Susan McKay, New Campaign Against Prostitution
Posted on November 23, 2009 at 11:59 AM
The newly formed Sex Workers Alliance urges us to accept that prostitution is a freely chosen occupation, as viable a way of paying your bills as any other. The Alliance claims it can promote the health, safety and empowerment of those it calls sex workers in what it calls the sex industry. These are not victims, it insists. This view sees the man who uses prostitutes as a person buying a service from a person selling it.
Choosing to do something means weighing it up against other possibilities and deciding it is the best option. As in: will I be a doctor, or a civil servant, or a shop assistant, or will I be a prostitute? But of course that isn't how women enter prostitution. For the most part, they do it because they feel they have no choice. They feel they are forced into it.
Surveys carried out in the UK, which is culturally similar to Ireland, find that three out of 4 prostitutes become involved when they are under the age of 18. Seven out of ten of them will have spent time in care as children. Some 85% of them experienced physical abuse in childhood and almost half experienced sexual abuse. Three quarters indentified poverty as the reason they got involved.
The vast majority - nine out of ten - of women working as prostitutes want to stop. And it is no wonder. Their mortality rate is 12 times higher than the national average. More than half of them have been raped and/or sexually assaulted and at least three quarters have been beaten up by pimps or punters.
Pimps, by the way, are men who hire out prostitutes and control their earnings. Punters are men who use prostitutes. These are the people who benefit from the sex industry, along with the traffickers and the brothel owners.
Almost 70% of prostitutes have symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in the same range as victims of torture and veterans of war.
Most women working in prostitution in Ireland are migrants. Some have been trafficked here. Many have drink and drug addictions. These are vulnerable women, isolated women, poor women, women whose life experience has prepared them for exploitation. Many of them are very young. It is not an offence in Ireland to pay a child for sex.
Health? Safety? Empowerment?
No. Overwhelmingly, prostitution is violence. It comes from harm and it leads to harm. The reason that it isn't a choice any one of us would encourage our daughters or our friends to make, is because we know this. What we need is not a campaign for better conditions, but one to destroy this industry and create exit routes for those trapped in it.
In Sweden, this is happening. There is a law, introduced ten years ago, which states that it is illegal to pay for sex. This targets and criminalises demand - men using prostitutes - rather than prostitutes. It is a popular law, supported by 80% of the population, and it is working. Prostitution is declining and so is trafficking.
The UK has just taken first steps towards introducing a similar model, and here, in mid November, a private members bill calling for new legislation along the same lines, was narrowly defeated.
The Sex Workers Alliance includes many who have the best interests of women working as prostitutes at heart, and some women, indeed, who have been in prostitution. With respect, we disagree that there is any way this can be turned into a good and freely chosen way to make a living.
The National Women's Council congratulates the British women whose campaign, Demand Change!, is bringing about reform of the UK laws, and we will be part of alliance of groups campaigning for similar change here. [www.demandchange.org.uk; www.eaves4women.co.uk; www.dublinpact.ie/dignity]
Prostitution is incompatible with equality for women.
Comments
I have been doing a research project on prostitution and am flabbergasted that anyone could believe it is not harmful or exploitative. Although I am sure as according to sex workers alliance many do enter prostitution by "choice" I wonder how wide their scope for choice is. Most prostitutes are women who have been traumatised, used, abused, hurt or coerced. It would be interesting to check back in 10 years time on the psychological state of the women from the sex workers alliance who deem prostitution to be a choiceful exercise. Surely Ireland must look at the swedish model as something urgently needs to be done in this country particularly with regard to minors.
The vast majority of people engaged in prostitution in Ireland and elsewhere enter as children. Who in their right mind can still assert that children can make such a conscious choice? Hasn’t it become clear by now that children cannot consent to sex/prostitution and that their situation in fact amounts to human trafficking, and what the clients do to them is recognized as statutory rape? The Sex Workers’ Alliance Ireland says that we should not treat these people as victims but empower them by calling them ‘sex workers’. No one should call a child a “worker” let alone a “sex worker”. Certainly, I would not consider people who have been deprived of a childhood in this way “workers”. As far as ‘victimhood’ is concerned, I maintain that we are all victims: victims of our current laws that allow people to be purchased for sex by other people with money. This should be amended as soon as humanly possible. Those who defend the status quo defend the rights of the buyers of sex.
