What Are You Doing to Get People Out of Prostitution

A staunch anti-sex work activist asked sex worker advocates about what we’re doing to get people out of prostitution. Well, this would actually be a fair question if we weren’t so busy having to peacefully fight for our own rights. Before asking us this, perhaps she should ask herself what she’s doing to stop the incarceration and major human rights abuses against sex workers under the anti-prostitution laws that are “supposed” to be about stopping human trafficking:  http://blip.tv/sexworkerspresent/anti-trafficking-cambodia-the-reality-full-version-977233.   Since when does persecuting and abusing sex workers stop human trafficking.   She also needs to ask herself about what she’s doing to stop violence against sex workers beyond promoting anti-prositution laws that encourage this; and what she’s doing to promote the well-being and agency of sex workers while we’re sex workers.

Nonetheless, I’ll respond to the question anyway. Criminalizing and stigmatizing prostitution creates obstacles to people looking to exit the industry and people who are looking for jobs in addition to prostitution, as various employers do criminal background checks, and applicants almost always need to list past employment (such as the past 3 jobs, etc.) on job applications. Similiar things could be said about resumes. If prostitution weren’t criminalized or stigmatized,  this would be no problem, as sex workers would be able to include this information without fear of being discriminated against for being sex workers or incriminating oneself. Thus, one thing we’re doing to help people exit prostitution is advocating for the decriminalization and destigmatization of prostituiton.

In cases where people have trouble exiting prostitution due to lack of other viable job opportunities, prostitution isn’t the core issue, but lack of viable job opportunities is.  Criminalizing prostitution or pressuring sex workers to leave the trade doesn’t just magically give these workers other job opportunities. 

The St. James Infirmary, a sex worker led health clinic in San Francisco, also employs current and former sex workers, and provides these workers with opportunities to develop different types of job skills, in terms of providing health care, health education, outreach, planning events, public relations, etc. Sex worker advocates in India provided a way for sex workers looking to exit or in need of extra income can make hand-made sanitary napkins for. Also, a sex worker advocate of Cambodian descent from San Francisco, created a socially concious design company that employed Cambodian sex workers, where they can make clothing and handbags for livable wages.

Also, another way we’re helping people exit prostitution who wish to is by promoting policies that increase the likelihood of people actually living long enough to exit the industry. Each year on Dec. 17 is International Day to End Violence against Sex Workers. As part of this event, we read and remember names of sex workers killed over the past year and where they were killed if this information is known. Year after year, the vast majority of people on the lists were killed under criminalized systems of prostitution. It was in this context that the largest known serial killing spree in U.S. history occured, the Green River killings. Gary Ridgeway acknowledged killing 48 people in a two year killing spree in Seattle that lasted from 1982-1984, targeting street-based sex workers. He was likely connected with more murders, as there are unsolved murders of sex workers in that area. However, he wasn’t charged with those murders until about two decades later in 2003. It’s hard to imagine how many sex workers were arrested for prostitution over that same time period.

In a study of street prostitution in neighboring British Columbia, John Lowman found that murder rates against these sex workers went up after British Columbia make it illegal to communicate for the purposes of prostitution. He attributed this to anti-prostitution laws and hatred against sex workers: http://veganvixen1.wordpress.com/2011/10/18/how-the-swedish-anti-prostitution-legislation-harms-sex-workers/ .

How the Swedish Anti-Prostitution Legislation Harms Sex Workers

Sweden’s government has often led the way in progressive social justice legislation, but not with anti-prostitution laws. On the surface these policies may seem progressive. After all, they break through the double-standard in which sex workers (who are largely women) are more likely to be arrested than clients (who are largely men). The legislation criminalizes the clients, but not the sex workers. So what’s wrong with this legislation?

If gender double-standards were the only problem with anti-prostitution laws, then there would be nothing wrong. However, there’s a lot more wrong with anti-prostitution laws and it’s important to look beyond the surface.

