Prostitution - Females and Males - choice or not

I recently read an article on male prostitution in Australia, these men are known as ‘rent boys.’  The young man (26 yrs.) being interviewed pointed out people’s misconception that all sex workers were strung out on drugs or forced into the line of work.  Instead he said being a sex worker was something he chose to do and he found it both satisfying and lucrative.  He believed men were not stereotyped as badly as women and thought as a male he was less likely to be taken advantage of.   This young man catered to both men and women.

In another article, young women discuss their decisions to be sex workers and how they thought the imagery from sex trafficking “depicted all prostitution as harmful.”  Other young women said they have very different experiences from women who were sex trafficked.  These women are also posting their faces to twitter as one women notes, people talks about our bodies but never put a face to it.

In Australia most states accepted licensed prostitution however there are different rule for each state.  Some allow brothels, some do not, all, criminalize street walking.  The alliance for sex workers in Australia is called the Scarlet Alliance.  This group supports the reporting of and prosecuting of people who traffic or use people in sex slavery and is active in providing assistance to those in need. The also advocate for their rights as workers and to have mea-

sures in place to prevent violence in the workplace.  (Please note that many countries have sex worker alliances who are advocating for similar things.)

 Another article I read focused on young women, college students, who looked for older men to be involved in “mutually beneficial, trans-actional dating” (Kirby) this really is just another word for being a sex worker.  She does admit being a prostitute to the reporter and reiterates the work is very lucrative and is paying for her college.  There was an article a couple of years ago, which spoke to this exact same issue occurring here in Florida.  So we know, this is not only related to young women, young men also participate in sex work to pay their way through college too.  

Many of us look at sex work as being aberrant however, there are many people throughout history and currently in the world who have made conscious choices to follow this line of work for various reasons. In one of my previous classes, there was a woman who identified as being a sex worker.

What is interesting in my reading on this subject, is a growing number of women who are seeking the services of a sex worker.  Sometimes it is for an escort, sometimes, it is because the woman has become so busy, they do not have time to seek out relationships. There is also a booming business in female sex tourism, where women travel to other countries and meet up with men.   It appears as far as being a john or johnette, women may be heading the way of our male counterparts on this matter.

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/true-stories/australias-rent-boys-male-prostitution-is-everywhere-sex-industry-boss-says/news-story/faf8efff03b7cfb725a29a276151bd81

BBC Trending.  3 April 2015. http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-32165949

Kirby, Emma Jane 17 June 2015. The women seeking rich older men to pay their university fees.  BBC:Magazine