SWAI Response to the National Women’s Council of Ireland
Sex Workers Alliance Ireland (SWAI) takes this opportunity to respond to the blog by Susan McKay on the NWCI website (November, 23rd, 2009). We invite the NWCI to engage in dialogue with SWAI:
• To establish where we can collaborate and work together on behalf of women involved in prostitution
• To identify where our aims and objectives may differ
• To establish and agree the benefit of mutual respect and collegiality where possible
SWAI would like to clearly state that we do not glamorise or promote prostitution. We are an alliance of individuals (sex workers, ex-sex workers and other concerned individuals) and organisations involved in health and social support services whose mission statement is to promote the health, safety, civil rights and the right to self determination of female, male and transgender sex workers.
Collective Organisation & Fight for Labour Rights
Since the 1970s sex workers have became involved in collectively organizing for their social and political rights, some aligning themselves with other marginalized groups, others joining the trade union movement. This started in San Francisco and has spread all over the world. Some examples of these include:
COYOTE (1973) San Francisco (Call off your old tired ethics)
‘RED THREAD’ Amsterdam started by sex workers but now funded from the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment.
TAMPEP (Transnational AIDS/STD Prevention Among Migrant Prostitutes in Europe) receives EU funding.
DMSC (Durbar Mihila Samanwaya Committee) in West Bengal, India, a collective of over 65,000 male female and transgender sex workers
IUSW (International Union of Sex Workers) in the UK campaigns for labour, civil and human rights for those working in the sex industry
International Prostitutes Collective (US Prostitutes and ECP (English Collective of Prostitutes is part of the GMB Union in Britain). Since 1975 the International Prostitutes Collective has been campaigning for the abolition of the prostitution laws which criminalize sex workers and their families, and for economic alternatives and higher benefits and wages.
We see the most significant issues surrounding sex work as: ensuring equality of health access, reducing trafficking, and responding to public issues such as public health and civic issues. We maintain that what is important in these issues is not the moral polemic surrounding the debate but rather the evidence base for effective interventions and environments that ensure that sex workers are treated equally, public health is treated as a priority and that any possible civic nuisance is reduced.
Reducing Stigma
We wish to broaden the discourse on the topic of sex work in Irish society and advocate for a group who don’t always speak for themselves and who have often been silenced by stigma. Those who do speak out often attract media attention that frequently seeks to sensationalise rather than discuss the issues. Historically, prostitution was largely considered sinful and immoral; in Ireland in 1767 in Lesson Street, Dublin’s, “fallen women” were often ‘rescued’ and put to work in Magdalene laundries – a brutal life considered better than that which they had chosen for themselves. We wish to move the discussion from the Victorian notions of ‘rescuing’ sex workers to a discourse that includes human rights. SWAI also challenges the stigma attached to sex work. Mc Gréil’s research on prejudice in Irish society (2006) (n=1,005) found that certain groups such as prostitutes, drug addicts ‘people with AIDS’, gays and travellers elicit a significant degree of prejudice. He wondered how the Holocaust could have happened in a society which was so civilised; he concluded that certain groups are ‘out groups’ or become hated in society because of prejudice which leads to their being stigmatised. The question should be asked as to whether societal attitudes towards sex workers are based on centuries of teaching as to the ‘sinfulness’ and immorality of sex work, or based on the actual negative consequences of sex work, which in our opinion are best explained by sex workers and their clients. In this regard, we do not stand in judgement of consenting sex between adults, even when there is money involved. SWAI has no wish to demonise or vilify the men who buy sexual services except of course those who buy services from minors, in which case it is child sexual abuse.
Sex Work as Work
SWAI uses the term “sex work” rather than the term “prostitute” because this is the term used by the United Nations and the World Health Organisation (see references below) and this is the term that those in the industry use themselves e.g. ‘working girl’, the term sex work acknowledges that the interaction between the buyer and seller is a commercial transaction involving an exchange of money for a service and as such is work. We believe that sex workers have a right to ‘self determination’ which is included in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which was ratified by Ireland in 1989.
SWAI is opposed to all forms of exploitative labour whether it is into the sex industry or any other industry. We also wish to highlight the distinction between those who are forced into the sex industry and those who work voluntarily in it. Generalisations should not be made about prostitution because sex workers are a heterogenous and diverse group, they comprise of street workers, off-street workers, escorts, workers in brothels, migrant sex-workers, indigenous sex workers, independent entrepreneurs and those who have regular clients on their mobile phones. There are those who may only engage in sex work once or opportunistically and those who work part time or full time. Sex workers are also stratified by gender; male, female and transgendered people sell sex. They are also stratified by age, in some countries we have heard reports of women continuing to work right into their 70s. In the recent National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD, 2009) research the average age of the women interviewed was 29.
