This is the seventh episode of KBOO News’s special series, Sex4Sale, on the business of sex in Portland.  Today we’re talking about the world’s oldest profession.  What is it like here in Portland, and is it taking on a new look?

There are many faces of prostitution here and no single one speaks for all of them.  We’ll start with Red Reid who runs an organization called STROLL.  We’d call Red an “activist escort.”

            RR-2

             RR-3

Besides her zine, Red publishes something she calls Bad Date Line. It’s a kind of warning system that identifies people to watch out for.

            RR-16

What is “the life” and how do people, especially women, get into it?  Here’s the view from the Portland Police Bureau:

            PPB-3

How do you change the life of a prostitute?  Again, the Police Bureau:

PPB-8

What’s it like in some special categories of the population? Here’s Red:

            S-8 (people of color)

            S-9 LGBTQ

            S-11

In Portland the focus is on arresting johns.  Is that a good approach?

DG-2.  Nordic model…arrest johns.

Arresting johns might sound like the smart way to go, but is it really a solution?

DG-5.  Criminalization of johns is unsafe for prostitutes.

What are the different styles of prostitution and how do they affect women differently?

DG-3.  Some sex workers have agency.

How do feminists see this industry?  Is it something that provides economic opportunity, or just another harmful activity that promotes violence against women and makes them objects in our culture?

 What about the organizations that are supposed to help women?

S-11 (they give no help)

S-12: Rahab’s Sisters is a good organization.

 Here we tell the story of Rahab’s Sisters:  what is “radical hospitality,” and how could this idea change the world?

             R-3: the idea of radical hospitality

             R-6 what dinner Iike

            Here’s the whole story in a nutshell:

            R-8: how the life starts, and they become the problem.

What’s it like when a prostitute committing a crime becomes the victim of a crime? 

R-7

So, it’s one thing for a prostitute to have “agency,” or control over his or her situation.  But it’s an entirely different thing to be a victim.  And we can see both of these scenarios playing out all the time in the world of prostitution right here in Portland.

MUSIC

 And we’d like your feedback. At the end of this series we’ll do a full episode in which you get to speak your mind on this subject.  If you have a comment or question about the series or about the sex trade, we’d like to hear it.  Call the KBOO Newsroom at 503-231-8032 ext. 202 and we’ll  hear you out and put you on the air.

Here we have the sixth episode of KBOO News’s speciai series, Sex4Sale, on the business of sex in Portland.  And in this episode we take on one of the darker corners of the industry, the matter of trafficking.

What is trafficking, and how is it connected with the sex industry? As the world gets smaller, trafficking seems getting bigger.

Here’s the official definition, from the Dept. of Justice:

DOJ-7---

According to the FBI, this crime is often a family matter

FBI-4

(Insert trafficking data excerpt).

Note that there’s “labor trafficking” which is different from “sex trafficking.”  Labor trafficking means keeping a person on a job, often as a household servant, against their will and in a condition that sounds like…slavery.

By the way, there seems to be no connection between trafficking and illegal immigration, and trafficking has no bearing on the sanctuary cities program.

DOJ-2

What is the scope of the work of DOJ in this area?  What other efforts in the criminal justice field in our area are directed against this activity?

DOJ-10 Case of an 8-yr. old girl.

What should we be looking for to identify cases of trafficking? What can citizens do to deter this activity?

            F-5: first point of contact is local police.

While law enforcement makes a very big deal of sex trafficking, some contend that the amount of activity of this type is over-estimated.

            H-6

Trafficking may be rare, but sexual abuse of children is common:

            S-15

One case of abuse is one case too many.  We have an organization called “YES---Youth Ending Slavery,” that fights trafficking and sexual abuse at the high school level.  Here’re Emma and __________.

            Y-4: why bring this up in high school?

            Y-5: what is the solution to trafficking?

That’s it for this episode.  Next time: what’s happening with the world’s oldest profession?  Is it fading away, or maybe, reinventing itself?

MUSIC

And we’d like your feedback. At the end of this series we’ll do a full episode in which you get to speak your mind on this subject.  If you have a comment or question about the series or about the sex trade, we’d like to hear it.  Call the KBOO Newsroom at 503-231-8032 ext. 202 and we’ll  hear you out and put you on the air.

This is the fifth of ten episodes in the KBOO Evening News Series, Sex4Sale.  This time we’re talking about the laws and regulations that affect the sex industry here in Portland.  What are those laws and are they working?

