{"id":289886,"date":"2023-04-26T20:40:49","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T01:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=289886"},"modified":"2023-04-26T15:30:11","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T20:30:11","slug":"international-planned-parenthood-normalization-prostitution-reprehensible","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/international-planned-parenthood-normalization-prostitution-reprehensible\/","title":{"rendered":"International Planned Parenthood’s normalization of prostitution to young children is reprehensible"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

The International Planned Parenthood Foundation (IPPF) recently <\/span>drew fire<\/span><\/a> for a sex education <\/span>toolkit<\/span><\/a> it released in 2017 containing some controversial statements, which were originally <\/span>brought to light<\/span><\/a> on Twitter by Nicole Solas of the Independent Women\u2019s Forum. Specifically, the document identified \u201ccommercial sex work\u201d as a type of \u201cinterpersonal relationship\u201d \u2013 along with dating and marriage \u2013 about which children under the age of 10 should be taught.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a former prostitute and someone who cares deeply about children, I find this notion highly objectionable. I know from personal experience that the world of so-called \u201ccommercial sex work\u201d is founded on exploitation and is devoid of true happiness \u2013 a world which nobody with children\u2019s legitimate best interests at heart should wish to promote, or even condone, to these innocents.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cFREE FROM ANY PRESSURE\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

The very same page of the IPPF toolkit <\/span>states<\/span><\/a>: \u201cSexual activity should always be mediated by consent. This means that each individual agrees, free from any pressure, to engage in intimate relationships.\u201d This statement is problematic as applied to so-called \u201ccommercial sex work.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Firstly, I never encountered a single prostitute \u2013 myself included \u2013 in all my seven years working as a call girl whom I would characterize as being \u201cfree from pressure\u201d to engage in paid sex. I had many close friends and acquaintances in the business, and we were all in it because we felt pressure of some form.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sex trafficking is real, for one thing \u2013 I met some women who were kept in the business of selling sex by pimps and others who forced them to work against their will. But even those of us who were \u201cindependent\u201d did not choose prostitution because it was our dream job. Most of us were in situations where we simply needed the money and lacked other means of earning it. I knew prostitutes who worked in underpaid day jobs \u2013 public school teachers, for example \u2013 with bills they couldn\u2019t afford to pay, including medical bills; women with virtually no education or traditional job skills struggling to pay rent in California, where the cost of living is outrageous; and countless college students with legitimate career aspirations who were earning tuition money for prerequisite degrees by selling the use of their bodies by the hour.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Virtually all of us had some version of one of those stories.<\/span><\/p>\n

PAID SEX ISN\u2019T LEGITIMATE INTIMACY<\/b><\/p>\n

Secondly, IPPF’s characterization of the relationship between a prostitute and her clients as \u201cintimate\u201d is misleading. Simply because sex occurs does not mean there is true intimacy. \u201cIntimacy\u201d is <\/span>defined<\/span><\/a> as \u201ca close, familiar, and usually affectionate or loving personal relationship with another person.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There can be no true closeness or familiarity in a relationship where, most often, the individuals involved don\u2019t even know one another\u2019s real names. Almost all prostitutes use a fake name for the express purpose of putting up a barrier between themselves and their clients \u2013 they do not <\/span>want<\/span><\/i> their clients to truly know them. And many clients use fake names to protect their own privacy, as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Furthermore, relationships between prostitutes and clients are not truly loving \u2013 on the contrary, they are exploitative. St. Thomas Aquinas <\/span>said<\/span><\/a>: \u201cTo love is to will the good of the other.\u201d But prostitutes do not will the good of their clients, nor vice versa.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is not good for clients \u2013 <\/span>most<\/span><\/a> of whom are <\/span>married men<\/span><\/a> \u2013 to divert large sums of money from their families and\/or other things that would legitimately and sustainably enrich their lives in order to squander it on fleeting physical pleasure. To cash in on someone\u2019s desire for pleasure, and, often, their weakness in the self-control department, is <\/span>not<\/span><\/i> to will that person\u2019s good. In this way, prostitutes exploit their clients.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Likewise, treating a human being as a mere menu of parts and sexual \u201cservices\u201d is not willing that person\u2019s good, either. Clients even write <\/span>reviews<\/span><\/a> for prostitutes \u2013 like restaurants \u2013 in which sex acts that are \u201con the menu\u201d are described in detail, and every aspect of the prostitute\u2019s physical appearance and attitude is critiqued. In this way, clients exploit prostitutes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Clients use prostitutes for sexual pleasure, and prostitutes use clients for financial gain. This sort of transactional relationship is not about willing the good of the other, and does not manifest true intimacy.<\/span><\/p>\n

CHILDREN SHOULD BE SHIELDED FROM EXPLOITATION<\/b><\/p>\n

Children should be protected from exploitation \u2013 they should not have exploitation promoted to them as a legitimate way of relating to other people. <\/span><\/p>\n

Promoting \u2013 or even just whitewashing \u2013 prostitution to children does not will their good, and is therefore unloving. No parent or educator should wish for a child in their charge to embark upon a life in which they exploit the financial needs of others for their own momentary pleasure, nor one in which they exploit the weaknesses of others for financial gain. <\/span><\/p>\n

Neither path leads to true happiness or freedom. And it is not loving to lie to children by telling them otherwise.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The International Planned Parenthood Foundation (IPPF) recently drew fire for a sex education toolkit it released in 2017 containing some controversial statements, which were originally brought to light on Twitter by Nicole Solas of the Independent Women\u2019s Forum. Specifically, the document identified \u201ccommercial sex work\u201d as a type of \u201cinterpersonal relationship\u201d \u2013 along with dating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":788,"featured_media":289898,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nInternational Planned Parenthood's normalization of prostitution to young children is reprehensible<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Children should be protected from exploitation \u2013 they should not have exploitation promoted to them as a legitimate way of relating to other people.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/international-planned-parenthood-normalization-prostitution-reprehensible\/\" \/>\n<meta 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