Improving Health
SWAI also supports the UNAIDS Report Progress on Implementing the Dublin Declaration on Partnership to Fight HIV/AIDS in Europe and Central Asia.
‘Sex workers are more likely to face stigma and discrimination in accessing health care services that relate to their sexual health needs than other individuals and, where sex work has not been decriminalized are likely to be targeted by law enforcement officers. The World Bank has documented that sex workers are the risk group that is most likely to respond positively to prevention programmes yet many European policies targeting sex workers have negative implications for their health and place them at heightened risk for HIV. They include harsh policies on soliciting, which pushes sex workers into less safe areas, and restrictions on their working together, which makes them more vulnerable to exploitation by clients.’ (Page 88)
The Department of Health and Children HIV & AIDS Education and Prevention Plan 2008-2012 specifically identifies sex workers a population vulnerable to HIV.
‘Interventions that focus on changing behaviour among commercial sex workers and their clients are important strategies to reduce HIV transmission. Sex workers who work 'on the street' have been identified as being most at risk of HIV transmission , as well as finding themselves in circumstances where they are vulnerable to high levels of violence and exploitation.’
The National Drugs Strategy (interim) 2009-20016 also refers to drug using sex workers as an ‘at risk’ group , and identifies the importance of improving harm reduction services to them by providing access to needle exchange and condoms.
Members of our Steering Committee work as outreach workers on the street, distributing condoms and lubricants to reduce the harm of STIs including HIV. Harm reduction and health promotion emphasise the importance of respecting individuals choices and empowering them to maximise their health, whatever the circumstances.
Reducing Harms
You are quite right to point out that in our website we have not emphasised enough the amount of harm that sex workers can suffer and we will update it to place a greater emphasis on harm. The potential for harm to sex workers is increased by laws that force them to take risks, i.e. they are forced to work alone because if they work in twos they can be prosecuted for running a brothel; the stigma and societal disapproval associated with sex work that makes them feel ashamed for selling sex as an income source. This in turn makes sex workers reluctant to go to the Gardai when they are attacked either by punters or their partners etc. When they do go to the Gardai, and arrests are made they are reluctant to appear in court because they are afraid that their name will appear in the media and that their children and family will discover how they are earning money. In addition, they are denied appropriate health care, as there is only one dedicated clinic in the whole of Ireland specifically caring for the needs of sex workers. They are denied basic human rights etc. The list goes on…
Reducing Violence
Violent punters pose a major health and safety threat to sex workers and SWAI is working to reduce violence. Those who are most at risk of violence are those who are working on the streets. In an effort to tackle violent punters, members of our steering group have gone to Liverpool to learn about the Ugly Mugs campaign, instigated by police there. In Liverpool violent attacks on sex workers are now called ‘hate crimes’. Since developing a partnership approach with sex workers, police, and sex work agencies:
The conviction rate for crimes against sex workers in Merseyside for the period 1st April 2005 to 31st March 2009 is an astonishing 90%! Shelly Stoops (Independent Sexual Violence Advisor (ISVA) Armistead Street Project, Liverpool PCT)
The overarching aim of an Ugly Mugs / Dodgy Punters scheme is to promote reporting of crimes against sex workers and to reduce crime perpetrated against sex workers, hence, improving safety. There is much evidence that:
• Street sex workers can suffer violence from clients and others in the course of their work
• Sex Workers are often reluctant to make a formal complaint to the police about these attacks
• From projects and research, there is much evidence that those who attack one sex worker will also attack others, and that men who murder sex workers frequently have a past history of violence against sex workers and others. (Brooks-Gordon B. M. (1999) ‘The Criminal Careers of Kerb Crawlers in London’. The National Vice Squad Conference, Bristol, June 28-30)
Trafficking
SWAI is opposed to sexual exploitation or the trafficking of people into the sex work industry and to any form of child abuse including child sexual abuse. SWAI opposes any form of forced prostitution; those who have been tricked, pimped or coerced into sex work should be given the supports they need to leave.