 The FBI is at the center of investigations of trafficking and sex crimes that cross state lines.  Here’s Agent Biehen on the Bureau’s focus on minors, both male and female:

F-2:

F-3: \

 The FBI gives something called “Title 18” authority” to the local police:

            F-8

 The US Department of Justice has a Violent Crimes Unit that gets involved in sex trafficking, a subject well be discussing in more detail in the next episode of this series:

 DOJ- X:  the segment should start around 1:40.

 Keep in mind that if you travel overseas to engage in trafficking, you can face federal charges here in the Portland when you get back:

 DOJ-3: you can be prosecuted if you traffic overseas.

 The Portland Police Bureau is dealing with local issues most often related to prostitution.

 The police say that they focus on eliminating demand:

 PPB-6

Given that most prostitution now is internet-based, we wondered how they deal with that:

PPB-5

So the Portland police follow what’s called “the Nordic model,’ going after customers.  That sounds enlightened, was our reaction.  But wait, here’s a different viewpoint:

             DG-3

             DG-5

 There’s also a problem in the language here, and it’s one that can lead to confusion:

 The Portland Police have decided to relabel “pimping” as “trafficking.”  They don’t like the word “pimp” because they feel that it suggests a lifestyle that’s has been glamorized in pop culture and that should be rejected at every opportunity:

 PPB-4

 This may seem like semantics but how we use the word trafficking is important.  Here’s Red Reid, an escort and activist, on this distinction:

 S-6.

 S-7: can’t have “safety calls.”

 Couldn’t the PPB have chosen another word for pimp instead of trafficker, a word that didn’t mislead and confuse the public?  How about “procurer?”   How about hustler, panderer, whoremonger…anything but “trafficker”!

 One other criticism that Red makes of the PPB has to do with what could be called “profiling:”

 S-9.  profiling of transgenders.

 This is a consistent error the police make with transgenders but it also happens with people of color.  A certain “look” can get you attention you don’t want.

 And we’d like your feedback. At the end of this series we’ll do a full episode in which you get to speak your mind on this subject.  If you have a comment or question about the series or about the sex trade, we’d like to hear it.  Call the KBOO Newsroom at 503-231-8032 ext. 202 and we’ll  hear you out and put you on the air.

 One of the worst crimes in the industry, and the one that seems to get the most attention, is that of “trafficking.”  We talked about it here in connection with prostitution, but it has a specific meaning.   Is it the most important crime in the sex industry?   Is trafficking a form of slavery?  We’ll take those issues on in our next episode.

Workers in the sex industry are a very diverse group. They include prostitutes, strippers, performers, models, retailers and others, like people who wash dishes at clubs, and valet parkers, and the whole class of people who manage these workers. Last week we put out our “educated guess” that there are roughly 5,000 employees working in the business of sex in the Portland area, or one out of 25 service workers.  Keep in mind we are including all the support personnel at strip clubs, as an example, as well as people more directly involved.  Yep, it’s an industry.

Keep in mind that there are many part-time sex workers, some in households struggling to pay the rent, some students carrying big tuition costs.  Research in the UK in 2015 found that 1 in 20 university students were employed in the industry.  Here’s Dr. Hakim:

            H-3

 Some people make big money in this business.  Dept. of Justice lawyer Scott Kerin is referring here to a recent study of pimps conducted by the Urban Institute.

             DOJ-7

Some sex workers, maybe a minority, have what our labor economist Dr. Marina Della Giusta calls “agency.” Here’s Dr. Della Giusta speaking on this subject:

DG-3

For some in the industry, sex work may be a sustainable career path. Here’s porn film maker Lily Campbell on making a living for life.

            C-5

 And sex workers do have workers’ rights, at least some of them do.  Let’s hear Commissioner Brad Avakian tell a story from the State of Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industry. 

B-2

B-3

B-4

We’ll have more to say on this later in this series when you hear it again from another perspective…

How about immigration?  Does the legal status of immigrants have any special bearing on the sex industry?  Are foreign nationals any more likely to be working in this industry?  It looks like there’s no significant connection.  Here’s Attorney Kerin:

             DOJ-2

 So, yes, the sex business is an industry and it seems to be thriving here…Next time, in Episode 5, we’ll talk more about the law enforcement issues.  Who’s doing what, and…are they making progress?

 Of course we’d like your feedback. At the end of this series we’ll do a full episode in which you get to speak your mind on this subject.  If you have a comment or question about the series or about the sex trade, we’d like to hear it.  Call the KBOO Newsroom at 503-231-8032 ext. 202 and we’ll hear you out and put you on the air.

This is the third episode in KBOO’s ten-part series on the business of sex in Portland.  Today we talk about history and culture, and hear more of what Portlanders have to say on the subject.  First, a little background on the subject.

