), the documentary is worth a view. Makes you think about the girls who have a "boyfriend" or "driver" or "assistant." Or that text or call that the provider received when she lost track of time. Or that glimmer of sadness you caught in a provider's eye when she thought you weren't looking.

If you're set in your ways, just ignore this. But yea, this isn't for me. I can't tell when a woman is lying to me, let alone a provider. If you think you can, you're just fooling yourself. But maybe that's the point.

You (and I suspect the movie) are conflating the issue of human trafficking with freely entered into sex work.  

There is little doubt that human trafficking and child trafficking run through Las Vegas and every other major metropolitan area in the country.  It is a tremendous problem and a tragedy for the young people caught up in it.  There have been incidents in my home town of traffickers bringing young women into the country on the promise of a job and then take their passports and force them to work in brothels.  One girl mentioned in news reports was forced to have sex up to 40 times per day.  In that instance, the men running the ring received lengthy prison sentences.

What is happening now is that the Feds have offered local police department grants to fight human trafficking.  A local department near where I live made three run-of-the-mill busts on a sting operation at a hotel.  The spokesperson for the department was quoted in the press as saying it was fighting human trafficking, but all those arrest were ordinary Johns.  No one was looking for an underage provider.  They described it as human trafficking to justify spending grant money.

Some women start providing because they find themselves in desperate circumstances and simply need to make a living.  I know one provider who started after she lost her business and needed to help her son through college.  If you want to read a story about a couple of women who were victimized by the legal system.  Check out stories in the Washington Post about the D.C. Madam.

Can a hobbyist absolutely tell that a woman is independent versus pimped?  No.  

There are couple of things one can do to minimize the chances unwittingly participating in a human trafficking:

Avoid providers that claim to be or appear to be very young.  This is an activity for adults only and we are all safer by making sure we are interacting with people who have sufficient maturity to understand the risks associated with it.
Stick to well established, well reviewed providers.  
Avoid casino girls and certainly street walkers.
Be suspicious of a brand new provider who immediately has professionally taken photos and well designed website.  (I tend to think this means someone is pulling the strings)

Garg. Another one-sided presentation of all sex work as victimization and trafficking of the unwilling and/or minors. Of course nobody supports human trafficking and exploitation and of course it should be illegal. But guess what? There are countries where sex work among informed consenting adults is regulated and legal and the problems described in this documentary while not completely eliminated are reduced. And when there are fewer illegal traffickers it should be easier for law enforcement to handle.

A documentary on this subject without a sex worker positive perspective as balance is pure propaganda. It is not a serious examination of a real problem. So many Americans seem oblivious to the idea that making some things illegal usually results in an even worse situation. We are finally seeing the light with respect to Marijuana legalization and the useless war on drugs, maybe someday we will get the notion that sex between consenting adults is fine even when money is exchanged.

But I want to emphasize, human trafficking and pimping is abhorrent and any method of reducing it should be explored.

Its crazy how negative people think on providers.... All the BS you see on TV just does that to make you think wrong..to me there's levels to this profession... The girls that walk tropicana and boulder are the lowest of the low... There are so many providers WHO ARE INDEPENDENT AND REALLY DO ENJOY THIS... DONT BELIEVE THAT BS... IF YOUR HEARTS IN IT THEN YOUR HEARTS IN IT... DONT LET THAT STUPID DOCUMENTARY CHange your idea on US..

No one has forced me to do this or participate. I enjoy the hobby and enjoy being a provider. That being said there are some I am sure who hate it but need the money to raise their families or whatever the case may be. Every provider I have talked with is independent and enjoys being here as well. Sorry you have a negative spin on this but not all of us are unhappy about being in this world.  

Just my two cents

Ashley Marie, I loved what you said I completely agree there needs to be a more positive attitude towards this industry and even towards each other. Granted human trafficking is a huge problem world wide but not every woman in this industry is unhappy or forced into it, I know and have known many married couples who are both sex workers and are quite happy and functional.  

