Like him or not, consider him effective or not much more than another politico talking-head, it seems New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s has a good idea…at least where sex work is concerned. It was revealed this week that the Mayor is calling on state-wide decriminalization of sex workers. The mayor claims energy instead should be focused on the apprehension and full legal consequence being leveled on those who exploit and profit from the human trafficking. Like most writers I know who work in the adult field have been on about for years, sex work and sex trafficking are very often combined in the old “painting with a big brush” sweep of the facts. But one is not the other. And while the former should certainly not be illegal (in my humble opinion), the latter most reasoned people would agree is heinous and should have the law focusing its full attention (energy) on, the two are often lumped together when politicians, theologians, or supposed judges of social mores get their dander up. It’s nice to see someone acknowledging they are not the same and maybe making some headway on treating the issues sanely. In New York City, sex work has certainly gone completely underground over the past few decades. In his attempt to clean-up (some would say “Disney-fy”) the Times Square area of Manhattan, Mayor Rudy Guliani (again, another public servant many as much like as not) rid midtown Manhattan, especially the infamous 42nd street, of its naughty movie theaters, ‘peep show’ palaces and prostitution. Not that porn was doing big business any longer in movie houses by Guliani’s time (it had been supplanted by first videotape, then DVD and now downloading) or that lots of the prostitutes had not moved out of the 42nd street area (it became even too dangerous for them) or that there are not some good old sex shop/strip booth places still in existence in the surrounding area. But sex work, as it used to exist in New York, is no more. As it has always been in some parts of Nevada, if de Blasio were to legalize prostitution (at the very least), the state could gain from taxing sex workers. The workers could see some legislated health regulations as well as some sure safety protocols put into place. All very good things indeed. Time will only tell.
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