Sweden’s anti-prostitution policies have received praise from various anti-sex work feminists, politicians, and others. Yet, various Swedish sex workers have  expressed very different feelings about this legislation. Rather than just jumping on the bandwagon in support of the Swedish model, Petra Ostergren spoke with Swedish sex workers about this and listened to their concerns. Despite the fact that this legislation was “supposed” to protect them, Swedish sex workers reported the opposite. They reported that their work became more dangerous after this legislation passed and that they have less agency and control over their working conditions. For example, they reported a higher percentage of clients demanding unsafe sex acts and less agency to turn down such clients. Sex workers also reported that criminalizing the clients made hindered their ability to screen them, thus further jeopardizing the sex workers’ safety.  Here’s a link to Ostergren’s report: http://petraostergren.com/pages.aspx?r_id=40716

Additionally and relatedly, this legislation is very pateralistic, so it’s interesting that some people who identify as feminists would support it. It totally infantalizes women in prostitution, treating us like we’re all incapable of making decisions for what we do with our own bodies. This is very disappointing, especially from a country’s that’s often so progressive. I would expect better from the Swedish government.

This is exemplifies how paternalistic legislation under the guise of protecting women further endangers us. (I’m not Swedish, but use the term “us” because I’m a woman and a sex worker). I realize that not all sex workers are women, but I use the term “women” because the language in the legislation targets women in prostitution as victims, without recognizing the multiple realities that exist in prostitution and how legislation such as this increases the likelihood of victimization. Though I don’t like to impose the victim label onto sex workers, various Swedish sex workers seem to feel that the legislation victimizes them more than sex work does.

Decriminalization of consensual sex acts whether for free or for payment is the way to go, so sex workers aren’t criminalized just for being sex workers and clients aren’t criminalized just for being clients.  The abuses and violence that sometimes occur inside and outside of prostitution would still be illegal.  To criminalize somebody just for paying for sex makes as little sense as criminalizing somebody just for having sex for free.  Though this may seem overly simplistic, it is this simple when we look at anti-prostitution laws.  Just like I find it problematic to overly simplify complex concepts, I also find it problematic to make concepts more complicated than they need to be.  Though there are a lot of complexities in prostitution, legally speaking, the only think that differtiates prostitution from non prostitution is the exchange of payment for sex. 

Here’s additional info. about the Swedish model:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11437499

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11437499

So, if you think the Swedish model is progressive, think again…

Perhaps, Ashton Kutcher Isn’t So Bad Afterall

Sex worker advocates have been very critical of Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore’s organization called DNA for conflating almost all prostitution with trafficking and slavery, while ignoring how such attitudes harm sex workers and have resulted in anti-prostitution laws that are more focused on harming sex workers than stopping trafficking.

For example, they claim that only a small percentage of people working as prostitutes choose this work and most are trafficking victims, without providing any evidence to back up this claim. The website also repeatedly provides statistics without naming the sources. Here’s a link: http://demiandashton.org/ .

Despite my concerns stated above, I appreciate how Ashton challenged the conflation of all sex work with trafficking while on the David Letterman show, saying that strippers and porn performers aren’t trafficking victims.  I’m not a mind reader, but I’m guessing he meant that not every porn performer or exotic dancer is a trafficking victim or that the prevalency of this is low, considering that none of us can know for sure that nobody is ever trafficked in these industries or many others.  

Though I appreciated him asserting this, I wish he would have also mentioned how not all prostitutes are trafficking victims. Here’s a link to the video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inQ3GS6dA4Y .

Slut Walk Las Vegas Sept. 10, 2011

Slut Walk events have been occuring in various cities, expressing the message that nobody deserves to be sexually assaulted or raped no matter how sexual we are.  In other words, nobody is ‘asking for it’.   I also love how Slut Walk focuses on redefining the term “slut” positively.