Migrant Sex Workers
However, trafficking should not be conflated with sex work, and in particular migrant sex workers. Nicola Mai (London Metropolitan University) carried out research in England with 100 migrant sex workers and concluded that: contrary to public perception, the majority of migrant sex workers have chosen prostitution as a source of "dignified living conditions and to increase their opportunities for a better future while dramatically improving the living conditions of their families in the country of origin". After detailed interviews with 100 migrant sex workers in the UK, Mai found: "For the majority, working in the sex industry was a way to avoid the exploitative working conditions they had met in their previous non-sexual jobs."
Exercising Choice
Not all sex workers are forced into prostitution. Research carried out in England by social worker, Teela Sanders (Sex work, a risky business, 2005) of indoor sex markets (saunas, brothels, escort agencies, working from home, working in apartments etc.); in which she interviewed fifty-five women and spent over one thousand hours of observation found that all had entered prostitution voluntarily. Their ages ranged from 18-52 years. Whilst the majority had left school early, eleven had gone to College, five were nurses and three were completing a university degree. She argues that some forms of sex work are entering a phase of professionalization. ‘First there is a steady increase in sex workers and pro-prostitution lobbyists organizing at a European, national and local level. As part of this collective movement, sex workers and organizers are reflecting traditional mechanisms of regulation and standardization by setting up representative bodies, decision-making organizations and affiliating to a mainstream trade union. Second, there possibly is a shift taking place from the old order of prostitution to a new economy of sex work’. (page 176) She concludes:
“Laws against the selling and purchasing of commercial sex and any changes in the law that would continue to criminalize and marginalize sex workers or clients are out of harmony with the comprehensive and largely regulatory mechanisms that are evident within the sex markets.” (Sanders, 2005).
Research carried out by the NACD (2009) in which 35 sex workers were interviewed found that although a few of these women had been coerced into prostitution the majority had entered it voluntarily, mostly through female networks. In relation to choice, it can be argued that even the most desperate drug user exercises choice, women spoke about trying drug dealing, shop-lifting, etc. before turning to sex work to find funds not only for drugs but also for their children. From a public welfare perspective it is also a logical argument that forms of earning and income that have no victims (sex work) are far better than those which victimise such as shoplifting and robbery. Some of the women talked about how their earnings from sex work funded their children (of course), holidays abroad, private child care, and one woman had planned on buying a new car when she returned from her holiday.
The Swedish Model
At the launch of SWAI in Dublin Castle on November 19th 2009, we invited a Swedish sex worker to give a presentation about the legislation in Sweden which criminalises those who buy sex (sometimes referred to as the Swedish Model). She described the challenge of paying tax (selling sex is not against the law) with the risk that her clients could be criminalised. She stated that she is not suffering from a false consciousness nor is she being exploited.
In conclusion, we in SWAI believe that men and women working as sex workers deserve to be treated with dignity and respect; our project is to promote their health, safety, civil rights and their right to self determination. They have a right to equality like other workers.
References
DoHC (2008) HIV & AIDS Education and Prevention Plan 2008-2012, Department of Health and Children.
DCRGA (2009) National Drugs Strategy (interim) 2009-20016, Department of Community Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
NACD (2009) Drug Use Sex Work and the Risk Environment in Dublin, Dublin: The Stationery Office.
Sanders, T. (2005) Sex Work A Risky Business, Devon: Willan Publishing
UN 2001 'Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS' Break the Silence United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS 25-27 June 2001, New York.
— 2004 'Focus Assessment Studies: A Qualitative Approach to Data Collection' Global Assessment Programme on Drug Abuse Toolkit Module 6, New York: United Nations.
_ 2005 ‘Progress on Implementing the Dublin Declaration on Partnership to Fight HIV/aids in Europe and Central Asia’. Geneva: UNAIDS— 2006 'HIV/AIDS prevention and care for female injecting drug users', Austria: UN.
UNAIDS 2002 Sex work and HIV/AIDS UNAIDS Technical Update UNAIDS Best Practice Collection, Geneva: UNAIDS.
— 2008 Women and HIV in Prison Settings, Austria: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
WHO 1995 World Health Organisation, Information, Education and Communication: A guide for AIDS programme managers, New Delhi: World Health Organization-SEARO.
— 2001 STI/HIV Sex Work in Asia, Vol. July 2001: World Health Organisation Regional Office for the Western Pacific.
— 2005 'Toolkit for Targeted HIV/AIDS Prevention and Care in Sex Work Settings': World Heath Organization.
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