Prostitution
One of your comments brought to my attention the subject of “sex workers” or another term is “prostitution.”
I recently read an article in the July/August 2008 issue of “Sexual Assault Report” based on the book by Jody Raphael “Listening to Olivia: Violence, Poverty, and Prostitution. The article says that the public fails to recognize the huge toll prostitution takes on the women involved. Few voices favoring legalization of prostitution are actually from those working in the sex trades. Women in prostitution must perform in isolated situations in which they are subject to physical and verbal abuse, causing many to rely on alcohol or drugs to cope with the danger as well as pain and humiliation. This calls attention to violence against women in all its manifestations and venues.
The article also states that we need a publicly financed campaign to give teen girls information about the prostitution industry and its recruitment strategies and how to seek help to get out.
In the service that I do that involves violence to each other, there are recurring themes in the literature that I encourage you to ponder: Males are entitled. Women and children are the property of the entitled.