For some reason the sex workers' rights movement is often characterized in the US as being supported by the corporate sex industry (since when do corporations support employees' rights to organize labor unions?). It has also been described as wishful thinking by privileged Westerners or part-time "good time girls." As can be seen at the following web sites, this is not at all the case. Sex workers' rights is an international movement with a history of assistance and support for sex workers everywhere. It exists on every continent. Its primary characteristic is that it defines sex work as a form of labor and sex workers as having the same rights as other, non-sexual laborers. Sex workers themselves describe their concerns and needs, rather than organizations conducting surveys for the purpose of acquiring funding.
This is a mere sampling. Links to many other sex workers' rights organizations in dozens of locales can be found on these web sites.
An activist I admire, Carol Leigh, says this:
'The premise of separating the "innocent victims" from the "sex ring volunteers," however, ignores the realities of their situation. Some may have originally "participated voluntarily," but may still be victimized through abusive working conditions and when payments are not applied fairly to the worker's debt. Plus, although the government claims to offer special visas to protect these women, in order to qualify for these visas, federal law states that she remain only as long as she assists with the investigation and prosecution of the traffickers. This cooperation and ultimate deportation could result in extreme jeopardy for the migrant and her family.'
From:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/07/22/EDGHGDRSV41.DTL
An activist I wish would let me admire her but insists on insulting the motives of anyone who disagrees with her remedies says this:
'This chilling of empathy for migrant prostitutes held in bondage is the objective of sex worker organisations and some academics who downplay, or reinterpret, the terminology of trafficking.'
From:
http://smh.com.au/articles/2005/04/19/1113854198329.html?oneclick=true
I think it's a press release from CATW or Jeffries, not an article by a staff writer. You can see by Carol Leigh's statement above, and you can see it even more when you read many other recent articles by sex workers' rights advocates, that the claim of "chilling of empathy for migrant prostitutes" being "the objective of sex worker organisations" is flatly untrue. What motivates this kind of remark? Could it be the need to protect funding, tenure, and book deals? Certainly someone who has gained funding on the basis of a certain ideology can't publicly agree with anything that disproves their theory and the basis for their career. Or is it really just such a severe conflict of ideology that they BELIEVE this hyperbole?
Read more from Carol Leigh to see if YOU believe that 'This chilling of empathy for migrant prostitutes held in bondage is the objective of sex worker organisations and some academics who downplay, or reinterpret, the terminology of trafficking.'
http://www.friends-partners.org/partners/stop-traffic/1998/0071.html
'The Bush administration has done some good work, raising awareness of the issue and passing new laws, including one -- the PROTECT Act -- that allows U.S. law-enforcement officers to prosecute Americans who’ve traveled abroad to sexually abuse children. Newly funded programs like the IJM have, literally, saved women and children from hell. But emphasizing victim rescues -- and vilifying those who try to work with prostitutes -- have unintended consequences. Some of the “liberated” women have suffered in the aftermath. And many anti-trafficking leaders have been shunned because they’ve refused to sign a contract that supports the Bush administration’s position.
“We would like to discourage the U.S. government from using its foreign policy to undermine and curtail freedom of expression,” says LaShawn Jefferson, an executive director at Human Rights Watch. “This is being used as a tool of silencing people.” '
From http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewPrint&articleId=8763
Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee
"A forum exclusively of sex workers and their children. In July 1995, a group of sex workers from Sonagachi, one of the oldest and largest red-light areas of Calcutta, had set up DMSC to create solidarity and collective strength among a larger community of sex workers."
Asian Labour Update: Sex Workers
Scroll to the third section of this page to learn more about sex workers' concerns in China, Japan, Taiwan, Cambodia, Hong Kong, and South Korea.
Zi Teng
"Sex workers, with women the majority, have been deprived of their basic and rightful rights other workers in other professions are entitled to. They face the exploitation of the pimps, the sadistic torturing of the punters, not to mention the risk of all kinds of sexually transmitted diseases....Zi Teng is a non-governmental organization formed by people of different working experiences. They are social workers, labor activists, researchers specializing in women studies and church workers etc. who care and concern about the interest and basic rights of women."
Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women
"An adequate prosecution of traffickers includes prosecution, where applicable, for rape, sexual and other forms of assault (including, without limitation, murder, forced pregnancies and abortions), kidnapping, torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, slavery or slavery-like practices, forced or compulsory labour, debt bondage, or forced marriage."
Workers In Sex Employment
"WISE has a comprehensive library and information available on issues such as: Sexual Health - Sexually Transmitted Diseases (including HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis); Prostitution Laws - in Canberra and interstate; Industrial Issues - Occupational Health & Safety, taxation, superannuation, your rights and responsibilities as a sex worker; Drug & Alcohol issues - safer injecting practices, harm Minimization for drug dependent individuals, referral to appropriate services; Referral - we can refer you to other relevant sex worker-friendly services and professionals; Sex Worker Rights - discrimination, stigma and other issues."
Scarlet Alliance
"The Scarlet Alliance works to achieve equality, social, legal, political, cultural and economic justice for past and present sex workers in order for them to be self-determining agents, building their own alliances and choosing where they work. Through its member organisations the Scarlet Alliance represents in excess of 10,000 sex workers Australia wide."
Prostitutes' Education Network
An indispensable source of research, statistics, and information about sex workers' rights.
Initiative Against Trafficking in Persons
"Given the exponential increase in the trafficking of women and girls in Asia and the FSU into the United States and Europe, the Initiative was launched to concentrate on this problem. The Initiative works with human rights NGOs in Asia, the FSU and the United States that work closely with trafficked persons and are deeply committed to solutions having a human rights framework."
HOOK
"A not-for-profit project by, for, and about men in the sex industry." Legal, health, tax, and investment advice for the working man. Excellent postings by the workers on topics such as "What's the most you've ever made in one night?"
Live Nude Girls Unite!
They said it couldn't be done, but the dancers of the Lusty Lady did it: they organized and joined a local union. Power to the nude!
Sex Workers Alliance of Vancouver
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