It's okay to slap a hooker in Ann Arbor, apparently

If anyone wants to question the idea that criminalising prostitution harms women, they should check out the news story covered here.

A University of Michigan Law School student went to police after being assaulted by Michigan Near Eastern Studies associate professor Yaron Eliav. The student had been advertising sexual services on Craig’s List in order to pay her tuition (which at Michigan is more than $40,000 a year). According to the article, she “reluctantly” consented to allowing him to spank her with a belt, but then he decided to slap her across the face twice, causing her temporary vision problems.

...

The police charged both the student and Eliav with the misdemeanor charge of using a computer to commit a crime. Both have pled no contest. Eliav was not charged with assault, and retains his position at the university.

Now, it is true that under a Swedish Model system, only the professor would have been charged with anything, and that is an improvement. Under the "Finnish Model" currently planned to be adopted by the UK, it is as yet unclear how the British law would work in this case - but since she clearly is not a trafficked woman, it appears that nothing much would be different from what actually happened. Certainly, the same contempt for sex workers who are "breaking the law" is apparent in the attitudes of police.

Only with full decriminalisation can that be changed. And as I argued in a previous post, only with full decriminalisation can sex workers hope to have the full protection of the law; in the Swedish Model, they still have to avoid the law's protection, until after the assault/rape/murder has occurred - and by then, it's too late.