John Oliver Talks Decriminalizing Sex Work on HBO

Per Mashable, the sentiment “at every turn we are making life harder both for people who want to remain in the sex trade and for those who want to leave it” is the “disturbing sentiment” is at the heart of Oliver’s monologue.

The full discussion examines “many issues faced by sex workers in America” — presumably in North America, Central America and South America. This includes the conflation of human trafficking and sex work, the ways arrests of sex workers can be handled and the fear among sex workers regarding what will happen if they go to the police for help.

Oliver then talks through some possible solutions, eventually focusing on New Zealand. New Zealand decriminalized sex work back in 2003 after speaking to a number of people involved in the industry. (Note: Listening to the voices of people actually doing the work is always a great idea!)

Finally, Oliver addresses the occurrence of people who turn to sex work for economic reasons… which seems like an obvious thing to discuss as sex work is generally regarded as labor that’s to be compensated for.

Mashable quotes Oliver stating: “That is a huge problem… But the fact is, our current laws are not addressing that. If you want to do that, that’s a much bigger conversation to have because, fundamentally, the only way to make sure people have a choice in the way they earn money is to make housing affordable, healthcare accessible, and to not burden marginalised people with criminal records that lead to a cycle of joblessness, homelessness, and desperation.”

Watch the episode below and/or on YouTube.

Screengrab via YNOT.