Every few years, some pundit or politician rekindles the debate over legalizing prostitution, but now author Ronald Weitzer has offered one of the most persuasive arguments against criminalization. Summarized in a Salon interview, Weitzer’s book Legalizing Prostitution: From Illicit Vice to Lawful Business argues that current laws simply force the sex economy underground—placing hookers in greater danger. And he doesn’t buy the argument that prostitution should remain illegal because it results in violence. “We know that domestic violence happens between husbands and wives, but nobody’s arguing to criminalize marriage.”

Originally posted here:
It’s Time to Legalize Prostitution!

Senator Harry Reid suggested Nevada close its brothels, but state officials prefer to leave the issue to local leaders.

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A New Discussion About a Profession That Isn’t

Prosecutors filed a request on Wednesday to try Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy on criminal charges related to prostitution and abuse of office.

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Prosecutors Seek Immediate Trial in Berlusconi Sex Case

A 114-year-old guidebook to New York offers a glimpse into the nightlife of another time.

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Twenty-nine immigrants were charged with drawing girls into prostitution over the last decade.

Original post:
Sex-Trafficking Charges Stun Minneapolis Somalis

This article titled “Dramas expose dark side of sex” was written by Lyn Gardner, for The Guardian on Monday 9th August 2010 21.01 UTC

Anything with sex in the title sells and comedy is always a big pull, too, but anyone turning up to see standup Keith Farnan’s show at Underbelly may be in for a surprise. Sex Traffic: How Much Is That Woman in the Window? is about an aspect of sex that isn’t funny at all.

Almost every festival throws up its themes, and if hot tickets such as As You Lie and Sub Rosa seem concerned with the soured sexual relationships between men and women, other works explore darker territory. The Emma Thompson-sponsored Fair Trade at Pleasance Dome is inspired by the stories of two women brought to London from Africa and Albania, while Cora Bissett’s Roadkill, at the Traverse, is about trafficking into Scotland. Here, the police are running a hefty awareness campaign, including putting posters in gents’ toilets as a reminder that a lads’ night out that ends with paid sex could involve trafficked women.

Bissett has thought carefully about how to use true stories to make theatre. “You have to take responsibility, and so do the audience. The test of Roadkill is whether it makes people come out asking, ‘What can I do?’”

The problem, say campaigners, is one of invisibility. Some people believe sex trafficking isn’t a major problem because it isn’t easily seen. It’s an issue neatly summed up by the title of Kathleen Ann Thompson’s one-woman show See Me! Hear Me!, which focuses on themes of domestic and sexual slavery.

As Bissett, who takes her audience out of the theatre, on to the bus and into an Edinburgh flat, says: “The flats and houses where the women are being kept don’t have big red lights outside. You might not realise what was happening next door. The women are moved around so they become untraceable.”

On the Fringe at least, this hidden world is openly on view.

Sex Traffic: How Much Is That Woman in the Window? is at the Underbelly (08445 458 2520) until 29 August. Fair Trade is at Pleasance Dome (0131-556 6550) until 30 August. Roadkill is at the Traverse (0131-228 1404) until 29 August.

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