Oregon was once the wild west, and it still is, in some respects.  Does Portland have a “reputation” for being a center of the industry or a place that’s “hot?”

 A few years ago the Washington Times reported that Portland’s legal sex industry was the largest in the US on a per capita basis, according to a 2010 study by the Willamette Law

School’s International Human Rights Center.   The City has a large number of strip clubs, a tolerant attitude toward sex and a reputation as a progressive, youth-oriented place that attracts runaways, and the situation seems unchanged since 2010.

 In general, Portland seems like a great place for the sex business.  Here’s Lilli Campbell comparing Portland to Los Angeles:

             C-3:

 The industry is changing fast.  Would you be surprised to find Russian hookers in Portland?  I haven’t run into any but it wouldn’t surprise me.  The trade is global.  According to Dr. Catherine Hakim:

             H-2:   impact of internet

 Is there a “gang connection” with this industry? Here’s Scott Kerrin of the Dept. of Justice:

D-5.  Yes, gang connection….

 And here’s Officer Lindsay and Undercover Agent A talking about how the Portland Police Bureau is trying to deal with the movement of the sex industry from the streets to the internet.

             PPB-5

 Now we get back to the voice of the people.  We talked with a wide range of people from diverse situations, ages and employment situations.  You’ll hear how they see the sex industry in Portland and what they think are the issues.

 VOX POP-1

 So, the people continue to speak.  We’ll hear more from them in future episodes when we talk more about specific issues in the business of sex and how it goes in Portland.

A final note.  We still want to take a stab at the question of how big the industry is here in Portland.  Our educated guess is that there are 4-5 thousand people working in the industry in our region, not all full-time, and a small number of them illegal.  We had service sector employment of 123,000 in September, 2017, so that’s roughly, very roughly, one service worker in 25 in or closely connected to the business of sex.  if it’s true…Maybe you have a better figure----if so, please, call us.

 MUSIC:  OUTRO

 And we’d like your feedback. At the end of this series we’ll do a full episode in which you get to speak your mind on this subject.  If you have a comment or question about the series or about the sex trade, we’d like to hear it.  Call the KBOO Newsroom at 503-231-8032 ext. 202 and we’ll  hear you out and put you on the air.

 MUSIC: FINISH (under the final sentence)

 Join us in the next episode of Sex4Sale when we focus on sex industry workers in Portland---who they are and how they see the world.

2. INDUSTRY SIZE AND COMMUNITY IMPACT

 MUSIC INTRO

 This is the second episode in KBO”s ten-part series on the sex industry in Portland.  Each of the episodes will take on a different aspect of this subject:

This is an introduction.  Here we give you a rough idea of the size of the industry and we’ll get input from citizens of Portland about how they view the business of sex in our city.

• The third episode is about how the business fits in the historyand culture of the area. 
• Episode 4 covers the sex industry workers: who are the people doing this work, how do they see it, and what about race, gender and economic issues. 

• In 5 we focus on law and enforcement. We’ll talk with the FBI, Dept. of Justice and the Portland Police Bureau about what they are doing on a day-to-day basis. 

• Six, that’s about sex trafficking, the exploitation of children in the sex industry and the forced employment of adults. 

• The seventh show focuses onprostitution: what it means in Portland, how we regulate it and the issues that it raises.

• Eight looks at sex stores and porn here in Portland.
•  Episode 9 looks at stripping, burlesque and other ways to get naked in this City, and how that fits in our culture.
•  And in the end, Episode 10, we try to bring together some closing thoughts. We’ll challenge your thinking, whatever it is…

 MUSIC INTRO TWO

 Just for setting a context, we asked Officer Chris Lindsay and Undercover Agent “A” of the Portland Police Bureau, Do you that Is Portland a hub of the sex industry?

PPB-2

Here’s FBI Agent Denise Biehn putting the local culture into a broader perspective:

 F-7

 By the way, we think that Agent Bienhn was right in talking about “normalization.”  Isn’t this where the business of sex has an interesting connection with the exploitation of women in general?  Or are we reaching too far to think that?

MUSIC BRIDGE

But in this episode we want to give most of our time to the people of Portland.   What do they think about these issues?  Let’s get back to the Voice of the People….

 VOX POP

 So, the people speak.  We’ll hear more from them in our next episode, when we talk a little more about Portland’s history and culture.

 MUSIC:  OUTRO

 And we’d like your feedback. At the end of this series we’ll do a full episode in which you get to speak your mind on this subject.  Call the KBOO Newsroom at 503-231-8187 and we’ll hear you out and put you on the air.

