It appears feministing.com has done it again, and by that I mean they have further perpetuated ideas that sex ‘work’ is okay and we should all just accept such an abusive and patriarchal type of ‘work.’
I will post the article and bold my response throughout.
The article states:
Today marks the 7th annual International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers.
(Yes, I support ending violence against sex workers, but I’m interested in abolishing such a horrific institution that has been raping, murdering and objectifying women as a class for centuries)
To mark this important day, we’re featuring this guest post on the impact of violent language of anti-sex work groups (but what about the pimps and johns that beat and harm women, why are we not looking into the men committing the violence?) by Calum Bennachie & Jan Marie. The article was excerpted from “Research for Sex Work 12”, a journal published this month. Both the journal and the website amplify the voices of sex worker-led organizations around the world that speak out about violence from police, institutions, clients, and intimate partners, while challenging the myth that sex work is inherently violence against women. You can download the full journal, with eight more articles about sex work and violence, for free here.
Written by Calum Bennachie & Jan Marie
When most people discuss violence against sex workers, they talk about the physical violence that they perceive sex workers are exposed to by clients, by authorities, and by others. However, violence takes many forms, and what is often omitted from discussions of violence against sex workers is the verbal violence of anti-sex work groups. The language they use reflects not merely a dislike of sex work, but a hatred of sex workers, especially those who act contrary to what Ronald Weitzer calls the ‘oppression paradigm’ these abolitionist groups have adopted. Their language has several severe consequences, one of which is that it actively encourages violence against sex workers (Yes, abolition of exploitation; I am part of the group of women and men who think there is a fundamental problem with the idea that women should be bought and sold like merchandise for the sexual consumption of men)
Abolitionists often use a language of war, and their hatred towards sex workers, which does not show remorse, can almost be tasted. For example, it could be argued that their descriptions of sex workers’ vaginas are more women-hating than those in any mainstream pornography (“Language of war” what the hell does that mean? Groups that work against exploitation, example being radical feminists and other social justice activists do not have hatred or contempt towards women working in this industry. We believe they are fully capable of making choices and reserve our anger towards the johns that sustain such industries) Statements such as these make a major contribution to both popular and theoretical academic representations of sex work. They receive much attention and wide acceptance, which impacts on the lives of sex workers in relation to stigma, stereotypes, media representation, funding and implementation of interventions, and the construction of government policy. If everything they say is true, then obviously the sex industry is bad and all people who try to close it down are good (The sex industry is bad because it is built on the belief that women are holes, sex toys to be used, raped, abused and beat. We stand against this industry because we do not believe that men have unlimited access to the bodies of women and children. I realize the writer is speaking of the small group of women who “chose” this lifestyle, putting the millions of others in a horrible position. How does this affect those women, or all women as a class?) Within this belief system, it makes sense that those who support the industry should be punished and sex workers should be rescued out or punished for staying in (We support the Swedish model which holds the johns accountable and does not use hate-speech or think of women in the sex industry as “bad” or “immoral”, we do not believe they should be forced to think the same way we do)
This Is What They Say
The sex industry:
- Is ‘an institution of male violence and racial and economic privilege’ that objectifies and keeps women in their place to fulfill male desires. (Yes, it is. Please provide evidence against this, this is an institution that is racist, genocidal, gynocidal, and fundamentally male-supremacist in nature, as a radical feminist and radical social justice activist, I oppose such systems, however I do not oppose the women working in this industry)
- Is a ‘symptom’ of all that is wrong with masculinities. (No, it’s a symptom of capitalism, the idea that women are commodities, masculinity is merely affirmed in such an institution)
- Forces and traffics sex workers, especially migrant sex workers. (Well, if you knew ANYTHING about the extent of poor women migrating, you would not be so insensitive. Do you have any idea how many women are forced to migrate to wealthy nations because of globalization and U.S imperialism? Do you have an idea how many women have NO choice? But wait, you’re speaking about a small group of women who may think it’s empowering, this does not and will not give you a right to speak for women who are forced to migrate from their families just to survive)
Commercial sex:
- Is ‘rape that’s paid for’. (Who said this? Why are you categorizing all anti-exploitation feminists into one group? Where are your sources? How is one statement that you have blanketed over an entire group a legitimate argument for your cause?)
Sex workers:
- Enjoy rape and domination and accept pain and humiliation to get rewards and avoid further abuse (Who ever EVER said this? You could be very well making this up, as someone who works with radical activists and speaks to activists on a regular basis, I have NEVER heard someone say this. Please do not put such a disgusting image on radical activists – this is not how we think, this is not what we are about)
- Are predators who contribute to rape, battery, and violence against women and children (WHAT? Again, where are you getting this information? Exploitation abolitionists are not blaming or attacking women working in the sex industry. This is offensive and absolutely untrue)
- Are misled about the concept of having choice because they are victims of the system of male domination and individual males within that. (Women are fully capable of making choices, but this does not mean that all women made the same choices. For you to speak so broadly about an entire group of women working in the sex industry is leaving out women as a class, women living in other parts of the world who are forced to accept male domination and experience violence because of that male domination)
- Have permanent emotional scarring and other ongoing consequences such as changed appearance (Not all do, but some do, most definitely. Have you talked to many women, not just living in the West, that have post traumatic stress disorder? Have you heard from women who have experienced horrible trauma and emotion anguish? Most of them report this as this disorder is a very real and serious consequence for MANY women. You seem to think this is all a big fun show for women who choose it, assuming they did. You have made some broad assumptions that do not speak for women as a class. You are leaving out millions of women by being so classist.)
