Slashdot Mirror

The problem is that so many of us on this globe are living in abject poverty and dealing with displacements resulting from war and economic oppression that those of us who do make it into the sexwork industry are the lucky ones.

When I was growing up in Pakistan, I remember that many of us didn't have adequate food, let alone other luxuries like proper clothing and medical care. The effects of people being displaced by 3 wars and continual militarization is self-evident in how deeply violence is embedded in our culture.

Later, when I lived homeless in New York City and Toronto, I learnt a little bit of what was going on in the rest of the world. It seems to me that some parts are better, but most of the world is even worse off. I have to say that there are things that even the homeless here take for granted that are considered privileges for the middle class in Pakistan and other poorer countries.

This is the real reason for children and young adults to get into sexwork. It's also why there is so much fundamentalism. People turn to religion or extremism or whatever they can to help them cope. It's really nothing more complicated than desperation. When you're young, there isn't much for you to work with in a social structure that has been destroyed, so if your body can get you somewhere, you rely on it. Looking back, I feel like much of my life was spent constantly living with the fight or flight response.

Anyhow, this is here and now and I'm living well because the sexwork industry here is much better than anything I have ever seen. However, I fail to see how ever more power and control over here will help stop youth sexwork in poor places, because youth sexwork exists for reasons like not having enough food, money, security, etc. What is needed is that we solve these very basic social/economic/political/whatever problems so that youth don't have to do sexwork.

There is an article in Vice [Volume 13, Number 9] about child slavery in Bucharest, "SLAVERY'S BACK! Only Cuter..." by Claudia Grassi. Here is an excrept:

A Letter from Bucharest
This is a real letter that one of the girls that Claudia met (but didn't photograph) sent her. It's probably the harshest thing we've ever published.

Hi. My name is Vashti. I'm 12 years old. I wanted to be there for your photoshoot, but I had to work. I suck old men's cocks to get money to live. It's good work if you can get it here in Bucharest. I've been sucking men's cocks now for a very long time. I think I'm really good at it. Sometimes they even tip me. Once this old man from London even gave me a (pound sign)2 coin. He thought because he made me bleed it would make me feel better. It did. I didn't tell him it happened all the time from the wounds on my pussy. It was so shiny, that coin. I'm saving money now because I probably only got another couple more years left in this world, then I will be too old. I've seen it with my older friends. Nobody wants them anymore because they're already 16. Once you turn about 16 or so, they start to only want to do it in your ass. It cost more but it hurts a lot too. I asked you Claudia, you're so pretty, how much a camera would cost me if I wanted to take pictures for a living. I would have to stop eating, or at least buying food, and suck old penis for 47 days before buying a normal camera. Claudia, I really like your silver camera.

Good luck,
Vashti

When I see the news on the internet and I see the kinds of things that are happening in Africa, it looks much worse. Anyhow, I think that dealing with these economic or whatever issues is really what we need to do. I hope that the world can be better in the future, but the way things are going now, I don't know, it frightens me.

The Senate moves so slowly that it is powerless to stop aggression between member states. In "The Phantom Menace" a supra-planetary alliance, the Trade Federation (think of it as OPEC to the Galactic Republic's United Nations), invades a planet and all the Senate can agree to do is call for an investigation.

Sigh. Out of all the analogies in the world I can think of, the OPEC/UN one has to be the worst. How about these Federation/Naboo candidates (it doesn't matter who the republic is - it never really did):

1. America - Vietnam
2. America - Cuba
3. America - Nicaragua
4. America - Iraq

Oh yeah - I forgot - the land of baseball and apple pie is automatically the good guys...
The list goes on and on and on...

Vice Magazine has seen the future of Halo from Microsoft, and it is scarily realistic....