Brothel-based sex workers 'enjoy their jobs'
Thursday Mar 1 14:02 AEDT
Legal prostitutes are just as happy as women with regular day jobs, according to a survey reporting high job satisfaction in parts of the sex industry.
But illegal workers who sell sex on the streets had a much grimmer outlook, with half saying they had been raped or bashed in the past year.
The unique survey compared the mental and physical health of nearly 250 Queensland prostitutes, aged 18 to 57, who worked in registered brothels, at home or street side.
Legal workers reported similar job satisfaction to women in the general community, but street workers were far less happy in the job.
"The general picture is that those women whose families know about their work reported greater job satisfaction than those who kept their work secret," said researcher Charlotte Seib.
Asked why they entered the industry, 82 per cent said they did it for the money and 52 per cent pointed to the flexible working hours.
"And 39 per cent said they had a particular goal in mind such as a new car, a house or a holiday," said Ms Seib, from Queensland University of Technology.
One in four of the women surveyed had a Bachelor degree or higher, which is contrary to the popular stereotype that sex workers came from socially disadvantaged backgrounds.
More than 60 per cent were employed before joining the industry.
Legal workers were mentally on par with other women but street workers were far less psychologically stable.
Ms Seib said the reasons for this were complex but probably stemmed from higher rates of child abuse, illicit drug use and violence on the job.
About half said they had been raped or bashed by a client in the past year compared with 12 per cent of private workers and just three per cent of brothel workers.
This proved that legalisation of the industry had been effective for those working within legal boundaries but street workers were still at risk, Ms Seib said.
HPLASOps From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 1, posted (6 years 2 months 3 weeks 2 days 11 hours ago) and read 2773 times:
A lot of the arguments against de-criminalizing prostitution are actually very weak. One of the main ones is how dangerous it is to women. That's bogus because prostitution is only dangerous because it is illegal. Legal brothels are some of the cleanest, most efficiently run facilities in the country. I saw a Showtime special about the legalization of prostitution. It highlighted one of the legal brothels here in Nevada. Every girl is tested weekly, condoms are abundant everywhere, the facilities are very well secured (partly because they are so far out of town), a sound payment system is in place so the girls know they get paid, and most importantly, because it is legal, if a guy gets out of line the police can be called to resolve the situation. An illegal prostitute does not have these options, which is why illegal prostitution is dangerous.
Quoting Melpax (Thread starter): Legal prostitutes are just as happy as women with regular day jobs, according to a survey reporting high job satisfaction in parts of the sex industry.
I think a lot of women who engage in legal prostitution enjoy the power they have over men along with the earning potential. I'm all in favor of decriminalizing it - as long as there are women willing to provide the service and men willing to pay for it, let the market be free. Or as George Carlin said: "Why is it illegal to pay something you're allowed to get for free?"
BHMNONREV From Australia, joined Aug 2003, 1283 posts, RR: 4 Reply 6, posted (6 years 2 months 3 weeks 2 days 5 hours ago) and read 2636 times:
Quoting Cumulus (Reply 2): I wouldn't pay for sex anyway, but let alone with a 57 year old!!
Unless you are abusing yourself with your right hand, you are paying for it in one way or another. Or in the case of Charlie Sheen, he does not pay to have sex with women, he pays them to leave afterwards...
RichPhitzwell From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 9, posted (6 years 2 months 3 weeks 2 days 3 hours ago) and read 2558 times:
Legalized brothels have to be one of the most honest work environments. At least they know they are going to get f'ed at work, unlike the rest of us who get f'ed at work but everybody pretends otherwise.
Fumanchewd From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 10, posted (6 years 2 months 3 weeks 2 days 1 hour ago) and read 2500 times:
I've heard that some women who work regular jobs will drop in to work at Nevada brothels for a few weeks a year. They can make in the range of $25K over that short timeframe. I suppose they may walk funny for a while, but for $25K its probably worth it.
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