It's wrong to pay for sex

It's wrong to pay for sex

11 Nov 2008

Speakers: Rod Liddle, Germaine Greer, Toby Young, Dr Belinda Brooks-Gordon, Jeremy O'Grady, Professor Raymond Tallis, Joan Smith

The panel discuss the moral and legal aspects of prostitution.

In favour of the motion are Joan Smith, Jeremy O’Grady, and Professor Raymond Tallis. Joan Smith cites the often violent nature of the sex industry as the main reason why she is in favour of the motion. "The right to pay for sex", she argues, "is really no more than a license to abuse". Jeremy O’Grady argues that paying for sex is wrong because the ‘punter’ is affected just as much as the seller. Treating sex in the same manner as buying a ticket, he argues, diminishes the humanity of both people involved in the transaction. Professor Raymond Tallis refutes the evolutionary arguments offered by Rod Liddle because, he claims, humans are creatures that crave more than anything to be ackowledged and cherished - they have out-evolved their animal instincts. Even in the unlikely event that a prostitute leads a happy life, he claims, her job diminishes her own and her client's humanity.

Arguing against the motion are Germaine Greer, Rod Liddle, and Belinda Brooks-Gordon. Germaine Greer suggests that paying for sex is not the part of the sex industry that is the problem. She says that what is wrong is men who walk away without paying for the service that prostitutes provide, or men who abuse prostitutes. Rod Liddle states that sex has never been free. Returning to the same themes as Jeremy O'Grady, he argues that prostitution is simply a way of paying for sex that is more honest and transparent than, for instance, a civilised, monogamous relationship or a marriage. Belinda Brooks-Gordon argues that it is not just the stereotypical "young white man" that pays for sex, and not everyone who pays for sex abuses the seller. Instead, she argues, sex workers see a variety of clients, including for example, disabled individuals. Many men, she argues, derive more from the 'transaction' than pleasure - many pay for sex to satisfy their desire to be acknowledged and cared for.

First Vote: 134 For, 341 Against, 221 Don’t Know

Final Vote: 203 For, 449 Against, 45 Don’t Know

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Speakers for the motion

Joan Smith

Novelist and columnist
Professor Raymond Tallis

Gerontologist and Philosopher
Jeremy O'Grady

Co-founder of Intelligence Squared and Editor-in-Chief of The Week

Chair

Toby Young

Journalist and broadcaster

Speakers against the motion

Rod Liddle

Columnist and broadcaster
Dr Belinda Brooks-Gordon

Reader in Psychology and Social Policy, Birkbeck College
Germaine Greer

Feminist author, academic, and broadcaster