Do you know what December 17th marks? Probably not.
It’s the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. That we need a day to mark this occasion is a reminder that much of the world does not regard sex work as legitimate work.
Note: Keep in mind I am not a sex worker. I have friendships and am acquainted with sex workers and have consulted some of them for this piece, but I myself only work on the periphery of the industry.
Initiated by sex educator Annie Sprinkle and the Sex Workers Outreach Project (SWOP), December 17th is the day to memorialize those hurt and killed in the industry, at the hands of anyone from clients to police to partners.
There is an inherent problem with legislative action against sex work, and that is the idea that sex trafficking and sex work are not exclusive. Those fighting to maintain and strengthen current laws against sex work do so in a blind attempt to curb the industry, to reduce the supply – with the misguided notion that it therefore reduces demand – of sex for pay. They believe that anyone who sells sex must be doing it under duress, that they are too manipulated, too downtrodden, too scarred to have any kind of say on what they do with their bodies. For the sake of this article, the distinction must be made that sex work and sex trafficking are two different entities, and here I will be focusing on the former.
People are so conditioned to see sex outside the context of marriage as dirty and exploitative, that they refuse to listen to the other side of the conversation: the voices of those who are in the industry by choice. Not all women involved in sex work are in trouble, they can make their own decisions and they don’t need to be rescued.
Yes, there are those that may not want to work in the sex trade, but not all fall toward the trafficking end of the spectrum. Many women will be involved in the industry to make ends meet, can’t find alternatives and have to make the choice, much like having to make the choice to work in fast food or low-end retail. It may not be the preferred route, but it’s still a choice, made to keep families fed, with roofs over their heads and clothes on their backs.
The notion that people impose upon others that scrubbing toilets or working in fast food kitchens is somehow more noble and happy-making than having sex for money infuriates me to no end. Should I find myself in dire need to make money to support my family – despite the fact that I could set up a sex-for-sale business where I could regulate my own hours and rules, hire staff and get paid for doing something I enjoy – legally, I would have to instead take a job selling discounted shoes at an outlet mall on the far reaches of town for minimum wage, and maybe endure getting sexually harassed by my boss. That will make my government happy, but it sure as hell would make me miserable. Laws and stigma do a very good job of ensuring that.
Until our government can promise housing, food, health and child care for every one of its citizens, it should not govern how we choose to make our ends meet, when the work involves harmless, consenting adults.
Some choose to work in the industry as a stepping stone for something different in the future – to pay for school, put a down payment on a house, gain financial freedom, or simply to get by between other jobs. But what is often the case when those in the industry decide to move on is they’re met with contempt, making the decision that much harder, or they’re derided for having once worked in the profession. Popular examples include Melissa Petro, a well-liked and respected teacher in New York who, after writing in The Huffington Post of her history in sex work, was fired. For every one of a story like hers, there are thousands of people who have not written or cannot make the decision to leave the sex industry because society will not let them ‘move on.’ Petro, like others I have communicated with, is unapologetic about her sex work. I say, bravo.
There’s a reason that sex work is the world’s oldest profession: you cannot quash human nature. The spectrum of desire is extensive. It’s not broken down to a simple idea of ‘sex-hungry men’ desperate for any kind of satisfaction. The services of sex workers are desired by all gender identifications (and offered by all identifications). And what of those who cannot easily find a partner to share sexual pleasure? Watch The Sessions, based on the true story of poet Mark O’Brien – inflicted with polio from a young age and having spent his days in an iron lung, he hired a sex surrogate – then decide if people shouldn’t be permitted to buy sex. Why should we deny such a basic, consensual pleasure simply because the course of history turned sex into something ugly?
This article is not to say that all sex work is an amazing Pretty Woman or London Call Girl fantasy. It’s not. Most sex work around the world means putting yourself in constant danger, bowing to violent pimps, under constant threat of arrest and sex offender registries, and being considered ‘rapeable’ by default; never mind the stigma from friends and family not in the industry, and the difficulties one can face upon leaving it.
There are no ‘black and white’ options when it comes to sex work. Between the London Call Girl and abused, runaway teen are a million different stories. No matter where they sit on the scale, they should all be protected and respected as members of the human race. Sex should not be the variable that affects someone’s opinion of another.
Many jobs have health and safety risks, yet they are regulated. Sex work is not, and this, coupled with criminalization, works to effectively create more dangerous work environments. It pushes sex work further into the shadows, where rape and violence breed, as do STIs, threats of prison time, and removal from family. In theory, law enforcement is to serve and protect, though in practice it serves and protects those who aren’t sex workers. Whether they made the choice or they are coerced into it, services need to be put into place that help them, from health care to child care, and fair treatment by the police and judicial systems.
December 17th, 2012 also marked the day that Commissioner of the Missing Women Inquiry released his report on the police handling of the Robert Pickton case. The remains or DNA of 33 women were found at the Pickton farm in BC– women ignored by the police, relegated to less-than-worthy of any sort of justice, even when there was glaring evidence of criminal activity that writers of torture porn couldn’t dream up. Vancouver police botching the investigation in a continuous stream of incompetence, carelessness, and all around disregard for a certain type of human life is one of the biggest examples that our society fails sex workers. Once you throw in an additional marginalized community – in this case Aboriginal women– things only get worse. Families looking for their loved ones during the height of Pickton’s spree were essentially told the missing were drug addicts ‘on vacation’ and not to be worried about. In the end, Pickton received more legal protection than his victims. The 1400+ page report includes a recommendation for better access to services for sex workers, but I’ve read official recommendations before, and there aren’t a lot that stick.
Current laws on sex work have been muddy for years, and are up for review by the Supreme Court of Canada. Though the act of sex for money is not illegal, how you procure the sex usually is. You cannot solicit in any public place (which includes in a car or via a cell phone anywhere outside of your residence), you cannot live on the avails of prostitution (you may not hire a bodyguard, purchase health benefits, pay your rent, etc), nor can you provide any service in the privacy and safety of your own home (breaking the bawdy house law). Despite all the criminal risks, people still do it. Those in the industry have been fighting to change these laws for years because people still do it. The laws need to be changed for the protection of these workers BECAUSE PEOPLE STILL DO IT and will not stop doing it. Many of us wait with baited breath to see how the Supreme Court will eventually rule.
The fact that there are groups out there like FIRST, Pivot Legal, Power, SWOP, The Global Network of Sex Work Projects, Int’l Days of, etc, prove that there is a substantial percentage of the global population who view sex work as legitimate, want to abide by sensical laws, and work with communities. That the courts continue to ignore the voices of these groups is a failure of our government to listen to all their citizens, an extension of ignoring (mostly) women’s voices altogether. Women are sadly still only meant to be seen and not heard. Those lobbying for proper treatment of sex workers face an uphill battle, just as any other woman-led lobby. It took us long enough, trudging through degradation and violence, just to get the vote. We’re still fighting for equal pay and the right to safe abortions. Who knows how long it will be until we win the fight to do with our bodies as we want.
As long as we humans inhabit this earth, sex for pay will be available. It’s our responsibility as a civil society to work with it, not against it.
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Got a question about sex in art, relationships, parenting? Send Sonya a note at dearmadame@torontostandard.com. Anonymity assured.
Sonya JF Barnett, also known as “The Madame,” is the founder of an erotic arts community called The Keyhole Sessions and the co-founder of SlutWalk Toronto. Follow her on Twitter @KeyholeSessions.
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