Prostitutes did make such a call, on International Whores Day a week ago and, specifically in NSW, at a march in Sydney. And while my reaction was at first as dismissive as that of most other people, when I think about it I can see no good reason why anyone who pursues an occupation that is both legitimate and legal should be discriminated against. Yes, prostitution is legal, and the recent convictions of street prostitutes reported in my paper were for soliciting within view of a church or people's homes, not for soliciting in general. The first of those court reports in this paper disclosed a discrimination, by the way - the prostitutes were charged with soliciting in view of homes while their clients, equally in breach of the law, were given a warning. Later, after I made much of this bias, both prostitutes and clients were charged.

As you can imagine prostitutes are discriminated against in a great many areas, from borrowing to police protection to child-custody negotiations to employment. In my column in The Herald today I suggest that we need to swap the term prostitute for sex worker when considering the fairness of this discrimination. The word prostitute carries the baggage of eons of condemnation while a sex worker is someone who works in the fiield of sex. A sex worker should have the same rights to be free of discrimination as a hospital worker and a government worker and a hotel worker.

While many people are discriminated against unfairly, and they include obese people, stay-at-home mothers, casual workers, pensioners and others dependent on social welfare, and pet owners, none is so beset by prejudice as sex workers.

Are not sex workers as entitled as others groups facing entrenched discrimination to be protected specifically in the Anti-Discrimination Act? Why should your attitude to prostitution inflict disadvantage on the people of that occupation?