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KCCI 8 NEWS AT 10:00> -- 10:00. >> A DES MOINES ATTORNEY IS ON A MISSION TO DECRIMINALIZE PROSTITUTION. THE ISSUE IS PERSONAL TO HER BECAUSE KATHERINE SEARS WORKS AS A PART TIME PROSTITUTE WHEN SHE’S NOT IN THE COURTROOM. KCCI’S LAURA TERRELL HAS THE EXCLUSIVE EYE-OPENING INTERVIE WE DO HAVE A WARNING SOME OF THE TOPICS AND PHOTOS IN THIS STORY MAY NOT BE APPROPRIATE FOR ALL VIEWER >> ALYX SACKS. SEX IS FUN. -- I LIKE SEX, SEX IS FUN. >> SHE IS AN ATTORNEY AND A PROSTITUTE. THOSE ARE TYPICALLY TWO THINGS THAT DON’T GO HAND-IN-HAND. >> NOT OPENLY. SHE TRAVELS TO NEVADA WHERE PROSTITUTION IS ILLEGAL. -- LEGAL. SHE SAYS WORKING IN A BROTHEL THERE IS SOMETHING SHE ALWAYS WANTED TO DO. >> YOU CAN MAKE A JOB OUT OF THIS. >> SEARS ADMITS SHE IS PAINFULLY SHY. BUT FEELS EMPOWERED BEING A SEX WORKER. SHE IS SO PASSIONATE ABOUT DICRIMINALIZING PROSTITUTION SHE WANTED TO SPEAK ON CAMERA ABOUT HER MISSION. >> THE MORE WE TALK ABOUT IT, THE BETTER CHANCE. WE WILL NOT HAVE LEGISLATIVE CHANGE. >> SHE AND HER HUSBAND MET AT DRAKE LAW SCHOOL A FEW YEARS AGO, WHEN SHE WAS ALREADY WORKING AS A PROSTITUTE. THE COUPLE IS NOW PRACTICING CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAW TOGETHER DES MOINES. >> WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR LI -- WIFE BEING A PROSTITUTE? I DON’T REALLY CARE THAT MUCH. >> THE COUPLE SEES PROSTITUTION AS ANY OTHER JOB. ONE WHERE CONSENT IS REQUIRED AND SEARS HAS A RIGHT TO SAY YES OR NO TO CLIENTS. >> SEARS TYPICALLY TRAVELS TO NEVADA WHERE SHE WORKS IN A BROTHEL FOR 3 WEEKS. SHE THEN COMES BACK TO IOWA FOR A WEEK AT HOME. >> HOW MUCH HAVE YOU MADE BEING A PROSTITUTE? >> I’D HAVE TO GET MY TAXES OUT AND LOOK AT IT. THE BEST I DID I MADE 55,000 IN 3 WEEKS. >> THE PAST YEAR SEARS HAS TAKEN TIME OFF TO FOCUS ON PRACTICING LAW AND ON HER GROWING FAMIL HER SON IS 4 MONTHS OLD. >> WHAT IS THE BIGGEST MISCONCEPTION ABOUT PROSTITUTION? >> THEY ARE SOME OF THE BEST PEOPLE I HAVE KNOWN. >> NOT EVERYONE IS ON BOARD WITH SEARS VIEWS. SHE GETS THAT. BUT SHE WANTS TO END WHAT SHE CALLS THE JUDGEMENTAL STIGMA. >> WE DEGRADE WOMEN WHO ARE OPEN ABOUT SEXUALITY. IF YOU ARE OUT THIS WAY, YOU ARE BAD. IF YOU STRAY FROM THAT, YOU ARE ALSO BAD. I THINK IT IS A LOT OF INDOCTRINATION. >> SEARS WOULD LIKE TO SEE IOWA AND THE ENTIRE NATION DECRIMINALIZE PROSTITUTION. SHE IS EVEN WILLING TO TAKE PROSTITUTION CASES ON PRO BONO >> THEIR BODIES BELONG TO THEM AND WE HAD NO REASON TO BE TELLING THEM THAT YOU CANNOT DO THIS. >> SEARS SAY BROTHELS IN NEVADA ARE VERY REGULATED AND HAVE FREQUENT MANDATORY HEALTH AND STD CHECKS. >> WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS? MANY WOMEN ARE FORCED INTO PROSTITUTION AGAINST THEIR WILL. >> SEARS TALKS ABOUT THIS A LOT. SHE BELIEVES DECRIMINALIZING PROSTITUTION WILL HELP STOP HUMAN TRAFFICKING BECAUSE IF A PROSTITUTE SEES ANOTHER WOMAN SUFFERING OR BEING FORCED AGAINST HER WILL THAT PROSTITUTE WILL BE MORE LIKELY TO TELL SOMEONE WITHOUT OF FEAR OF REPRACSSIONS HER