I think of myself as a sexually empowered woman, i'm very sexual by nature, I both provide and hobby and do adult films, I love it and embrace it. However it has been proven through out history that society and a lot of men have a issue with women who feel sexually empowered sometimes people find it threatening. It's generally more accepted when guys are sexual, I remember so many guys in college would make it a game to have sex with as many women as possible and that was fine they would high five each other etc. Then switch the tables and a girl who would do exactly what the guys do would get labeled as trashy, slut etc.

In general the tables are not balanced in media because all you see or hear about mostly is the bad. It is so rare you hear the good stories of all the men, women and t-girls in this industry who are educated, happy functional and healthy. It really is a shame because I know many great providers in this industry who are amazing people that do a lot of positive things for the community and the world. I am hopeful that one day people will open their minds more and really get things into prospective and be more accepting, even if they disagree.

 

I have not seen the film you are referring to .. bu I will get it today and have a look at it.

Right now I am being filmed in a my day to day life for a documentary about providers, so hopefully I can shed some different points on the matter.  There will be other providers filmed as well.  BUt ive worked here and overseas, and in particularly in Austalia where sex work is legal, everyone gets more protection.. the girls are more protected from being hurt or ripped off by clients... in 18 years Ive only had ONE incident (and the man had aspergers he didnt intentionally cross the line it was his miunderstanding).  Likewise hobbyists are protected (ive heard lots of stories of guys getting ripped off by girls, beaten by pimps all kinds of crazy stuff in Vegas).  Also, workers have to get health checks monthly. We get free services like healthcare,HEP immunizations, financial advisors..lots of things.
Brothel owners have very very thorough background checks to pass before they can operate.
Pimping is illegal. For the most part the industry runs really well and all parties are happy. (trust me.. im only in the US for family reasons, its much easier at home)
If the US followed suit there would be much less of a problem - girls inclined to get into sex work would have a safe environment to go to.

 
Although I havent seen this doco yet I can tell you straight up tha the info you mentioned is wrong.
LV is not the groundzero in the US.
Atlanta and Houston are the highest hubs of human trafficking with major cali cities such as LA, San diego and San fran not far behind..and portland, Oregon.

On a side rant. I could get on the topic of brothels in Nevada many of which which require the women to live in for weeks at a time, many counties wont allow the girls to drive or own a vehicle, they are locked down in the brothels.. AND ITS LEGAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The system here is REALLY broken and backwards and as always its all about greasing palms.

But to the topic at hand: While I obviously do not condone human trafficking and not denying that it goes on - I feel there is a repitition of a millenium years old demonizng of anything to do with sex going on here, whilst distracting from the other big culprits whom I will discuss in detail below.

paternalistic religions have tried to demonize sex since written history began.  Can't have women running around making money off their vaginas.. no!!! They need to enslaved to a man (marriage).  Prostitution is natural and found even in the animal kingdom - female penguins trade sex for pebbles... true story.  But no these evil women must be stopped because it doesnt fit into the patriachal paradigm.  So by way of media (as always), people are scared into believeing stories that ALL sex workers are enslaved, mistreated, supporting a loser husband or drug addict boyfriend....  And its just not true. I have worked for a good number of years in the US.. with Agencies and as an Indy (which is why you dont see any of my old reviews they were when I was an agency girl and TER wouldnt let me connect my old account due to absence of  few years while I was back in Australia). And the agencies I worked for here were fantatsic.  Sure I paid them a cut but I was happy not to screen, to always have as many clients as I would like, not have to worry about travel plans - everything was taken of for me and I was glad to pay for that.  Many girls are happy to do that.

I like being Indy now because im experienced I know the ropes.  But I do it because I enjoy it. And all the indy girls I know feel the same.

So while you are feeling bad for all the poor girls out there stop and take a minute to think about the other slaves you forgot to think about today. Drank coffee this morning? slaves picked that. Got dressed this morning? Slaves made those threads.. those shoes? Kids made those.. ate choloate lately? Biggest industry of child slaves after fashion is cocoa.. buy a diamond watch/earring/ring/anything with a diamond in it? slaves and blood money got those diamonds out of Africa.  Stay in hotels? lots of immigrants on staff with their passports being held. and on it goes...Theres actually an online list of countries and products using slave labour:  http://www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/list-of-goods/

But those things are marketable to the zombified consumers and run by big big corporations.. the same ones who pay for the big ads in the same media who use sex to promote products but demonize women for making a buck off it.  See the hypocrisy here?

