One of my favorite things on The Blog is answering questions submitted by visitors. In the past I’ve done a series of “Answering Your Questions” posts, but now I want to have a permanent, ongoing Q & A page. Anyone can submit their questions here and I’ll answer them.
Submit a Question:
Answers:
How do you feel about the “Nordic model” for legalizing Sex Work? Should America adopt it?
Hope, Los Angeles CA
I do not support the Nordic model. For those who are not familiar with it, under what is called the “Nordic model”, selling sex is not illegal, but buying it is. Those who support this kind of quasi-legalization claim that this removes the threat of arrest from the lives of Sex Workers, and only punishes those who would buy sex. This supposed idea is to prevent the exploitation of women. In reality, this is a useless practice. It does not really help Sex Workers because it doesn’t create any real freedom or justice for those involved. And it potentially limits the pool of available clients. Since buying sex is illegal, it is easier for law enforcement to target potential clients.
I only support the full decriminalization of all Consensual Transactional Sex. Nothing less that full decriminalization will truly give freedom, validation, justice, and protection to Sex Workers & their clients.
Do you think there should be an industry standard for hourly rates for Sex Workers? Wouldn’t that be better than the random rates women charge now?
HungDude, San Jose CA
I do not think there should be any sort of “standardized rates” for Sex Work. This activity is far too variable for any sort of standardizing of rates. The costs that Sex Workers incur can differ tremendously, making it impossible to set any sort of average for the their overhead expenses. And to that the reality that Sex Workers each have their own needs and goals for the number of clients they see. These are just a small number of the variables that go into how an individual Sex Worker sets their rate schedule.
A standard rate across the industry–even within a specific geographical area–is both unrealistic and unfair. The experiences offered are too variable to have any sort of way to objectively quantify their value.
The reality is that Sex Work is truly the epitome of capitalism. And frankly, I think that is a good thing.
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