Melissa Petro

Melissa Petro

Bio

Melissa Petro is a former sex worker and "hooker teacher" who has written about the industry for HuffingtonPost, Salon, and others. She is also the founder of Becoming Writers, which provides free and low cost memoir-writing workshops and mentoring to writers of all backgrounds and experiences. More info at http://becomingwriters.wordpress.com. 

Melissa Petro Articles

Sex trafficking victims matter, but there are countless sex workers across the spectrum who wouldn’t describe themselves as victims of sex trafficking. They matter, too.

4 Things To Know About Human Trafficking

Want to work responsibly on the issue of sex trafficking? Here’s some of what you should know.

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newborn baby (image credit: thinkstock)

I'm Scared To Have A Baby

After gaining as much as forty pounds and pushing a cantaloupe out my vagina, I wondered: will my body ever be the same?

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Stock photos seemed to get pregnancy and parenting all wrong. When a Facebook friend posted looking for a real life pregnant stock photo model, I offered.

I Was A Real Life Pregnant Stock Photo Model​

Stock photos seemed to get pregnancy and parenting all wrong. When a Facebook friend posted looking for a real life pregnant stock photo model, I offered.

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Designated areas? Check. Remembering to get outside? Check. Compromises galore for anyone moving in together? Most definitely.

Dos And Don'ts Of Moving In With Your Significant Other

For any couples thinking about moving in together, I thought I’d share my Dos and Don’ts, and how my husband and I are making my small and unattractive (but inexpensive!) apartment work for our family.

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May Is Masturbation Month And I'm The 2%

You may have heard the old joke that 98% of people masturbate, and the other two percent are lying.

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Sex work is not a crime.

Jeremy Corbyn And The Decriminalization Of Sex Work

“If you believe in the decriminalisation of sex work,” Ian Dunt rightfully points out, “you will instantly come under a sustained and highly emotive attack on your morality and your identity.” In this vein, when a man comes out in favor of sex worker’s rights, he becomes “a betrayer of women, a gender Judas encouraging violence against them.”

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Sexual bartering is a close cousin to offering sex as a reward. (Image: Unsplash/ Felix Russell-Saw)

Sexual Bartering: Healthy Bargain Or Potential Disaster?

Is there anything problematic about trading foot rubs for blow jobs? Or is it a healthy way to add a little spice to a long term relationship?

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Sexual Violence In The Media

If you watch TV and movies hoping to be emotionally moved or intellectually challenged, you know that means you’ll some

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At a certain point in my adulthood, I stopped trying to force friendships that just didn’t work.

How To Break Up With Your Best Friend 

How do you break up with a best friend?

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C-PTSD: PTSD's lesser-known cousin.

Years Of Abuse Have Left Me With C-PTSD: Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

C-PTSD stands for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, also known as Developmental Trauma Disorder (DTD) or complex trauma. It’s a diagnostic term for a set of symptoms resulting from prolonged social or interpersonal stress, especially in the context of interpersonal dependence. It’s a tricky diagnosis to land on, given the way trauma is dealt with in the mind and by society. Like Kristof, I wouldn’t have told you there was anything wrong with my childhood. It took years of therapy to catalog early life experiences that were profoundly affecting, if not necessarily severe.

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