although that will be at the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality - a fascinating conference with lots of very interesting topics, mine included.

Check the link for the SSSS event please,
The Love Goddess

Well, dfwjim123,

I'd be just as careful with the kind of statement "large percent of men see prostitutes" as I would be with the statement that "prostitutes have been sexually abused." In addition, I'm wondering if you really have any statistical evidence for the fact that "most prostitutes online in US are Americans who are in the profession by choice."

What we need so desperately are large scale quantitative studies of an activity in which the participants on both sides are heavily stigmatized; until we do, neither side appears credible under empirical scrutiny.

I will say this - there is certainly a large-scale agenda to demonize clients and endow sex workers with victim-status.  This has to do with seeking public funding for causes, political favors, special interest groups, etc.. Unfortunately, many in the social science community are confusing their own values with methods of inquiry and facts become distorted - as you pointed out in your posting - although the purpose is not the distortion per se, but to "rescue" people that at best don't need to be rescued or at worst don't even exist [stats for sex trafficking victims are grossly conflated or misinterpreted in many NGO reports.]

It will be most interesting to see the reception my presentation will get,
The Love Goddess

I am presenting on the Value of Sex Work.  Two of the major people involved support sex worker rights, and understand the difference between the perspectives of choice, circumstance and coercion.  In the past there has been difficulty in finding common ground with anti-traffickers, and that is not always the fault of the anti-traffickers.  Some sex worker rights activists *can be* a bit hard to swallow when they come in blazing guns and being argumentative.  I have found that a more subtle approach allows for greater understanding.

There ARE *some* that think all forms of sex work need to be abolished, that any form of sex work including stripping and porn degrades women.  This is why it's important to have those of us that buy/sell sexual services to represent, and to do so in a way that does not work against us by being over emotional or with a chip on our shoulders.  

If you don't want the facts to be distorted, we must stand up and have our voices be heard.  All these people see are women and children that are either victims of trafficking or in marginalized situations.  The men that seek these women out DO tend to be those that do not value women...they are not wrong about that.  But there is MUCH MORE they don't see, and the only way for them to change the perspective they rightfully have is to give them better information.

I hope to see some of you there, speaking up about your experiences and for our rights as American citizens...to privacy, to sexual freedoms, and to personal choice.

All my best,

xoM