MASTER SCRIPT:  Sex4Sale

 Introduction: SERIES OVERVIEW--- INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW

 MUSIC:  INTRO ONE

 So you think you know about sex…about the business of sex here in Portland…?  Do you think the sex business is big here in our city?  We mean big for a city of this size, and big compared to other places in the US… This question is surprisingly easy to answer…

 Do you understand the boundaries between what’s legal and what’s not? Do you think that we have the right laws, and that the people enforcing them are doing a good job?   We know some things that may surprise you….

 Do you think that prostitution is harmful to women? …maybe  to society in general?  Or can it be an economic opportunity for some women? We’ll challenge your views, whatever they are…

And what about porn? Is that a bad thing?  Do you have data to support your views?  Could porn be “ethical” and “pro-feminist?”

How about issues of race and transgender identity?  Are people in those “categories” affected differently in this industry?

 And at the end of the day, where do you think we’re going with the business of sex?  Is the future just like the past… only longer…or will it be…different?  We have an answer for that question that may surprise you…

 So hang on, listen up, here’s KBOO’s ten-part series about the sex industry in Portland, Oregon 2017 and beyond…

 MUSIC:  INTRO TWO

 We’ll try to present five perspectives on the business of sex:

1. The people of Portland, whom you’ll hear in our second and third eisodes, have a lot to say about how the sex business is happening here.
2. The regulators and law enforcers: the FBI, US Dept. of Justice and the Portland Police Bureau. 
3. Industry experts; three Phd.’s who give an academic view, from economic and sociologic perspectives, on prostitution and porn.
4. Social service providers: the non-profits and other entities that try to help people in the industry.
5. Sex workers:those who are employed in this industry in various ways here in Portland, from porn filmmaker to sex toy educator to stripper.

These are the voices you’ll hear, from time to time:

 Commissioner Brad Avakian, Bureau of Labor and Industry works with “real people”who are employers and employees.

• Scott Kerrin, Assistant US Attorney, US Attorney’s Office, puts traffickers and other types of sex criminals behind bars.
• Agent Denise Biehn, Federal Bureau of Investigation, speaks of the subjugation of women in the business of sex.
• Portland Police Bureau Officer Chris Lindsey and Undercover Agent A, on the front lines of enforcement, talk about getting women out of “the life.”
• Catherine Hawkin, author of the recent article, The Economics of Desire, talks about the sex trade moving on-line.
• Marina Della Giusta, an economist who has written extensively on the sex trade and trafficking, brings up the imbalance of power that’s way bigger than the sex business.
• Shira Tarrant, writer and professor on porn, tells us we need more discussion on the subject…
• Crystal Kordowski and Annalisa Davis of Rahab’s Sisters point out how women shift from being victims to becoming problems….
• Emma Christenson and Gwen Kaliszewsk, from YES, Youth Ending Slavery, contend that slavery continues, even now, and ask, How many slaves do you own?
• Honey LaFleur is a performance artist here in Portland, not a stripper.
• Amory Jane, sex toy specialist and sex educator at SheBop, sees herself as a “shame smasher.”
• Lilly Campbell, soft-spoken porn film producer who makes feminist porn here in Portland and tries to depict what she calls “authentic female sexuality.”
• Red Reid, escort and activist, speaking with her friend Fauna, a stripper, points out how, according to local law enforcement, all of us may be “trafficking” in what we thought were normal business dealings.

 You’ll hear these voices throughout this series. We hope you come to understand the different perspectives they bring and the common ground on which we all stand.

MUSIC BRIDGE

There’s no single theme for this work.  As the series evolves, here are the key issues we see:

• Is Portland a hub of sex trafficking and the industry in the Pacific Northwest, as some claimed a few years ago?
• Are lower income folks and people of color affected more adversely, or just differently, than other sectors of our society, in this business?
• How is the sex industry changing in relation to internet, social media and other aspects of our communications culture? What does the future hold for sex trade?
• Are there gaps and flaws in how we address sex industry issues? Should we be thinking about changes in laws and regulations?

 Our subject is the sex industry but our focus is on the people who are in this industry and those directly affected by it.  Who are they, where are they, do we see them every day?...do we know them?  So… in the next two episodes KBOO goes to the street to ask people in Portland what they think of this industry---how they define it and whether they feel its impact and relevance in their own lives.

