Speaking out against the prohibitionists who claim to speak for all

We write a lot about sex work on Sex In The Public Square and it is my sincerest hope that we never appear to be speaking for sex workers as if they were a homogenous group with a single set of needs that can be defined and advocated for by others. Sex work covers an enormous range of jobs from phone sex to erotic massage, from still-photo modeling to web cam work, from stripping to prostitution, you get the idea. Within each type of work there is a range of working conditions, and within each group of workers there are degrees of exploitation and autonomy. 

Specifically regarding prostitution our focus here has typically been on destigmatization and decriminalization, and supporting sex workers and their allies in shaping the way that their work is portrayed in the media.  Recently Caroline of Un-cool and now of Better Burn That Dress, Sister, has blogged here about the changes in UK prostitution policy that increase the stigma and criminality of purchasing sex. Renegade Evolution, another of my favorite bloggers, has been writing a lot about the shift overall toward Swedish-style policies that criminalize prostitution by making the purchase of sex illegal even while decriminalizing the sale of sex. And beyond writing about the policies themselves, these two in particular - not alone but certainly leading the pack - have been speaking out about the way that the prohibitionists who push these policies attempt to speak for all sex workers in justifying their work. Ren  in her most recent post on the subject, has called for greater and louder response and a reframing of the discussion, and I wholeheartedly support her. Specifically, she nails the problem this way: Click here to read more

 

I have to ask, to those of you who have met me and what not, do I generally come across as Teeheeeheee I can by Prada woo-hoo happy? Do most sex workers? Umm, no. Yet this is, consistently, how any who disagree with the pervading theme of repression of sex workers are written off and thusly discounted.

But as usual, those of us who oppose Swedish-like models, even considering the troublesome evidence that has shown such models to be far from perfect and the words of actual sex workers, as is typical, we are a tiny minority who truly know nothing about our business and do not care about all the poor trafficked women and girls. Which is bullshit, and I note, these people so concerned, from feminist anti sex work people to world governments, find it far more easy to criminalize the people who buy sex and attempt to play (often unwanted) savior to the people who sell it than to actually go after criminal organizations that deal in trafficking or take on the underlying causes, such as lack of education, poverty, drug abused, and lack of other job opportunities that face people who are unwillingly involved in prostitution…but apparently that is too hard and too messy…it’s easier to play Captain save a ho.

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So yes, if you find this as annoying and patronizing and seriously ill advised as I do?

Say something, because if we don’t, nobody else will.

(Click here to read her whole post. It is well worth it.)

 

Those of us who oppose Swedish-like policies are a diverse bunch and we include academics, activists and sex workers from a range of nations (and yes, I absolutely recognize that many individuals exist in more than one of those categories at the same time). We may be a minority, but we are not as small a minority as we appear. We certainly know a lot about the business and we care tremendously for human rights and about reducing exploitation for all workers. Many of us write periodically about our critiques of the "studies" that present the most exploited and abused workers inaccurately but compellingly as representative of all sex workers but we need to write more, and we need to promote each others work more often so that the ripple effects are magnified. Bound, Not Gagged and the Blog for Pro Porn Activism are two places I look for great original commentary on sex-work issues, but also for cross postings of work that originated elsewhere. I'd like to invite more cross-posting of work here, too. I've been thrilled that Caroline has shared her work here! And I think Catalina's Best Sex Bloggers  is another place for lots of cross posting. But all of this keeps our analysis and our conversation in the realm of sex blogging and we need the conversation to ripple beyond that. Prostitution and other forms of sex work are of concern to writers and readers of all sorts. I'd encourage those readers who are bloggers but not necessarily sex bloggers to take up the issue now and then. Human rights, worker's rights, freedom, autonomy, an economy based on jobs that can support a decent standard of living, policy based on evidence rather than ideology, these are things we all have a stake in. As Ren said, this is all much harder work than "playing Captain safe a ho" but it's much more effective in the long run, and that means it's better for everybody.