The next Slut Walk event I know of is happening in Las Vegas!  It will begin on Sept. 10 at 7:30 p.m. at the Erotic Heritage Museum.  Here’s a link to the Slut Walk Las Vegas Facebook page for more info.:  http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002852577056&sk=info#!/event.php?eid=216034345112040 .

Newsweek Article Bashing Sex Work Clients

Here’s a link to a Newsweek article titled “The John Next Door”: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/07/17/the-growing-demand-for-prostitution.html.  Below the article is a “Comments” section where readers can post comments.  There were multiple pages of comments posted, but now only the most recent page of comments is showing, which is very disturbing considering that there were so many excellent, insightful comments that now aren’t visible.  Yet, some on the most recent page are still really good.

I’m providing a forum here where people can continue the discussion  and the comments will stay up provided that they are constructive.  People with different points of view may post here as I don’t like to censor, but I don’t allow any forms of slander, hate speech, or trolling. 

Here’s my input on the article.  First, it’s very overgeneralized and I get so sick of people bashing all of our clients.  The claim in this article that men who don’t pay for sex are more respectful toward women than men who do is inconsistent with my experiences. When men continue to hit on me for free when I make it clear that I just want to be alone and am not interested in being hit on, that’s degrading. I don’t find it degarading when my clients compensate me for my time, skills, and talents; respect my boundaries; and don’t try to make our relationship into more than what it is.

Though I can’t speak for every sex worker, the vast majority of my clients in the legal brothels have been very respectful, sometimes more respectful toward me than people I meet outside of sex work. I realize that there are abusive and disrespectful clients. Yet, I also realize there are abusive and disrespectful spouses and intimate partners outside of sex work.  Of course, not all are abusive and some are very kind and caring. Thus, villifying all clients of sex workers makes as little sense as villifying all spouses and intimate partners outside of sex work.

 I also found the language in the article implying that our clients “buy” us to be extremely offensive.  My clients don’t “buy” me. Rather, they pay me for work. My body still belongs to me and when I leave my sessions with clients, I still have it attached to me. Thus, I’m not “selling my body”.
It’s interesting how some of the same people who complain about how prostitution is so degrading are promoting degrading attitudes against us themselves.

Documentary about Feminist Pornography

Has anybody seen the documentary titled “ Hot and Bothered: Feminist Pornography?”  I haven’t seen the documentary yet, but I’d really like to.  Here’s a link to more information: www.feministpornography.com .

2009 Sex Worker Film, Art, and Music Festival: May 30-June 7

http://www.sexworkerfest.com/swfest2009/Release2009.html

6th San Francisco Sex Worker Film, Art and Music Festival

 

Festival dates: May 30th to June 7th, 2009

Website: http://www.sexworkerfest.com/

Tel: 415-751-1659

Email: swfest@bayswan.org

Schedule Updates: http://www.sexworkerfest.com/schedule2009.html

 

We are very excited to announce the 2009 San Francisco Sex Worker Film, Arts and Music Festival. This is the 10th anniversary, and 6th Biennial Festival! This year we focus on documentaries, sex worker portraits and activist shorts. The 2009 movies represent new trends in sex worker cinema, the intimate focus on individual sex workers with a new respect for their courage in the face of hazards of the work and escalating repression. New activist shorts also mark a current trend including the “how-to,” safety education for sex workers, and unabashed, playful and celebratory sex worker rights propaganda.

 

The 2009 Sex Worker Fest will be presented in tandem with the Queer Cultural Festival http://www.queerculturalcenter.org/. The 2009 Fest includes a week of fun, sexy, political, kinky, naughty, bold and educational events.

