Thoughts on rescues, rescuers and realities

Perhaps a thought to ponder for those opposed to sex worker rights

Scenario: Difficult economy. Someone loses his or her job outside the sex industry. While sex work may not be their first choice, living on 200 dollars a week unemployment isn’t feasible. After months of searching, the person begins sex work of whatever type they do.

Radical feminist analysis addresses sex work as bought and sold rape. As patriarchal oppression. Every form of sex work is considered under radical feminist ideology as a system of prostitution. If bills are not being paid, if rent can’t be paid, if food can’t be bought, perhaps the radical feminist analysis can’t be a priority. Perhaps sacrilege to radical feminists. Perhaps radical feminists have the best of intentions and truly want to end violence and oppression. However, regardless of this, hunger, homelessness, or the proximity to it, those are oppressive also. Eliminating sex work does what in that scenario? While perhaps it will prevent a rape, or prevent someone that feels various sex acts are degrading to keep from having to do them. Except they don’t have the income that they would have had with sex work as a possibility. Sex work may not be their first choice. But it is an option that beats being homeless in the winter. Or really beats homelessness at any time of year.

Homelessness in itself is oppression. Anyone disagreeing should try a month homeless. Probably often there is a better chance of being raped while homeless than raped as a sex worker.

How about arrest? Restorative justice? How does the unemployed person doing sex work whether by choice or by lack of other choice benefit from being arrested? Perhaps some environments are forgiving of previous arrests and convictions on job applications? Perhaps universities are? However, with 9 percent unemployment and 100 applicants for a dry cleaner counter representative job for $9.00 an hour. That previous arrest doesn’t enhance the resume. The “exit program” that will help the woman in prostitution get out? Get a job etc. Even if those programs are successful on some scale in some major cities. Reality is that most of the country doesn’t have access to them. Arrest means jail, means another obstacle to getting a job.

Perhaps, despite some feminists stating arrest is often the first step in the recovery process. How? Fact is. It isn’t. Decriminalization may not solve all problems but it doesn’t add them like the status quo does. Law enforcement, feminists, conservatives fought to block Prop K and keep the status quo. Had Prop K passed, the person in the scenario above would at least not have one more obstacle. Now, they not only face the issues in the scenario above, but if they do sex work and get arrested, the process of leaving sex work only becomes more difficult. Blocking Prop K didn’t make it easier for women to exit the sex industry. It added an obstacle to survival. Perhaps some will say they’d rather be homeless and hungry in the winter than have sex with men for pay. Than that can be their choice. The sex worker rights movement isn’t endorsing forcing anyone to do sex work.

Rescue based ideology. There is certainly a place for rescuing trafficking victims. And important place. But it needs to stay in it’s place. Arresting the sex worker and leaving her with a criminal conviction actually reduces options for her, reduces her rights, her freedom, and ironically makes her more a target for traffickers and predators. Less choices mean higher risk. Not the reverse. Law enforcement, knock yourself out in rescuing actual trafficking victims and bringing rapists, traffickers, kidnappers etc, to justice. But that process shouldn’t be encompassing of those that are not trafficked or taking away the rights of all the sex workers, whether choice, lack thereof, or someplace in between. Rescue people that need to be rescued. Don’t assume everyone needs to be rescued or wants to be. Adding a criminal record to a sex worker doesn’t rescue anyone. It disenfranchises and oppressed most of those that are supposedly part of the rescue.

Swedish Model…. Arresting the clients to catch the rapist in the net. Still, what about the woman in the above scenario? Take away the clients and you take away the income and we are back to the homeless and hungry scenario. The predator rapist/kidnapper is going to A.. be more likely to hire a sex worker then commit the crime as part of that scenario. Or B. exploit the more vulnerable, say homeless person, the person who can’t go to the police and expect much if any help because they are considered a criminal by the cops for being a prostitute………

Prostitution is bought and sold rape…… Yes, agreed. Some of the time. But not the majority of it. Much of the time prostitution is sex with some male client that is mindless day at work, forgotten, marginally remembered. Sounds like most other jobs. Perhaps many of the macro level academics like Hughes and Farley go to work every day and feel each day is empowering and important. The vast majority of us in any job go to work to earn a living. Perhaps we should rescue the rape victim only? The one who is raped. And let her decide if she was raped rather than applying vast construct saying she was through feminist analysis.

Finally the police as rescuers? If someone has to worry that they are going to be arrested to be rescued, or if they have been arrested for earning a living and now lack the options of getting the non sex work job. The police aren’t allies. If they are raped but have that arrest and/or conviction for sex work, their alleged rescuers and the justice system are far less likely to be support and much more likely to be obstacles to survival.

Perhaps rescue those that need to be rescued. Let the rest earn a living. Instead of macro level branding of all sex work clients as rapists and victimizer, perhaps focus on the actual rapist and victimizers and use the resources wisely rather than scattershot as a blanket?

Amazing concept is that so many of the supposed backward and alleged third world countries have figured this out and decrim sex work. Many of us that have gone to these supposedly backward countries with decrim have come back with huge questions about how advanced we really are. Or how backward……..