STAR News Group was surprised to receive a negative backlash from some readers, after five human interest stories were published on South East sex workers and the owner of a Dandenong brothel.
The articles were printed across the group’s south-east mastheads, according to the locality of the interview subjects.
Some readers found the series insightful, but others were mortified by the topic.
It’s an issue General Manager at Inner South Community Health (ISCH), Sue White can shed some light on.
After seven years with ISCH, which run a program called RhED – a state wide service which supports sex workers – Ms White admitted the subject of paid sex could be a “contentious” one. But she said the series highlighted what sex workers maintained to be their “number one issue”.
“A sex worker’s first issue is the misconceptions, stigma and discrimination they experience,” Ms White said.
“So by writing articles like Star News did, which portrays sex workers as people – somebody’s sister, mother, doing their job – you’re in some ways helping to reduce that stigma and discrimination they feel.
“We would support well-rounded, honest articles about sex workers, that don’t sensationalise.
“It’s a contentious, emotional space and I understand that, and it has been for 4000 or so years and will be unfortunately for another few years yet.
“I do understand why people feel uncomfortable with the combination of sex and money as a job, but they don’t understand the implications for the worker.”
Casey Neighbourhood Watch chairperson and former pastor Robert Ward was one of the first to object to the subject matter.
“It certainly suits the industry to have such a ‘Pretty Woman’ picture painted, but there is a darker, human side to the story,“ Mr Ward wrote.
“Yes, it is the lesser of two evils knowing that girls are offered some limited protection in legal brothels, yes it may be possible for girls in some cases to leave whenever they wish. But not everyone can leave. Ask those in debt-bondage.
“However, what must be exposed is the dark underbelly of prostitution. Please do not be conned by the glamourous picture painted by these articles.“
Rina Ye from Narre Warren found the stories offensive in her local paper.
“It is so inappropriate to put it in the local paper, let alone on the front page. What purpose did the article serve?“ she asked.
Fellow City of Casey resident Michelle wondered if Star News was trying to portray prostitution as a legitimate career choice.
“The woman in the article seems to healthy and is receiving an income by her choice of employment, nothing seems to be going badly for her – which is thankworthy. There also doesn’t seem to be any official criticism against her personally or concerns for her welfare that are mentioned by the writer,“ wrote Michelle.
“So I was wondering if the writer was just trying to encourage the community to recognise her job as a valid career choice? Should we now advise the local secondary schools to provide courses/subjects in prostitution for the students’ consideration when choosing a career?“
[ Return to ‘Behind the brothel door’ feature page ]
