This article originally appears in the New York Post. Written by Gabrielle Fonrouge.
State lawmakers pushing to legalize prostitution may want to think twice.
A former sex-trade survivor who says she was victimized everywhere from New York City strip clubs to Nevada’s legal brothels is now at the forefront of the national battle against legalization, telling The Post that it only encourages “horrific’’ trafficking.
“A lot of people are under the misconception that just because it’s legal [in Nevada], then it’s safe and it’s clean and that all the people there are consenting, and that’s just not the truth,” said Rebekah Charleston, who appears in a blistering new anti-trafficking video put out by opponents of legalization.
“I think a lot of people have this happy hooker mindset like, ‘Oh well, she looks happy, and she’s an adult, so she should be able to do what she wants,’ when that’s just not reality. The realities of prostitution and sex trafficking are horrific.”
Charleston, 37, is part of a new campaign launched by a coalition of advocacy groups that includes the video, which was unveiled at the World Without Exploitation conference in Washington, DC, on May 23.
The anti-trafficking campaign comes amid a national debate over whether to legalize prostitution.
In New York, a group of state lawmakers vowed earlier this year to introduce a bill to legalize prostitution …
