Dear Editor,
Re: “Sex work allowed in Richmond...in a turtle neck,” Opinion, Feb. 10.
To begin with, I appreciate the Richmond News taking the issue of sex work in Richmond so seriously that it published an editorial on it.
If others in the media world took the sex work issue as seriously, we would see more understanding and less sad knee-jerk disapproval in discussions on this complex issue; one where low-income women do sex work to support themselves and their families, knowing they will face harsh censure because some people in Richmond feel they have the right to mercilessly judge them.
Your editorial truthfully notes that stereotypes of sex workers are “widely held” and “similar claims are heard from politicians, speakers and the general public.”
Many such people also speak out against violence against women, forever failing to understand when you stereotype sex workers you make them a target for violence — indeed, when you sexually stereotype any women you make her (us) a target for violence.
It seems simple to me: if we want to protect women from violence, we have to protect all women.
The days when we shamefully thought we had to pick and choose which women deserve protection should be long over.
Esther Shannon
RICHMOND