- Have vaginas that are receptacles to be masturbated into and are filthy with semen and lubricant (Excuse me? Where did you hear this one? Oh, right. You don’t know because you likely just made it up or heard it from one person and made a blanket assumption about all radical activists)
Harmful Consequences
There are five main consequences of this discourse of hate. First, sex workers who are confronted with these opinions are likely to doubt their self-worth and their self-agency (Again, no one has ever suggested women are incapable of making decisions. You seem to miss the fact that many women do not have the opportunity to make such decisions, sabotaging an entire group of women), and may put themselves in the position of victim, thus making it more likely they will become victims of violence. When subjected to violence, they are less likely to make complaints about it (Why is there violence anyway? What is sustaining such an institution that gives men a free pass to harm women? What do you believe is the cause of such a system of oppression? Why not work against the pimps and rapists? Because you'd rather attack women! )
Secondly, the discourse encourages hatred of sex workers, clients and all who support sex workers in any way (Yes, hatred for johns because they assume they have a right to women’s bodies because they are in a position of social and political power. I have to repeat again and again, no radical group has expressed hatred for women working in this industry) All cultures have approved objects of hatred. Often this hatred takes aim at whole classes of people. Speech denigrating particular groups has been described as a ‘psychic tax on those least able to pay’. As an example, it has been shown that negative comments about the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) communities (Have you ever considered communities that include women in lower socio-economic situations, intersex or other non-gender conforming people? What about them? What about the women in Thailand who can’t support their family in any other way, what about those women?) contribute to increases in physical and verbal violence against homosexual and transgender people (What about the violence radical lesbian feminists experience, or the complete ostracizing of radical lesbian feminists from queer spaces, not to mention intersex, gender non-comforning or asexual individuals, do they just not matter? You have a very white, privileged agenda, a very non-radical agenda.) This can be extended to sex workers as well.
Thirdly, conflating sex work with trafficking and violence against women has affected the funding of sex worker groups. For example, PEPFAR (the US government AIDS fund) will not fund organisations that support sex workers or promote the decriminalisation of sex work. As a result, this has led to groups that supply sex workers with condoms, or support the rights of sex workers, not receiving funds, thus endangering the lives of sex workers and putting them at risk of HIV infection. This policy also reinforces stereotypes, stigma, and discrimination against sex workers. (No one on my end has ever suggested that condom use shouldn’t be supported or that sex workers should be discriminated against)
Fourthly, male, gay, transgender and gender-fluid sex workers are made invisible (Really? What about the women made invisible every day, by people like you? Oh, but wait, looking out for men is all about radical feminism and radical politics, because transgender or gay men are less oppressed than radical lesbians or any other non-hetersexual group) The violence against these groups is ignored, and rarely appears in any of the papers they produce. In fact, male sex workers rarely appear in any of their publications, perhaps, because they assume male sex workers to be gay men. For example, Sheila Jeffreys calls gay men the cause of women’s subjugation, (Have you read any of Sheila’s work or are you like every other non-radical group that read a sentence of Sheila’s work and decided it was “too radical” or “transphobic” because it questioned the privilege of gay white men?) while male-to-female transgendered sex workers are referred to as ‘self-mutilating men’. Perhaps they count even less as human? (How about radical lesbian feminists and the hatred towards them as women and as feminist activists? But who gives a shit if they don’t fit into your white, academically privileged, class privileged queer spaces? )
Finally, and cumulatively, the discourse actively encourages violence against sex workers. The way something is defined can make a huge difference in how it is perceived and how it is interacted with. When one understands a group of people as ‘other’, different, dirty, filthy, stupid or malevolently manipulative, then one can support or condone the violence that occurs. Whether this is forced rescue, forced health checks, taking children away from their parents, or rape and murder.
Paying the Psychic Tax
Although anti-sex work authors claim to condemn violence against sex workers, through their choice of words and phrases they actively promote and encourage acts, which, in some cases, may lead to the abuse and death of sex workers. On the one hand they say they support and care for women, on the other they depict these women in such a way that violence can be justified. Taken together, the consequences of this verbal violence by abolitionist groups makes a major contribution to the abuse of sex workers globally, who are paying the ‘psychic tax’. These people are no different from the client who does not want to pay, the corrupt police officer who rapes, or the members of the public who throw bottles and rotten eggs at street workers. In fact they are worse, because they justify their violence as an act of caring.
We must challenge them, their language, and their publications at every opportunity, reveal their language of hate for what it is, and counter them with evidence-based facts that prove their claims to be false.
Since the rest is just more libertarian, white-supremacist, classist drivel that examines one set of prostituted women and ignores the millions of women and girls trafficked on a daily basis. This is disgusting, racist and pro-imperialist hate coming from people who want to sabotage radical politics in order to push a Westernized and incredibly harmful agenda that supports the rape, murder and co-modification of women. Feministing.com, shame on you.
