Curvaceous Kate's meandering thoughts!

Video Presentation

'No Hope'

This video came straight out of a Liam Neeson movie of 'Taken'. It was emotive and there to cause shock value, but I believe there is very little resemblance to most Sex Workers working in Ireland and Northern Ireland today.

A young girl is waiting at the airport, freshly arrived from another country to work as a Nanny. She is picked up by the driver who ignores most of her chatter about what work she will be doing with the new family she expects to work for and upon arrival, he drags her out of the vehicle and into a wreck of a building with a dirty mattress on the floor, where she is thrown down on it.

Two more men appear and they rape her and beat her up. She is given a phone and told that she must take the bookings or they will hurt her family. We are then subjected to seeing more men come and go and rape her as she struggles and cries.

This is not sex work, this is not the life of an Escort. Sex Workers give their consent and work within their own boundaries and can always say..; No! Sex Workers are NOT raped! They are not forced and if they are ever in a position where they are made to do something against their will, they can currently report that to the Police and file a report and this can lead to a conviction. This will not be possible if the law changes, as every man will be considered a rapist and she will want to protect her good, regular clients and will not want to expose where she is working, for fear of them having their lives ruined.

People who arrange to see Sex Workers are not looking to rape anyone. They are looking for a mutual exchange with another consenting adult. The majority value that consent and will do their best to make sure that the person they see is happy with the arrangement. There are showers and towels and protection. No one is forced to do anything against their will.

The video clip may be representative of trafficking, I would not know, as I have never been in that situation, but I do know that it is NOT representative of the life of a Sex Worker and the two needed to be separated, otherwise my right to consent is being taken away from me and as a sane, educated individual I should have that right!

In conclusion, it is not a matter of 'No Hope', but 'No Comparison'. These are two separate issues and should not be marred our judged in the same way.

My Story

Rachel Moran

Rachel started by saying a little about herself. She said that in the USA she would have been considered trafficked, as she has started Sex Work at the tender age of 15. I found this surprising, as I was under the impression that you had to be legally 18 to work as a sex worker in the UK and Ireland, so as far as we are concerned here, should would also be considered as trafficked or coerced. it is illegal whatever it is considered.

She mentioned that at that time of her life she felt she had no other choice and there were no other viable alternatives, as she was homeless. This I'm afraid is incorrect, as being 15 she would still be protected and if she had seeked help, she would have got it. It would have been a different story if she had been 18 or over, but as a minor, she had the full support of the Country. Therefor her reasoning for entering sex work due to having no choices I'm afraid is not valid. It may have been her preference, but she DID have choices.

Rachel believes that all sex work should be stamped out and that in doing so it would stop trafficking. However, this does not address the plight of the labour enforced or domestic enforced trafficked victim. It is far too simplistic to suggest that taking away the sex industry will stop PIMPS from being able to benefit from trafficking. It is also far too simplistic to assume that making clients criminals will solve the problem.

Surely if this was true, then they would also be tackling the factories, the hotel industry and the Domestic industries and stopping them, as they are facilitating the slave trade and trafficking in the other known and accepted areas of trafficking? They also have much larger numbers than the sex industry.

Rachel also said that she had never met a sex worker who worked of her own free will. I am wondering if she is walking around with her eyes shut, as I'm sure Laura Lee has had a huge presents during these debates and I believe two Sex Workers were present at another meeting she attended and they were also Independent Escorts. However, just to be on the safe side, I did make a point of introducing myself to her and while we were shaking hands I told her that she had now officially met a Sex Worker, who was working of her own free will and had options. She assured me that I was in the minority. I assured her that I was not. I told her I had met many sex workers who worked of their own free will and also had options, but she shook her head and repeated that I was mistaken and I was in the minority.

I find it incredulous that a woman can stand up on stage and say she cares about people, when in actual fact she only cares about herself. The woman is there to promote herself and her own book and the more a victim she can be, the better is will sell. She has no care for the truth, otherwise she would have asked me about my experiences and how I know people who work of their own free will. Instead she closed her mind, she closed her ears and she walked away to have a group photo taken with all the other single minded people that don't care about the people in the industry who's jobs they are threatening and the lives of those who currently pay to see sex workers to make their lives a better place to be.

Rachel is repulsed by those that use the sex industry, she is repulsed by those that buy women to have sex with and she commented on the 'mock' sex union that pretends to represent sex workers, as they have invested interest in keeping paying for sex legal. She said it is ran by Escort Ireland who on a daily basis sell 800 women per day. This again is emotive language. Escort Ireland offers advert space and an individual can create their own advert and pay to show their availability on that site. You are paying for advertising space, as you would do with ebay, viva street or any other online website. They are not being sold, as at the end of the time paid for the lady can close the door and never see that client again if she so wish. She is not selling herself, but she is selling her skill base and company. She is in control, she decides what she wants to provide and she earns her money in the same way any other service provider does.

I also feel that this emphasis on the sex trade and trafficking undervalues the plight of the majority of trafficked people who come under the other two categories. It seems they don't need a special clause to eradicate the trade that they have been forced into. It seems that it is far more palatable for the nation to accept that a person may be locked in a room and malnourished, being forced to work long hours in hard labour, as long as sex is not the prime reason. Is that because there is less money to be made from it? Or because they feel their plight is less arduous? Or they believe that it is possible for people to want to do those jobs and have other choices? I'm not sure, but no one seems to be questioning that. That seems quite surreal to me. In essence, I feel that clause 6 serves to devalue the majority of trafficked that come under these other categories, who's lives are equally taken away from them and beaten and abused. They deserve the same attention and if that is not right for them, then why is it right to attempt to abolish the sex trade?

At the end of Rachel Moran's story we were given the opportunity to ask questions, but before I had the chance to pose a question in my head she was off the podium and sat back down in her seat. It was suggested we may like to ask her questions later, as of course it's not likely anyone would want to do it publicly. I would have liked to, but alas I was not quick enough.