According to Hasan Piker, a lot more people than you believe see sex workers.

 

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Some sex workers believe that by making these remarks, he is helping to de-stigmatize their industry.

When Twitch broadcaster and commentator Hasan Piker revealed in an interview that he had employed sex workers in the past, it sparked a firestorm of discussion on Twitter. He claimed to have recruited prostitutes from the Artemis brothel in Berlin.

Someone in Piker's chat room had asked, "Have you ever had an escort? Obviously there is no shame in sex job, because it is genuine work.

"I've been to Berlin's Artemis brothel and had sex with the employees," Piker admitted. "I'm open about it. I couldn't give a rat's behind about it. "What's the point?"

On October 14, independent journalist Alex Rubinstein (@realalexrubi) published a live feed of the event on Twitter. It was filmed "a few months ago," according to Vice.

Rubinstein's anti-sex work message has gone viral since

 it appeared a few days ago on Twitter. Piker has said things that are positive for the public perception of sexual workers, and some of these people have responded to anti-sexual work tweets by mentioning that.

According to We Got This Covered's Ana Valens, Hasan openly discussing his experience with seeing sex workers in a nonjudgmental and nonromanticized manner is one of the finest ways a client of his prominence and standing can strive to de-stigmatize the practice. (Valens used to be a Daily Dot NSFW reporter.)

When @bimbocommunist tweeted that Piker's actions were "not normal," Violeta Félix, a dominatrix residing in NYC, responded with a retweet of her own.

Félix responded to @bimbocommunist's allegation that "basically no one" hires sex workers by tweeting, "It's the oldest profession for a reason." Sex workers are seen by far more people than you might expect.

Piker's words normalized sex work and supported it by hiring them, according to Félix, rather than just verbalizing one's support for it.

Many lefties, they told the Daily Dot, talk about supporting sex workers. As they put it, "here we have a guy who is practically supporting sex workers through patronage."

For one thing, Piker's public discussion of hiring sex workers undermines the stereotype that only "perverts," "weirdos," and "losers" are involved in the business. Her clients are "normal-ass folks that are simply exploring/engaging in their sexuality in a nonjudgmental and non-committal setting," according to the people who tweeted about her practice at the time.

Several other sex workers agreed with Félix's assertions. When it comes to sex workers, dominatrix Princess Poison says they're "more mentally healthy" and "coerce their tinder dates into fulfilling their highly specific dreams for free and then ghost afterwards" than those who don't.

At some point in 2016, Artemis was "raided for human trafficking," as Rubinstein tweeted. Artemis, according to its official website, is still operational.

Human trafficking and sex labor are not the same. In addition, the Urban Justice Sex Work and Human Rights Working Group has stated in their media toolbox that "rescue missions," such as raids, are "not the answer."

For example, when police raid a brothel, they tend to arrest, interrogate, and detain everyone there without distinguishing between those who are there under coercion or who are underage.

It was stated by The Guardian that those arrested in the [Artemis] raid were accused of tax evasion and withholding social security contributions in 2016. According to authorities, Hells Angels biker gang members were being investigated for "potential human trafficking," but no charges have been filed in connection with that investigation.

When you buy from a sex worker, you aren't commodifying women in the traditional sense, according to Félix. In other words, just because we're useful doesn't mean we're objects.