 And finally, we offer this “family advisory.”  There may be some things you don’t want your children to hear---like how cruel reality is----and the discussion of prostitution, if you don’t think this is appropriate for children---if so, take action and keep them out of range, catch the series on our web site, KBOO DOT FM, rather than on the car radio on the drive home---

  We want to tell you from the start:  we’re not advocating any position relative to this industry. We are trying to shed light on businesses that, legal or illegal, seem to have a big impact on the life of our community.  Some of KBOO’s listeners work in this industry.  Whether we like it or not, the sex industry is rooted in our culture, it’s here to stay and, in fact, it’s growing…

 MUSIC:  OUTRO

 And we’d like your feedback. At the end of this series we’ll do a full episode in which you get to speak your mind on this subject.  Call the KBOO Newsroom at 503-231-8187  and we’ll  hear you out and put you on the air.

 MUSIC: FINISH (under the final sentence)

 So, there’ll be a lot to chew on.  Listen to the next episode, when we try to estimate the size and impact of the sex industry in Portland, and we interview people on the street about it.

MUSIC: END

This is the final episode in the series...with selected highlights from some of the preceding episodes. And, yes, we do answer the question, "Is Portland a good place in which to grow old?"

The Village Movement:

Redefining "Aging in Place."

Lynn trainer, Villages Northwest, and Lee Radovich, Village member

We discussed these issues:

What is the Village movement (is that the right term, “movement?”). 

 Can you give us a little context: 

 How and where did this movement originate?

            How far has it spread?  How big is it now?

            How did it get to Portland?

 How many villages do we have here in Portland?  How about outside the City---suburbs, Vancouver, other locations in the region?

            Where are they?

            Can we discuss something distinctive about each one?

            How has the growth of Portland affected the Villages?

 What is it about a village that an older person would like----

Should we talk about the different stages of getting old, and how the village relates differently at different times in life?

                        Transition from work to retirement.

                        Healthy years

                        Infirmity:

Does the village meet needs at different stages of being old?

 Does the village promote different kinds of housing for elderly?

How does a village promote social interaction?  Are there social events in the villages?

 Can one find paid work win a village?

Technical skills may become rusty due to lack of use, do villages offer an opportunity to use skills, knowledge and expertise, perhaps in new and different ways?  Give examples…

What kinds of services do villages offer to different members: Associate or Social members (airport ride, help with technology, a household task that needs an extra set of hands) and a temporary upgrade to Full Service if you have a temporary need (a broken bone, surgery, etc.)

Do people who live in the villages volunteer?  Can anyone volunteer to help?

 Do the Villages promotes physical exercise?  How about mental exercise?

How is the Village Movement addressing this generation's perception of aging?

 How might a Village fit into the lives of younger adults or children?

 Can there be intergenerational programs?  Do you use youthful volunteers to fill in with services that may be better handled by younger people (ladders, making the smart phone or printer work come to mind)?

How does one start a Village? 

What is the paperwork?

Is it necessary to involve a lawyer?

MIT Age Lab; and the City's vision.

Julie Miller is a Research Associate at the MITAgeLab and a Lecturer at Northeastern University. She is a gerontologicalsocial worker by training and studied at The University of California, Berkeley, and at Northeastern University in Boston. Julie¹s research contributes to forecasting the impact of demographic change in homes,workplaces, educational settings, and community spaces. She has worked at the MIT AgeLab since 2012 and leads the Lifestyle Leaders group, a panel of adults ages 85 and older who represent "the leading edge" of aging in the U.S.

Questions/Discussion

 What is the MIT Age Lab?  Describe history, purpose, organization….

 What contributions has the lab made to improving the lives of older people?  

 One of the tabs on the Lab website is “disruptive demographics.”  How are aging trends disrupting societies? 

 Is the growth of elderly population happening world-wide? Are some countries more impacted than the US? 

 Is this generation of older people any different from older generations in the past?  What if anything is new about the current situation?

Do you see any issues of conflict between the elderly and younger generations---is there a greater conflict in cities like Portland (and Boston) that put a high premium on technology and youth-related culture?

 You are the lead for the 85+lifestyle Leaders Panel?  Is that correct?

            What is the panel doing?

            Want results are you hoping for?

 I am sure you would not like to talk about the book promoted on the website, The Longevity Economy:  Unlocking the World’s Fastest-Growing, Most Misunderstood Market, since you are not the author, but perhaps you could mention the book and address the concept of the missed market opportunity in this demographic…

            What is it?

            How is it a business opportunity?

            Why are women so important in it?

 How do you at the Lab define “oldness?”  (I see this definition at one of the tabs---Oldness:a social construct at odds with reality that constrains how we live after middle age—and stifles business thinking on how to best serve a group of consumers, workers, and innovators that is growing larger and wealthier with every passing day.)

 Do you have any advice/suggestions for us here in Portland, trying to put this demographic change in the best possible framework, making it work for the whole community?