One Utah

Some years ago, an ex and I were in Las Vegas; as we walked down the Strip, we were able to take as many of the ads, cards, pamphlets and “newspapers” we wanted.  All of them were advertising for sex workers.  Literally, a credit and a phone call would have been enough to purchase the sexual services of a wide variety of persons.  I was raised in the rural wilds of Utah - I didn’t believe that such activities were truly so open and available on the streets of Vegas.  I was clearly wrong.

Over at Sex In the Public Square, Elizabeth Anne Wood has a powerful meditation on the impact of language specifically with regard to sex workers.  But more importantly, she shared this experience from a vigil:

. . .we listened as people took turns reading the names of sex workers — more than 60 of them — who were killed this year. My thanks to the organizers. What you did yesterday was important, it was noticed, and it was appreciated.

In any case, the story is this: While most nations, human rights groups, and even the UN, use the term “sex worker” because they want to be as accurate as possible, the US, as represented by John Miller, director of the State Department’s office to combat human trafficking, would prefer “women used in prostitution” to describe women who are sex workers. This, he believes “is not pejorative” and neither does it “pretend that violence to women … is ‘work’”

The key concepts:

many sex workers do not enter that work from positions of privilege. Many are choosing from a range of options that “most of us” would not enjoy

some sex workers do choose sex work from positions of relative privilege, and others choose it from a range of options that include less desirable choices, and some of those people see their work as a profession and do it proudly — or would like to be able to claim pride in it — and would like to see their working conditions improved so they can do their work more safey

The other night, one of the cable networks (IIRC msnbc) interviewed female sex workers from various communities around the nation.  In some cases, they enjoyed their work but most had entered sex work through less than ideal circumstances - generally dire financial need; they regarded sex work as honest to God work.  The program also interviewed women working in Nevada’s legal brothels.  It seemed to me the women working in the brothels were generally healthier than their freelance counterparts; these women knew they would have safe places to sleep, food, medical care, STI testing.  Given a choice, the legal brothel seems preferable to working the streets.

I am generally uncomfortable with treating sex as a commodity.  By the same token adults should be able to choose what they do with their bodies.  In the absence of coercion, I believe there’s no reason for governmental interference.  If person A is willing to pay person B for sex and they enter into the business relationship freely, I can’t see the harm.  

Edited section below.

There is often another reason that persons would use sex - aside from pure money making. I’ve used the phrase desperate people make desperate choices before.  Hugo has a great story at his place in the context of receiving gifts from students:

I was (very occasionally) offered a different kind of gift. It was only blatantly proferred a couple of times; at least once it was heartbreaking. One young woman, a single mother who had missed a substantial amount of class and was in danger of failing the course, came to my office in tears. She offered to go to a motel room with me and do anything I wanted. The offer was brazen, but she made it with trembling lips and teary eyes. I gave her a tissue, told her I would issue her an incomplete that would allow her to make the work up the following semester, and recommended she see a counselor. It was a rather shattering moment for both of us.

In the most literal sense of the phrase, Hugo’s student was willing to use sex to get by.  She was desperate, probably feeling trapped and saw a potential way out.  The line in the Golden Girl’s episode about “nature’s credit card” is far to flippant for the reality Hugo is describing.  In the TV show I saw, many of the women who had turned to sex work did so because it brought in quick cash, required minimal training and they were desperate to pay their bills.  Ethically, the choice between homeless and being a sex worker is a no brainer - sex work.  Further stigmatizing sex workers does not in any reduce the desperation that drove them to sex work in the first place.

I believe that sex workers should have OSHA protection (I’d love to see the Congressional debate on that topic!).  Amsterdams regulate their sex industry and provide police and security protection to the sex workers which has helped manage the spread of STI’s within their community.  It’s not as if there are no models to imitate.

At a minimum, if you license sex workers for free, provide free, quarterly STI screens and exams, establish safe zones for sex workers, you could keep both workers and clients safe.  It feels to me like a start. 

This entry was posted Tuesday, December 19th, 2006 at 4:45 pm and is filed under Bigotry, Human Rights, Privacy, This Blog. Both comments and pings are currently closed.