Protecting Workers, Clients, And Our Community From STDs is a Priority
We must dispel the myth that sex workers are disease riddled and dirty. This is untrue, a discrimination, and just like the general population, sex workers are clean when they use safe practices.
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Most erotic workers (who may or may not have actual sex) wish to survive and make money, feed their families and thrive without risking their lives or the lives of the community.
Many workers already practice safe sex practices, however, some do not. Some workers who do not practice safe sex practices may be desperate, forced, might be addicts, in severe depression, might not know how to, etc. STDs in workers who do not use safe sex practices is usually very high, but STDs in sex workers using safe sex practices has been shown over and over again, to actually be at LOWER RATES than the general population! (Please see below for links to studies done showing the low STD rate of protected workers). The campaign aims to help the community at large and the worker population. That will not happen if disease rates shoot up after decriminalization. We must make Los Angeles a LEADER in this area. The way to to do that is decriminalize safe sex practices only so that STD rates in LA reduce after decriminalization, not rise. This protects the human and body rights of the workers as well as the human and body rights of the community of non-workers, who should be helped by decrim, not harmed. |
The campaign decriminalizes only STD safe condom wearing (eg: latex or synthetic rubber, not lambskin, etc) sexual acts and no fluid exchanges as is practiced in the legal brothels of Pahrump, Nevada.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE BILL'S FULL TEXT
This will keep unsafe practices from being advertised on websites. It will protect workers who wish to be safe, from being forced into unsafe acts due to the necessity of competition and survival. We want to raise the level of safety for all workers, not drag currently safety operating workers into harm. No worker should be forced into undesired, unsafe practices. This would be a form of rape, will destroy workers self esteems, force many out of business into homelessness, and will harm MANY workers as well as risk the population at large, make decrim look bad and be practically useless.
Workers themselves will police this (but can be aided by authorities), as most workers do not wish to be undercut by those who are doing unsafe things, and want instead to be proud of themselves, their bodies, their hustle, their work, and their life. Many workers have very high self esteem and will not support anything that will undermine their ability to protect themselves.
A quote from the New Zealand study shows just how happy a sex worker is to have the law backing her up in her ability to protect herself:
I now say, "I don't want your germs, do you want mine? I could be fined and go to jail, and if you take it off, then I could send you to jail." -Page 50 of the New Zealand Study
Workers themselves will police this (but can be aided by authorities), as most workers do not wish to be undercut by those who are doing unsafe things, and want instead to be proud of themselves, their bodies, their hustle, their work, and their life. Many workers have very high self esteem and will not support anything that will undermine their ability to protect themselves.
A quote from the New Zealand study shows just how happy a sex worker is to have the law backing her up in her ability to protect herself:
I now say, "I don't want your germs, do you want mine? I could be fined and go to jail, and if you take it off, then I could send you to jail." -Page 50 of the New Zealand Study
Check Out These Studies Which Show STDs Lower In Safe Sex Decriminalization Conditions:
PAHRUMP, NEVADA:
This is one area of the USA which allows decriminalized sex work in brothels only. The brothels operate under strict safe sex practices only: the clients must submit to a visual inspection before proceeding (commonly euphemized as a "dick check"), there is a strict condom only policy, and no fluid exchange, as fluids can spread the incurable hepatitis C, mono, common non STD diseases and more.
Because of these safety practices, here are the results published in the LA Times!!
"Study of Brothel Prostitutes Finds Little Venereal Disease : Health: Nevada houses fund research by ex-UCLA professor. Infection has fallen to near zero since condoms were required.
Richwald and his fellow researchers surveyed more than 7,000 tests made on 246 Chicken Ranch prostitutes between 1982 and 1989. They found no cases of the AIDS virus--no Nevada brothel prostitute has ever tested positive for it--and only two cases in which prostitutes tested positive for syphilis, both in 1982.
More striking were the results of gonorrhea tests. Chicken Ranch prostitutes had tested positive on 19 occasions between 1982 and 1985. But since 1986, when condoms were made mandatory there, only one instance of gonorrhea was reported.
Statewide, positive gonorrhea tests at brothels fell from 173 in 1985 to 30 last year.
