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Culture War Roundup for the week of March 13, 2023

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Similarly, the vast majority of women who sell sex in the US are not like Aella they are like the street walkers you'll find in the shitty parts of any city. These women tend to be addicts, tend to have a fraught relationship with "consent" (is it really consent if their pimps beat them for not making enough money?)

Is this based on any data? I've heard claims of diametrically opposing nature (from "nobody is ever forced to do sex work nowadays, it's completely voluntary because it's the easiest job ever, you're literally born with everything you need for it" to "vast majority of sex workers are forced into it and trafficked and nobody talks about it") but I have no way to verify it. I've read self-reports from several Aella-type sex workers but I imagine I wouldn't have access to the opposite stories as opposite cases probably won't be very active on the internet, and I have no independent means to research this. So how would one know if it's true or not?

but many studies have shown legalization increases human trafficking

Prostitution is legal in Nevada, though with limitations. How much did that increase the human trafficking in Nevada compared to, say, Oregon and California? I read Las Vegas does have issues with underage prostitution, but ironically prostitution is not legal in Las Vegas at all.

So how would one know if it's true or not?

Normally I'd recommend triangulation, but the spread between what each side claims is so wild it's probably not going to yield anything accurate.