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A Des Moines attorney is unveiling her life as a part-time prostitute. The mom, wife, attorney and prostitute, Katherine Sears, hopes that by shining a light on her lifestyle, she can help decriminalize prostitution.“I like sex,” Sears said. “Sex is fun and I can get paid for it.” She began working as a prostitute three years ago, at the age of 27. Sears travels to Nevada, where prostitution is legal, and works in a brothel. “You can make a job out of this? That’s fantastic,” Sears said. “Why would I not do this?”By speaking about her experience, Sears hopes to educate people on a taboo topic.“I think a lot of people are upset about prostitution without understanding what it is they are being upset about,” she said. “Which is really frustrating because it’s hard to talk somebody out of something when they are just entrenched in, ‘No, this is what’s right.’”Sears knows some people may see it as a morality issue, but she sees it as a right. “You can say, 'No sex without a condom.' You can say, 'No sex until we’re married.' But you can’t say, 'No sex until you pay me'? And that feels like it really undermines what consent means,” Sears said. While Sears said she’s shy, she feels empowered being a sex worker. “I think the more we talk about it, the better our chances are of getting decriminalization that we’re pursuing,” Sears said. “We’re not going to have legislation change if we’re passive about it.” Sears and her husband John Sears met at Drake Law School while Sears was already working as a prostitute. But John isn’t bothered by her part-time job. “I don’t really care that much,” John Sears said. Katherine Sears travels to Nevada, where she works in the brothel for three weeks before coming home to Iowa for a week. “Prostitution is consensual sex,” Katherine Sears said.When asked about the money, she had to guess.“I’d have to get my taxes out and look at it,” Katherine Sears said. “The best I did, I made $55,000 in three weeks.” While working in the brothel, she starts her day with three hours of prep in the morning, between showering, black soap, exfoliating, washing and drying everything. A busy day for Sears means 10 to 15 clients. Sears said she never fears for her safety and as far as sexual health goes, she is required to have health check-ups. “You’re really less likely to get an STD from a prostitute than you are from the general public,” Sears said. In the past year, she has taken time off to focus on her law practice and her 4-month-old son. But it hasn’t stopped her from trying to break down misconceptions around prostitution.“Prostitutes are people,” Katherine Sears said. “Prostitutes I’ve known are some of the best people I’ve known.”While she understands some people don’t agree with her lifestyle, she wants to end what she calls “judgmental stigma.” “We degrade women who are open about sexuality,” she said. “You’re supposed to be this way and if you’re not this way, you’re bad. So, I think it’s a lot of indoctrination.”Katherine Sears is so passionate about the decriminalization of prostitution, she is willing to take prostitution cases on pro bono. “Their bodies belong to them and we have absolutely no reason to be telling them that you cannot condition your consent this way,” she said. Sears believes that decriminalizing prostitution will help reduce sex trafficking. “If a prostitute sees somebody who is being trafficked, she is less likely to go to the police and report this because she is incriminating herself, too,” she said. “If she is not doing anything illegal and she’s just doing her job and her friend over here is having an issue, she is now in a position where she can get her help out of that situation.” A Des Moines defense attorney explains her part-time prostitution job