Any one going to this ?

Where's the info on Internet prostitution? None. It's a hotter topic and evokes more sympathy among researchers, and get's more grants of course, if it's all about downtrodden people at major risk. I guess it's more like sour grapes for postdocs and struggling academics if you have to study beautiful women who make a couple of 100K's a year, and who run their lives with a minimum of dysfunction. No one cares about us, except LE and the IRS when notified.

Beautiful women making 100s of thousands a year with minimum dysfuntion will be chronicled in the tabloids and on Access Hollywood with Charlie Sheen. So you really can't feel sorry for yourself  until you make Page 6.

I think there is an serious underbelly to prostitution that I am glad is being discussed somewhere. Women that are being trafficked, abused, tortured, and who knows what deserve a forum. The idea that teenaged girls are being forced into this life is appalling. You might want to donate some of your "earnings" to support causes where women are real victims. Without the efforts of those struggling academics and former prostitutes, these crimes would go unchecked moreso than they are today.

sponcered by SWOP (Sex Worker's Outreach Project)

The emphasis at that convention was on changing laws so that the type of sex work represented by the members of this board could become legal (as it is somewhat in Canada, the UK and especially New Zealand.)

Reading the descriptions of topics at this convention seems to be emphasizing the need to keep prostitution illegal and to "rescue" all of us from ourselves.

To be sure, there is a problem with forced prostituion in the world and that should be discussed, but I am suspicious of the motives of at least some of the people here.

Rarely does law enforcement on these matter make the situation better.  Look at this nation's drug policies for a dramatic example.

The only favorable voice I see in the whole group is Carol Leigh of Coyote in the Bay area.

I would consider going as a kind of bookend to the Las Vegas meeting but alas, I am committed for that weekend.

If anyone on this board does attend, I'd be grateful for a synopsis.

and decriminalization are both admirable goals, but for the street level prostitute and those who are forced, coerced, pimped, traffiked, drugged-out, etc., someone has to speak up on their behalf. Would you pay the rates you pay if you had to risk life and limb to get the pleasure you now enjoy? I doubt it and when you consider the women and men we are talking about are light years away from the seedy world that this conference supports. The lady making 100s is real as we both know, but she's hardly got problems when you consider the person who HAS to be in this life.

You are absolutely right!
I once had a 12 year old student who was prostituted by her mother for heroin money. Her mother did this to her! It was awful. Just awful awful.
Social services were trying to get her out of her home, but new mexico is one of the country's largest slackers in social welfare.

There has never been anything that has saddened me deeply like this in my life.

Conferences like the one posted are indeed a blessing for situations similar to this.

De-criminalization of prostitution would help girls and women that are forced into prostitution. Current laws actually inhibits aid to girls and women that are forced into sex slavery by making it less likely that they can seek refuge with law agencies as protection against their slave masters. Also, de-criminalization will remove the need of law enforcement agencies to close down legitimate shops where ladies are working because they want to, and allow them to go after the abusive shops and the johns that use them on a sustained basis.
The problem that I have with conferences such as the one being discussed is that they lack balance concernining the subject of prostitution. Enslaving and prostituting girls and women is horrible and the people that are responsible and the johns that use the services should be relentlessly pursued and given life jail sentences - but unfortunately the goal of some people that attend such conferences is denial of erotic services to all users of the services, even ones that would never, ever consider touching an obviously underage girl or a woman that shows signs that she would prefer not to be offering erotic services.  
On ladies that make several $100k escorting, more power to them. I hope that they are investing all extra cash well. They should not feel any more of a need to contribute to a cause than you or I would.

won't make the specter of human slavery go away, it just means that you'll have less to get the traffikers on and that becomes another problem altogether. What little LE that exists never goes after the real perps and that's where the shame is for a country that could send a real message, but you see, sex trumps even money.

And it's funny that she identified with the group up to a point but dismissed it as sour grapes because no topic was on the agenda for the "beautiful ones." I say stay UTR as much as possible because if and when it's legalized, the 100s she's making will likely shrink because anyone with a face and body will join the game because it will still likely pay more than minimum wage.

As for causes, you are right, we should only give to things that are within our conscience to do so or burn at the stake for caring about issues no matter who they impact.

will cause prices to plumet:

From what I've heard and seen, this has not been the case in countries that allow legal sex work.

I think that regarding the task, the time and all involved, the prices charged are fairly reasonable.

I do not agree that decriminalization would make the problem of sexual slavery worse. I think that cops will be able to better focus on abusers or girls and women and put them out of business if legitimate escort services were decriminalized.
The problem of sexual slavery will go away for good only when the people that use the services look into their hearts and realize that it is wrong to have sex with sex slaves.
Continue to care about and take action on any life problem that touches your heart, that shows your humanity and that is a good characteristic to have in an increasingly hard world.

None of it is an issue of prostitution.  It's an issue of slavery.  When it comes to sexual slavery, it's more foul because it also involves systemetic rape and child molestation-- and guys specifically turned on by it.

By wrapping it into the issue of prostitution, LE is able to make the case that they wouldn't have much to get slavers and pimps on.  To the contrary: they will at least have a lot more informants.  The word will get to legit women in the business through clients and these women will gladly turn them in.  Some better clients who inadvertantly find themselves in a slavery house instead of a bordello might turn them in.  

Plus, think of the diversion of police resources: rather than go after slavers, the police will fill their arrest statistics by going after prostitutes.  It's like shooting fish in a barrel, and it's safer than going after real criminals.  

If bringing traffickers down is a priority how difficult can this be, really?  Unlike drugs, slaves are difficult to transport, difficult to keep under wraps, difficult to maintain.  The biggest trafficking ring in the midwest in the late 1990's, the Evans Ring, was brought down when two teenagers talked to police. It seems that in this case, they didn't need much more to get the traffickers on.  All LE had to do was pay attention.

It's another reason, BTW, that I think the magnitude of the problem is exaggerated, at least in the US.  The stats are a matter of guess work, and LE has an interest in puffing them to get more money for their anti-prostitution efforts.  

-- Modified on 9/3/2006 7:34:11 PM

So many of the ladies out there in provider land, pay zero in taxes.

Having to come up with several K a month ago, does hurt, but it beat the hell out of Leavenworth.