It’s really quite backwards to censor a movement because of the false perceptions of its opposition. Censorship will never pave the road to human rights.

The master’s tools…

i also put velcro around my windows and made curtains out of sheets that i could velcro to my windows. this stopped nosy people from peeking in. finally, make sure you are walked out to your vehicle and are not being followed. inebriation can lead to lack of awareness about skeezy customers trying to follow you. if customers know you are drunk, they are more likely to see you as a target so upping your own care about their proximity to you when you leave the club is a healthy idea.

It is a judgemental, useless argument because facts are facts, people do what they do and in what universe should admitting reality hurt a human rights movement?

I don’t get all huffy because people have assumed that because I’m a good-looking drug user, that I must do sex work. In-fighting just weakens us. Respectability politics are played to ruin your movement’s progress. Why not reject that and all labels placed upon you?

Harm reduction saves lives. Harm reduction is free condoms, education, it’s empowering. Harm reduction is not the glorification of drug use. It is the recognition that people do what they do and best they do that safely.

Harm reduction, however, saves lives.

Both letter writers work in the legal sex work industry actually. They are strippers.

Exactly, anti-trafficking, police, radfems are ALREADY linking our work to criminality and drug use—so why not focus on keeping ourselves safe in the here and now?

This column is neither glorifying drug use or assuming that all strippers are non-stop binge-drinking party heads. It takes into account that often yes you often are expected to imbibe when you are working at a club. Sad but unfortunately true. I know many girls who aren’t huge drinkers and hate getting drunk at work, but it’s what the customers and management sometimes encourage. I also know from working in a few of the larger high-profile brothels in Australia that if you are not what’s known in the game as a “party-girl”, you will simply not get bookings. The clients straight-out ask if you party(ie: use drugs) and if you say no they ask for another girl. This is often actively encouraged by the management, I have heard of one or two madams who give girls cocaine or ice in order to create a party atmosphere. (this is mainly why I chose to work privately or only in genteel little boutique brothels because I prefer to not be around drugs)
So yes I think this post is absolutely necessary in order to educate girls on how to handle this kind of thing, and I’m about the most squeaky-clean person you could meet.