The Long Island women's real killer: Bodies are the price for society criminalising prostitution...

The Long Island women's real killer
The bodies on the beach are the price for society criminalising prostitution and forcing sex workers into dangerous marginality

Melissa Gira Grant
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 11 May 2011


There is no such thing as "just" a prostitute.

Despite what one Long Island resident called the women found dead between Oak Beach and Gilgo Beach since last December, whose names we now know, the common thread they share isn't just sex work and Craigslist – they are each someone's beloved. Sex workers are our daughters and sisters, sons and brothers. They raise and provide for families, sometimes at great personal risk, and in many cases, while breaking the law. Those laws against prostitution contribute to a social economy of violence against sex workers, where serial killers are simply the most visible perpetrator.

Prostitution itself is a relatively recent criminal offence in the United States. Until the early 20th century, the act of selling sex was not a crime in most states. Instead, people engaged in prostitution were charged with violating broad laws against vagrancy, disorderly conduct and "night walking" meant to ensure order in the public square by removing people, however unjustifiably, deemed at odds with that order.

Today, women, men and transgender people who are targeted in anti-prostitution street sweeps and internet stings may be charged with breaking laws against solicitation, but not all sex workers face the consequences of the law equally. Those who can afford to find clients away from the street, who have a mobile phone or computer access, are less likely to interact with the police. For those who are arrested, if they are in possession of condoms, these may be confiscated and used to build a case for prostitution against them. False arrest – sometimes, simply for walking in an area known for prostitution – is not uncommon, particularly for young people, people of colour, LGBTQ people and people perceived as gender nonconforming. In this fashion, discrimination and economics regulate the sex trade in tandem with the legal system. As a result, the impact of these laws has changed little since the 18th and 19th centuries: they function to police class more than they police sex. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/may/11/prostitution-women

Predators go after the vulnerable, the weak, the unprotected.

Legalizing prostitution will do nothing to stop predators--they will just move to less-protected targets: mentally ill, elderly, children.

It's not about sex. It's about violence and sociopathy.

Anyone who wants sex can get it easily and cheaply, if one isn't too fussy.

Those who want to hurt and kill--they have to work for their kicks. But they don't mind that. It's part of the thrill of the chase.

Those who want to commercialize sex, to make a safe sexual market, need a better argument than that. Personally, I think commercial sex is a bigger ripoff than any other....the total dehumanization of a very human relationship.

There are plenty of predators who would think twice if they weren't provided with an easy population to target.

in the first place. There would be a HUGE uproar, if they went after the elderly, disabled or children.

zalinda

It is still a crime of opportunity. While it won't remove killers from our society, it will limit their targets.

Decriminalizing or legalizing prostitution goes to protecting the vulnerable rather than punishing the wicked. Which is, IMHO, a better approach financially, ethically and societaly.