These are countries with low unemployment, but also low pay, so sex work appeals as a lucrative (and less boring) alternative.
Many of this women were single mothers and the money was sent home. Few, from what I could tell, used drugs. And all were very strong people - I think that line of work requires it.
So in some parts of the world prostitution is just another job.
Is this the same everywhere? Unfortunately not. And I'm sure the industry as a whole is filled with tales of sorrow.
There are advocacy groups out there campaigning for sex workers' rights, staffed by sex workers and former sex workers, and I would think that if the profession were really so bad for independent providers then groups like this either wouldn't exist or would have a very different character.
But lets not forget that most people aren't happy being cleaners, servers, etc and do it entirely for the money. Nothing wrong with that, but in this world only a very small group is happy enough to love their job (and most people love only a part of it).
If someone feels like they don't have any other job opportunities, then making prostitution illegal certainly won't fix that problem (nor does it eliminate prostitution - prostitution exists everywhere, making it illegal just means a prostitute can't go to the police if a customer takes advantage of her).
Policing prostitution is a complete waste of taxpayer money.
> Everybody has a choice in their type of work, nobody is forced to be a prostitute.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rochdale_child_sex_abuse_ring
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotherham_child_sexual_exploit...
People are forced into sex work all the time, everywhere on the planet including in rich western countries, by various means,debt, violence,death threats,the "boyfriend" who is a pimp, even "curse" threats, especially young kids, and most johns don't give a damn. Women who refuse to submit to their pimps or the mafia are killed to set an example.
Why the hell can we not have a real conversation about sex work among consenting adults without somebody conflating it with slavery and child prostitution?
If career success in other fields were easier to access for women, it would be easier to make other choices.
Women frequently turn to prostitution because it pays extremely well, too.
Unemployment is 3.7%. Anyone remotely employable can get a job today, but especially women.
Women made up ~47% of the workforce in 2017 and are on track to hold more jobs than men in a few years, even with a lower participation rate.
Female unemployment rate trended significantly lower than male unemployment rate during the last recession.
Women are the majority on college campuses, and earn a majority of bachelors, masters, and doctorate degrees.
Women are paid the same for the same work, when they choose to focus on their careers as much as men are expected to. And women hold special legal status to take leave to have children (there is no Federal paternity leave in the US, however some states offer it).
Career success has never been more achievable for women in particular. Inside and outside the specific field of prostitution.
Are you talking about the FMLA? It covers fathers and mothers. It's also unpaid and only lasts 12 weeks.
Ctrl-F 'paternity' and look at the table:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_and_Medical_Leave_Act_o...
I don't know how to say this and not come as a jerk, but regarding the glass ceiling. By the time a women hit the glass ceiling sex work is not an option because they are old and the only sex work available would be streetwalking or low level escorting which dose not pay as much as under C-level manager or where the glass ceiling is.
Homeless men with no skills sometimes find day labor jobs. They are much less often offered money or a place to stay in exchange for sex.
I used Glass Ceiling as shorthand for removing barriers generally. Given the response here, I don't think it's worth the time and effort to try to "clarify." I don't think most people here actually want to understand the point. They are too busy shooting the idea down to wonder if there's any merit to the idea.
This actually is not true. Some time ago I had opportune to speak with a homeless man about his situation, and his options. It turns out that he is offered money for sex quite often, perhaps daily. By his telling, he has never done it either.
The proposals are from gay men.
There may be the occasional statistical outlier. But, on average, you are going to see homeless women offered money for sex a great deal more often than homeless men.
If you want to rebut that, please cite sources, not anecdata. I've had a class on homelessness and public policy. I spent nearly six years homeless. I still blog about the topic. Your sample of one doesn't remotely convince me that my assertion is inaccurate.
I didn't say it never happens. I said it is much less common.
The glass ceiling is something of a poor metaphor, because what it really refers to is a series of progressively more burdensome barriers to advancement, not a single level beyond which no women progress and below which advancement is egalitarian.
And it becomes very palpable at very low levels in many industries.
Versus, you know, never getting off the ground floor?
I've been a member of HN for over 9 years. I spent nearly 6 of it homeless. I have been quite open about hoping to make professional connections here and thereby improve my finances. I've made damn little progress on that goal. HN has not proven to be a good means for me to network.
While homeless, there were a number of men who offered me money to sleep with them or asked if I needed a place to stay (the implication being I could stay with them in exchange for sex).
I've talked about this many times on HN. If I didn't have a serious medical condition making sex work a non starter for me, I likely would have long ago given up on finding another solution because I'm still dirt poor.
I was one of the top three students of my graduating class in high school and I won a National Merit Scholarship. I don't lack talent. But most men don't really want to talk to me in earnest unless they are looking for a sexual relationship. It has proven to be a tremendous barrier to resolving my financial problems and rejoining the middle class.
I mean, other than just taking some kind of shot at me like I'm just a whiner who doesn't appreciate how good I have it, what exactly is the point you are trying to make?
That’s why I never left Romania. The cost of life here is manageable enough that the possibility of me becoming homeless is practically zero. And it’s not SF, but we do have some startups and software companies here and I can work remotely too.
Given the trouble you’re facing, as an unsolicited advice, wouldn’t it be better for you if you moved someplace where the cost of life is lower?
Personally I find it incredible how highly skilled people in the US, especially in California, can become homeless.