Who says sex workers want to be 'saved'?
From Guardian:
In these times of economic implosion, it seems there is one industry that the government is actually keen on crushing. The home secretary, Jacqui Smith, recently unveiled a proposal for new legislation aimed at bringing the sex industry to its knees (metaphorically speaking). If we tackle the demand, Smith proclaimed, then supply will diminish. In other words, Smith wants to penalise punters.
Maybe in U.K. things are different and prostitution is legal, but to characterize it as goverment "crushing" an "industry" seems, well, dishonest (but then, dishonesty is nothing new to the liberal media).
Perhaps in these hard economy times, the government should encourage and support, e.g. the nacotics market? What about gambling with no limits? What about the child labor market? Or the child pornography market?
While the "drug war" was sorely misguided, there is a reason (other than desire for fascistic government in statists, liberals and conservatives alike) that it had to be waged. These "industries" result in externalities whose effect range beyond that of their own market. A flourishing "narcotics market" would destroy the labor supply by making people unfit to work (see "Opium War"). The same could happen from "sex industry" (see how productive people with AIDS and other STDs are?). And let's not get into exploiting the children, the future engines of our economy, for our immediate gain.
Yes, these matters are delicate and we should try to avoid fiascos like "drug war" (or all the crimes committed by the government under the guise of preventing "child pornography"). But, all those issues are ... delicate and should not be brushed aside as "government crushing an industry", especially when the government is simply trying to mitigate the harmful effects of the said "industry".