Column: Sex work is real, respectable work

Sex work may involve engaging in penetrative sex, companionship, intimacy, role playing, dancing, escorting and stripping. Often these roles have already been determined, and all parties must be comfortable with them beforehand.

A worker may take on multiple roles with a specific client, and there is often emotional and psychological bonding with the client, not just physical.

I do not believe it is just that the people who exchange sexual services for money are criminalized. This criminalization contributes to a high level of discrimination and stigmatization of sex work.

The U.S. government fails to see the economic and social benefits for sex work. They also completely ignore the wishes and autonomy of sex workers themselves.

To keep sex workers safe, there are now online spaces and apps that can make negotiations safer as opposed to soliciting sex outside, where there is the threat of community outrage and also police brutality.

The hard-core evidence, not one’s sense of morality, is what should be guiding sex work policy and decriminalization.