 

2009 events include: Saturday. May 30th- A Radar benefit hosted by Michelle Tea with Dorothy Allison, Kirk Read and more; Sunday, May 31st- Two events-An All Day Shopping Orgy/ Kinky Gifts, Sex Worker Crafts Show and Garage Sale at Center for Sex & Culture featuring entertainment including Ckiara Rose reading from “Song of Men Slaves”; May 31st late night party at Diva’s sponsored by Sex Workers Outreach Project; Monday, June 1st, Sex Workers Outreach Project Hospitality Day and Roundtable for sex workers and allies; Tuesday, June 2nd A party at El Rio with sex worker musicians including Mariko Passion featuring Mistress of Ceremonies, Annie Danger; Wednesday and Thursday, June 3rd and 4th, Army of Lovers, performances by male sex workers curated by Kirk Read at Center For Sex & Culture; Two events on Friday June 5th -Movies at Artists’ Television Access 7-10 PM; Late night- June 5th Cirque X” at Paradise Lounge benefit for St. James Infirmary, 10 year anniversary, a carnival of decadence with amazing fire troops and aerial acrobatics to sexy burlesque shows, exotic dancers, XXX porn stars, drag queens and fierce DJs! 9pm-3am; The Sex Worker Fest introduces work from artists including cartoons by Modern Hooker www.modernhooker.com.

 

June 5th and June 6th movies include local and international premieres including Death of a Whore, a Spanish-language biography of Grisélidis Réal, whose re-burial caused a recent international scandal (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/09/prostitute-griselidis-rea_n_173212.html); “Happy Endings” with interviews from Korean massage parlor workers in Rhode Island as they are confronted with the racism and zenophobia of local anti-prostitution activists; Science Friction with “Cinema of Desire” in this portrait of a trans sex worker from Thailand; “You’re Welcome,” a tender and humorous story of ‘the whore next door’ from Norway; a panel and international feature about sexual services for disabled clients; sex worker activist produced short docs and experimental work include “Prostitution Free Zone” by PJ Starr, “Flipping the Lens: A Look at $pread Magazine,” and “Know Your Rights” from Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP) Chicago; experimental shorts from Renegade Evolution and music videos from Scarlot Harlot; plus clips from your neighbors’ home grown porn including kink/SM/BD/fetish/sex ed from San Francisco with stars including Madison Young in “Bride of Sin.”

Anti-Sex Work “Feminist” Hypocracy

I’ll start by saying that there are feminists who are very supportive of sex workers rights, but unfortunately, not all feminists are.  Some anti-sex work “feminists” refuse differentiate between consensual and forced prostitution, even though this does nothing to decrease forced labor or help people who really are victims of forced labor in the sex industry or any other industry.  This attitude promotes partrichacy and sexism, which I thought feminism was against. By denying that sex work can be consensual, these “feminists” deny the right to consent.  They are promoting the partriarchal, condescending attitude that women are incapable of making conscious decisions just because we do sex work.   I realize that people of various genders work in the sex industry, but I’m specifying women because these “feminists” emphasize how sex work is oppressive to women, while simultaeously  expressing oppressive attitudes toward women in sex work by denying out right to consent.  What hypocracy!

I support the right to work in the sex industry, the right not to work in the sex industry, and the right to exit the sex industry without being denied other jobs because prostitution is criminalized and on a person’s criminal record.

Proposed Prostitution Prohibition Legislation in Providence, Rhode Island

In Rhode Island, private sex in exchange for payment between consenting adults is legal, but bad legislation has been proposed that would make this illegal in Providence.  Even though the proposed legislation would make it a crime to sell sex acts, Donna Hughes, a prostitution prohibitionist, said that this legislation would not victimize prostitutes or unduly harm prostitutes.  I totally disagree.   By criminalizing the sale of sex acts, prostitutes could be persecuted under this horrible legislation.  Also, Donna Hughes mentioned that many prostitutes are coerced into prostitution by pimps.  I’m not denying that this is true in some cases, but it’s also true that some workers who engage in sex for payment don’t even work for pimps.   Here’s a link to an article addressing this terrible  legislation: 

 http://www.projo.com/news/content/SEX_TRAFFICKING_04-18-07_PE59S6P.355cf58.html