“It may be safer to have sex with a licensed prostitute than with anybody else except your wife or your monogamous partner,” [Richwald] said in his office at the back of an old, cramped county bungalow in Downey."
This is one area of the USA which allows decriminalized sex work in brothels only. The brothels operate under strict safe sex practices only: the clients must submit to a visual inspection before proceeding (commonly euphemized as a "dick check"), there is a strict condom only policy, and no fluid exchange, as fluids can spread the incurable hepatitis C, mono, common non STD diseases and more.
Because of these safety practices, here are the results published in the LA Times!!
"Study of Brothel Prostitutes Finds Little Venereal Disease : Health: Nevada houses fund research by ex-UCLA professor. Infection has fallen to near zero since condoms were required.
Richwald and his fellow researchers surveyed more than 7,000 tests made on 246 Chicken Ranch prostitutes between 1982 and 1989. They found no cases of the AIDS virus--no Nevada brothel prostitute has ever tested positive for it--and only two cases in which prostitutes tested positive for syphilis, both in 1982.
More striking were the results of gonorrhea tests. Chicken Ranch prostitutes had tested positive on 19 occasions between 1982 and 1985. But since 1986, when condoms were made mandatory there, only one instance of gonorrhea was reported.
Statewide, positive gonorrhea tests at brothels fell from 173 in 1985 to 30 last year.
“It may be safer to have sex with a licensed prostitute than with anybody else except your wife or your monogamous partner,” [Richwald] said in his office at the back of an old, cramped county bungalow in Downey."
So, Richwald and researchers found ZERO incidences of AIDS among brothel workers EVER, no syphilis since the safe sex practices were installed, and only one case of gonorrhea, with gonorrhea rates falling fast since safety practices were installed.
Because brothels can be sued if a client is given an STD by one, these brothels have perfected the practice of keeping their workers and clients safe, and will be the guidelines which this campaign uses for decriminalization.
Because brothels can be sued if a client is given an STD by one, these brothels have perfected the practice of keeping their workers and clients safe, and will be the guidelines which this campaign uses for decriminalization.
NEW ZEALAND:
New Zealand decriminalized safe sex work only, and set out a guide with the required safe sex practices (the OSH guide). They then did a massive study on the results and impact of this decriminalization 5 years later and here were the results; the number of sex workers remained the same before and after decriminalization; the number of clients went up three times, there was zero sex trafficking, workers and their children now have rights and safety protections, rapes in the country have gone down and now this on STDs:
"In 2007, the AIDS Epidemiology Group reported to the Ministry of Health on HIV prevalence amongst 9,439 people who attended sexual health clinics in 2005 and 2006 (AIDS Epidemiology Group, 2007). The report notes that NONE of the 343 self identified sex-workers were found to be infected with HIV. This compared to an HIV prevalence of about 4.4% among homosexual and bisexual men. 0.1% of heterosexual women, and 0.1% of heterosexual men. "
Click to read page 50 of the New Zealand Report: Incidences of Aids is LOWER in the sex worker population than in the general population.
New Zealand has also been encouraging street workers, who are typically more at risk of violence and often use less safe sex protection than indoor workers, into housing and safer conditions so that STD rates fall even more and safety rises not only for the workers, but also for the general population on the streets.
RHODE ISLAND, USA:
A recently released study found some positive effects in Rhode Island after the state accidentally made indoor prostitution legal for seven years. Decriminalizing indoor prostitution was linked to fewer STDs and fewer rapes. (Indoor workers are more likely to use protection and safety practices than street workers.) Click here to see the full article.
"Decriminalizing prostitution linked to fewer STDs and rapes
Shah and Cunningham also studied rates of gonorrhea incidence post-decriminalization using the Centers for Disease Control’s Gonorrhea Surveillance Program data, and data on forcible rape offenses and other crimes comes from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports.
Key findings from the study show that there were 31 percent or 824 fewer reported rapes and a decrease of approximately 2000 cases of gonorrhea during the seven years indoor prostitution was decriminalized. The authors note that the results suggest that “decriminalization could have potentially large social benefits for the population at large — not just sex market participants.”"