 
Anyway the point of my rant is that yes! human trafficking in sex work needs to stop but quitting the hobby altogether just because it happens is like giving up coffee chocolate or staying in hotels  ... an extreme meausure which will make you feel good about yourself but doesnt really benefit anyone.

Although this silly US system makes it hard for us.. there are plenty of lovely happy, healthy, financially independant  ladies here on TER and other hobby forums whom you can spend time with.

Dont throw the baby out with the bath water

Everyone is as independent as they claim to be, but I do not think they are necessarily working against their free will on this board.  Trafficking is more common on sites like Backpage, in spas, and women who work the street.  I like the idea of a woman getting 100% of the consideration, since the other party is basically doing nothing to earn their portion.

We are all getting pimped in this world, because we all have to pay taxes to a bunch of politicians who sit around making up laws for us to obey.  So from now on I will masturbate and live naked on a tropical island and eat berries.  I won't worry about health care for when it is my time, the insects will consume my body and I will leave little environmental impact on the earth.

I obviously have no problem with independent providers - if I did, then I would never have started in this hobby. Truly independent providers provide an invaluable service in our society. I would be all for the legalization and regulation of the hobby, for the protection of both providers and hobbyists.  

But the idea that trafficking victims are the ones walking the streets and posting on BP is false. When I first started hobby, I naively thought trafficking victims were exclusively immigrants who were tricked into coming to the US and had no legal means of escaping their predicament. One of the victims in the documentary is a young, middle-class, all-American girl who could pass for at least a dozen of the high class 400-600 providers who advertise exclusively on sites like this. And that's one of the valid points made in the documentary. Girls and women are literally being kidnapped and coerced (physically or psychologically) from our own backyards.

I'm sure there are plenty of truly independent providers, but the problem is, how can a hobbyist tell? Sure there factors that one can take into account to minimize the chances of being an unwilling participant in trafficking. But for me, if there is any chance at all that even a dollar ends up in the hands of a trafficker, then that is too much for me.  

The point of starting this thread was to inform those that are thinking of getting into the hobby or those that just started hobbying and did not know this was going on. Because had I known, I never would have started.

Well said.

I'm a consitiutionalist libertarian not an anarchist.. I think theres a place for politicians and rules.. but you are right I DO believe politicians pimp us..  there are many career politicians in congress on big salaries.  I've said many times and will say again- the founding fathers of this country risked beheading for treason to bring us freedom from excessive taxes. They're rolling in their graves. Put politicians on MINIMUM WAGE and see how many people want to do the job!... and yes there WILL be those few people who will step up because they care about their country their neighbors their communities enough to do the job because they care.  I spent the majority of the past 4 years as a volunteer in 3rd world places because I truly care.  So I know there are people who would step up.  But career politician .. pffft .. biggest pimps of all.
Not all libertarins are aganist taxes.. many of us believe that needs to be some way to fund things which are necessary. Currently 45% of revenue comes from income tax and 55% from Excise tax, fees and corporate tax... we could scrap income tax altogether and still big government at the same level as in the 90's.  We can fund the necessary things, no problem ...But  huge bailout for failing companies is not one of them.. foregin aid at $8 million dollars PER DAY to Israel while Americans go homeless and starving is NOT one of them. etc etc.
Under a free market health system prices would be forced lower, scraping stupid FDA regulations which protect only big pharma by withholding traditional or natural treatments would allow more people access to a greater variety of medicines and under the libertarian proposal all health care costs would be 100% tax deductable.  

Anyway its a discussion for the political board the topic at hand was slavery... though your original point..  

we are slaving to polticians? well just another reason I work in a cash based industry

ill mannered.

END OF MESSAGE

Awwww.... no problem ...you can love me one session at a time

XOX

I can tell you I am 100% independant! My consideration is all mine when I leave!