Belle de Jour?

By Julian Ware-Lane / @warelane

It is pleasing when you hear of someone who enjoys their work. In Belle de Jour‘s case she would appear to be in a minority in her chosen area of employment. But that Dr Brooke Magnanti has had to out herself in an act of pre-emption against the Daily Mail perhaps suggests a hint of disingenuousness on her part.

Just over three years ago I worked a stint in Amsterdam. I stayed in the city centre, close enough to the famous red-light area. The girls there did not look particularly happy, more like they were going through the motions. The stories were of girls funding their drug habits by prostitution. This was no chicken and egg situation for most of them – it was clear that many were made dependent to make them more compliant.

Dr Magnanti was the subject of a Radio Five Live phone-in this morning, and the subject broadened to encompass the pros and cons of prostitution.

Should women be able to sell themselves for sex? I confess to being a small ‘c’ conservative here. I have not paid for it, although I know many who have. For those who genuinely choose this lifestyle it is difficult to see what the argument against is. I am not one for moralising.

But that many, or most, women involved in the sex industry are trapped in it is found to be true by every survey I have seen. That women are trafficked, beaten, or forced by penury is also true.

Removing the causes of women joining the trade strikes me as a better way of tackling the problem than by merely criminalising punter and prostutute. This means tackling poverty and equality issues, themes tackled valiantly by Harriet Harman. Much good work done, clearly more to do.

Licensed brothels are touted by some. If this route is taken then they must be placed away from residential areas. I have also worked in the West Midlands, at a time when a particular area of Birmingham was getting a lot of notice for its curb crawlers and resultant angry residents – angry because every female in that area was being propositioned.

The oldest profession in the world will not be legislated away. This does not mean we have to legalise as the same argument could be made for theft and murder. There is a balance to be had between giving women protection and allowing freedom of choice.

Perhaps the crux here, though, is not Belle de Jour – but that her cherished anonymity was compromised, and that she chose anonymity in the first place.