The Nest is located in Copenhagen , Denmark. The 10 myths are based on more than 20 years of experience in helping, saving and comforting prostitutes and victims of sex trafficking. Due to the nature of the work the NGO-employees have met many girls and women in prostitution and thereby seen the damaging impact prostitution is doing to the involved women.
Prostitution is not a profession. Prostitution is an age-old consequence of an unequal power structure. But if a long time frame is considered an argument for acceptance, that also makes abuse of children and juveniles an acceptable phenomenon. There is a demonstrable connection between prostitution and childhood exposure to incest or other kinds of abuse. What are the consequences from a social perspective if the law defines prostitution as an ordinary, accepted profession?
If carried to its logical conclusion, this would mean that brothels would be allowed to post job offers in public employment centers and that long-term unemployed women might be required to accept a placement or work-experience in brothels.
That, after all, is how the general labor market works in Denmark. It would then also be possible to offer job experience program for primary school pupils in brothels, where they might be set to answer the telephone, say.
If these consequences are unacceptable, basically this means that prostitution is not accepted as an ordinary profession. Prostitution is not a free choice. Most people know the story about the law student who prostitutes herself to be able to afford Gucci bags, travel and nice clothes. We don't know her. The story surfaces in the media from time to time. It helps to cement the myth about prostitution being a woman's free choice or an "easy" way to make a bit of extra pocket money.
