John Oliver dissects America's 'confusing and counterproductive' sex work laws

published 28 February 2022

"Sex is a topic that historically we've not been very good at talking about," John Oliver said on Sunday's Last Week Tonight. And the sex topic he hoped to talk better about is sex work.

"The concept is pretty simple," Oliver said. "Let's say you have sex but afterwards you get money or a chocolate bar or one of those participation trophies — way better, right? Well, too bad, it's illegal. Very basically, sex work is the exchange of sex for money or good, and in the United States, a complicated patchwork of local, state, and federal laws makes that act illegal everywhere except for a few counties in Nevada" — unless it's on camera.

"Basically, consensual sex for money on camera is legal porn, and consensual sex for money off-camera is illegal sex work," Oliver said. "Makes sense, right? Wrong? Well, exactly. Everything about the way we regulate sex work in this country is confusing and counterproductive." He started by noting that "this is not going to be a piece about morality," but rather "about the fact that sex work is inarguably labor; it is a job."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.

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