‘Raped for a Living’
Whilst the majority of us get up each day, get dressed and go to work to earn a living, Women all over Ireland are waking up each day to face another day of torture, another day of being degraded, another day of being ‘Raped for a Living’. These are the words used to describe the life of one of Ireland’s children who were forced into prostitution.
Whilst we do hear of some prostitutes claiming they like their ‘job’ and ‘have a very high sex drive’ this is not the case for everyone involved in this harrowing business.
Many people, including children as young as 13, have been forced to join one of the country’s most sickening illegal rackets.
One of the most conflicting questions regarding prostitution in Ireland is whether or not it should be legalised. Currently, it is illegal to solicit for sex in public and to be involved in a business or house (brothel) but it is not a criminal offense to buy or sell sex when working on your own.
Independent Wexford TD, Mick Wallace believes that the legalisation of prostitution in Ireland will ‘benefit the welfare of women working in the sex industry if the trade was not forced underground’.
As degrading to women as this may be, it may be the best answer to a worst case scenario. If prostitution was legalised, the government would have more control of the situation. Living conditions could be improved, proper health care could be provided, and most importantly they could ensure that no girl was there under force.
There will always be demand for prostitutes, and such a service will never diminish entirely. So why not legalize it and have the control to regulate it to a certain extent?
Coming from a woman who was involved in prostitution for seven years, this is why -
“I think the same thing any former prostitute I’ve ever spoken to thinks, which is that you may as well legalise rape and battery to try to make them safer. You cannot legislate away the dehumanising, degrading trauma of prostitution, and if you try to, you are accepting a separate class of women should exist who have no access to the human rights everyone else takes for granted.”
The answer to the ongoing question is by no means straight forward. One thing that is for certain is that something needs to change, and rapidly.
Lisa Stewart ©
http://bedroomdoor.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/raped-for-a-living/
