Not that finding it in some book based on extensive research makes it more true or accurate and I don't agree with all of the following but it's worth reading to get a perspective from the other side, hopefully dispelling some common myths about the profession
From Brock, Deborah R., Making Work, Making Trouble: Prostitution as a Social Problem, Toronto. University of Toronto Press, 1998. pp. 86-9.
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In June 1988, Toronto Police Commission Chairperson June Rowlands advocated the the names of persons convicted on prostitution-related offences be published in the media. The threat of AIDS was stated as a reason for using this method to control prostitution. However, in a 1987 interview, Metro Police morality squad staff inspector Jim Clark had stated that virtually all of the prostitutes charged by Toronto police were carrying condoms when they were arrested.
Despite these scenerios, research available during this period failed to show a link between prostitution and HIV transmission. In June 1988, Vancouver's medical health officer, Dr. John Blatherwick said that only three of the city's prostitutes had tested HIV positive. As of November 1987, of the thirty-six women in Toronto who had tested HIV positive, five were prostitutes. However, four of the five also admitted to being intravenous drug users, a high risk category as a result of sharing and reusing infected needles. Finally, a study of 109 prostitutes in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, conducted by the federal government over a two-year period (January 1985-87) found that none had been exposed to the virus, although researchers had expected that 3 per cent would have antibodies in their blood. Since HIV can be transmitted through sexual contact, we can also look at studies of prostitution and STDs for information on transmission patterns. A 1984 study of prostitution and STDs, commissioned by the Department of Justice for the Fraser Committee, concluded that prostitutes do not make a significant contribution to the spread of STDs, and 'in focussing upon the prostitute we try to find an easy solution to a complex problem.'
Prostitutes who do contract a venereal disease (or become pregnant) are far more likely to acquire it from a lover. (How many heterosexual non-prostitute women use condoms regulary with their lovers for STD preventions?) Similarly, it appears that prostitutes who do contract the virus are most likely to have contracted it through intravenous drug use. In either case, their regular use of condoms with customers means that prostitutes who do become infected are unlikely to pass it on to them. Danny Cockerline of CORP stated that most people who acquire STDs or AIDS are 'getting it for free.' Prostitute activists challenged the widespread misinformation about the profession, a demanding task given the common belief that prostitution spreads sexually transmitted diseases. They insisted that information about HIV and STDs should be available to prostitutes, provided by peers in a language and context reflecting experiences of their profession. In Toronto, this resulted in the creation of the Prostitutes' Safe Sex Project (PSSP). They asserted that by blaming prostitutes for the transmission of HIV among the heterosexual population, 'squares' forget that they are working women and men who attempt to maintain as much control over their working conditions, including hygiene, as possible. Those outside of the business ignore the fact that prostitutes don't want to contract an STD or HIV. The perception that promiscuity spreads disease emphasizes the number of sexual contacts rather than the type of sexual act and the safety precautions used. Alexandra Highcrest (a prostitute, then a journalist, and member of CORP) issued a statement in 1990 worth quoting at some length:
"Most of us can blow a safe onto a cock so smoothly, so easily, that half the time the cock's owner doesn't even know that his manhood's been sheathed in latex. We can talk frankly about sex, all kinds of sex, openly and honestly without getting red in the face, and the majority of the things we talk about, we've done. Over the years we've had hundreds of sexual encounters; collectively we've had thousands. We make a few bucks doing this but it's necessarily our only source of income...
Back in '86 whores were getting all kinds of bad press. We were blamed for spreading AIDS, to the heterosexual community, depite the fact that not a single Canadian has gotten AIDS from a prostitute...Cops used this false blame as an excuse to harass and bust us, claiming that they had to stop the spread of HIV/ AIDS. Mainstream social agencies jumped into the fray saying, 'We can save these prostitutes and halt the spread of the disease if you give us more money.' Enough already! We are quite capable of 'saving' ourselves and we are fed up with the bad press and bad laws. Prostitutes were, and are, safe sex professionals and it's time that pros got credit for being what they are, front line workers in the struggle against AIDS.
The sex trade industry is, for many, a transient occupation. New people enter the business, older pros leave. When PSSP meets a new pro, we quickly bring him or her up to speed in regards to safe sex practices. And safe sex doesn't just mean preventing the transmission of STDs. For a prostitute it also entails working without getting busted, harassed, ripped off, or assaulted. These are some of the possible realities of our work."
...Therefore, by developing a positive focus on education and prevention, rather than searching for villains and creating scapegoats, we can stem the rate of transmission.
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