Regulation of Sex Work

[+ quoththeraven]

Keeping Sex Workers Quiet (Jacobin) -- Reducing the sex industry to human trafficking silences the sex workers fighting for their labor rights. Written from the POV of female sex workers, which makes sense because that's primarily who's trafficked.

 

Urgent: MPs trying to criminalise clients (Prostitutes Collective) - This seems to be about importing the Swedish model of regulating sex work by targeting clients to the UK, which currently permits individual (i.e., non-collective) sex work as long as it's not street-based. The name of the bill this is a part of is the Modern Slavery Bill, which is clearly meant to engender widespread support because who's going to support slavery these days?

 

Also, a letter to the AP opposing its proposal to use the term "sex worker" instead of "prostitute," which wholesale accepts and rehashes the Catherine MacKinnon/Andrea Dworkin line on sex work as always degrading to women and always the result of coercion or trafficking. Note the long list of signatories, many of which are anti-trafficking non-profits and NGOs from around the world. Feminist icons and government representatives, elected and unelected, are also represented. I disagree with them on the facts and policy, but it's about as well-written and persuasive a document for their point of view as you're likely to see anywhere.

[bigvalboy]

QTR...when I click on "a letter to the AP" it routes me back to the MF. Curious, I would love to read. Thanks.

[Steven_Draker]

"a letter to the AP" reroutes here: http://www.catwinternational.org/Content/Images/Article/587/attachment.pdf

[bigvalboy]

Keeping Sex Workers Quiet[/url] (Jacobin) -- Reducing the sex industry to human trafficking silences the sex workers fighting for their labor rights. Written from the POV of female sex workers, which makes sense because that's primarily who's trafficked.

 

Urgent: MPs trying to criminalise clients (Prostitutes Collective) - This seems to be about importing the Swedish model of regulating sex work by targeting clients to the UK, which currently permits individual (i.e., non-collective) sex work as long as it's not street-based. The name of the bill this is a part of is the Modern Slavery Bill, which is clearly meant to engender widespread support because who's going to support slavery these days?

 

Also, a letter to the AP opposing its proposal to use the term "sex worker" instead of "prostitute," which wholesale accepts and rehashes the Catherine MacKinnon/Andrea Dworkin line on sex work as always degrading to women and always the result of coercion or trafficking. Note the long list of signatories, many of which are anti-trafficking non-profits and NGOs from around the world. Feminist icons and government representatives, elected and unelected, are also represented. I disagree with them on the facts and policy, but it's about as well-written and persuasive a document for their point of view as you're likely to see anywhere.

 

Fascinating thus far QTR....excellent post. Much to digest here.