It's hard to voice an opinion on this.
Meena’s story is indeed tragic. When I read it my mind exploded with unanswered questions.
I began with the obvious conclusion - what happened to Meena is morally repugnant by any reasonable standard. Even if she had consented to it (and she did not) she would have been too young to have offered informed consent. Those who perpetrated this deed should be severely punished.
But what of consent? At what point does it become genuine enough or informed enough? We all know of SPs who really shouldn’t be in the business because it bothers them but they persist anyway perhaps because of an overwhelming sense of inadequacy to survive in the world any other way. Is that consent good enough? What about the young single mother who is just trying to keep her child fed, clothed and housed? If she finds what she’s doing repulsive and demeaning but persists because she sees no alternative, is that consent good enough? What about the drug addict whose life alternates between tricks and fixes? Is that consent good enough?
Yet we tell ourselves that to indulge in the sex market in this enlightened country of ours is OK because we deal only with consenting adults who are making informed decisions for themselves and their own well-being and best interests. But are they really?
If such is the case, then most active SPs would not admit that her motivation in participating in this industry is anything but the quest for sexual adventure and intrigue and the money is simply a nice bonus. To do so would be professional suicide. But I suspect that a number of them are, in fact, very uncomfortable (to put it charitably) with themselves because of their occupation but persevere on because of a perceived lack of options. And we, as consumers, take the ostensible consent at face value and feel good about ourselves inasmuch as we have not aided another in a self-destructive behavior.
Before anyone jumps on my back, let me be clear. I know the foregoing comments do not apply to all SPs. However, I’m not sure that they apply to none of them. How can we, as consumers, determine when they apply and when they don’t? I, for one, can’t think of any fool-proof way to do that.
I’ve heard from some SPs that those who retire often become embittered towards the industry. I’d really like to hear from some of those retired SPs about this.
