You would think that all women would be united in seeing prostitution as exploitation β it is wrong for women to sell their bodies to strangers for sex. But somehow in the 90s in the rush to support prostitutes rather than condemn them, some feminists and sex workers claimed that women could choose sex work and that it could be empowering: if women wanted to make money selling their bodies to pay for their degree course or the rent, that was a legitimate choice.
This scenario of the high class call girl making her own way in the world was an early storyline in The West Wing. Sam, a speechwriter for the new President, discovers that an attractive woman he met at a party and had sex with, is actually a call girl. Over a number of episodes, he learns to accept her choice and by implication, the audience is asked to accept her decision too.
But it creates the idea prostitution is an acceptable line of business and nowadays you can be criticised for thinking girls need to escape from its clutches. When I was in Amsterdam a week ago to plan for a meeting ironically about empowering global women leaders, we met in the YWAM office right in the heart of the bar and sex district.
I was struck by the groups wandering through the red-light district with their tour guides, who were being invited to gawp at women on display in windows as if sordid sex with strangers is just another part of the fun in the city.
The Netherlands is a source, destination, and transit country for women, men and children for sex trafficking. This is a picture repeated in many places across the world, as the horrifying story of the girls in Rochdale UK testifies.
