To pay for sex requires good and fair regulations on how, when, where, and whom to allow or not. Total bans just drive the activity to underground. Thus I generally vote yes here.

Where does Ms. Vafa get her numbers? She can only describe the numbers of arrests. That is only a small fraction of the number of buyers and providers there are. I have been working as an escort in King county for fifteen years and there are many more white sex workers than those of color. The fact that people of color are arrested more frequently is a fact that the police need to answer for. Another claim made was that more prostitution causes more sex trafficking, however I find no academic, peer reviewed studies that have verified this. Quite the opposite. And there are an abundance of academic papers on this subject. Unfortunately, this body of work is never referenced when laws are being made. Ms. Bailey makes the point that most of the organizations fighting sex trafficking are funded by a Christian coalition, who have the long-term goal of eliminating all sex that is not for procreation. The abolition of commercial sex is just their first step in the war on sex. Religious fundamentalists want to rule our country and make laws according to their beliefs, without regard for anyone else's. This is in no way democratic, and they do not care. But what this all comes down to for me is liberty--the right to pursue the life we want to live, while not harming anyone else. Trafficking is unlawful. Exploitation is too. All the horrible acts Ms. Vafa is committed to ending are all against the law. And the best way to fight such crimes is to stop spending resources on punishing people who are not committing them. Consensual commercial sex provides a vital community service. The providers and buyers are among the finest individuals I have ever met. There are bad apples in every bushel, but that doesn't mean we should cut down the apple trees.

Sex will always be for sale, legally or not. Money and sex are closely interrelated, and always will be. It is certainly ok to pay for sex. It is certainly not ok to not pay for sex. Sex sells. Selling / buying sex is hot, it is fun, it makes you feel strong, it is natural and it is healthy. So where is the problem? The problem is not so much between buyers and sellers of sex. Most problems are caused by pimps, completely unneeded, useless figures. Get rid of pimps and you solve 80% of the problems associated with sex. Provide clean and not overexpensive places to have great sex. Control those places, make sure no men, except buyers and sellers of sex, are in control of these places. Some prostututes have problems with drugs. But that's another problem, different. Legalize drugs, just like sex. Give people the right to decide what they want to do with their life. Don't interfere, but provide comfort for all participants. Tax them so the public does not have to pay for these services. Drugs and sex can actually be sources of public income, if managed well. Throw out those who want to interfere. It is none of their business what people do in the most private circumstances. The moralists are free to limit their own lifes, but not that of sexworkers and their clients. All men and women are free to choose the life they want.

Sex without emotion is worthless. Love and sex is everything. They call it “compassion” for a reason. Much harm is done to the human psyche when emotion is removed from sex. It makes humans less than on the evolutionary scale. We become closer to animals than G-d. It’s a wiser choice to heal these disassociations than to promote them. I vote No.