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Title: Turn off the Red Light Author: TJ Date: 7 December 2012 Language: en Topics: sex work, Irish Anarchist Review, feminism Source: Retrieved on 21st January 2022 from http://www.wsm.ie/c/red-light-advocate-anti-sex-work Notes: Published in the Irish Anarchist Review Issue 6 — Winter 2012.
“In Turn off the Red Light – Should We Advocate It?”, T.J., explores the
problems faced by sex workers in gaining recognition by those who
normally fight for workers rights and outlines how criminalisation of
demand has created new problems in countries where that has been
introduced.
The subject of prostitution is becoming part mainstream discourse again
as a number of European countries look to legislate to curb demand,
whereby the punter rather than the prostitute is criminalised. Ireland
has also been looking to write this into law since the high profile
campaign Turn off the Red Light (TORL) was launched.
The demand approach which TORL are advocating is an abolitionist
approach to sex work. The aim of abolitionism is to end prostitution by
criminalising those who profit from sex work, such as brothel owners or
those who offer advertising space for prostitution businesses. This
includes the method famously known as the Swedish Law or the demand
approach, which is banning the purchase of sex, the idea being that the
punter is criminalised and not the prostitute. Unfortunately in practice
this is often not the case under abolitionist legal systems as
prostitutes are regularly targeted. [1]
Abolitionism has its origins in 19^(th) Century Feminism; the term
itself was borrowed from the campaign against the slave trade. At the
time, abolitionism referred particularly to certain laws that were
enacted in England and Wales in the 1860s. These laws were the
Contagious Diseases Act. Under these laws any woman could be detained by
the police and forced to undergo a medical examination for venereal
diseases. This was to prevent the spread of venereal diseases at the
time, in particular syphilis by registering and examining prostitutes.
This approach was known as regulationism. [2]
The abolitionist movement was born out of protest against regulationism.
Its leader, Josephine Butler, argued that women could never consent to
prostitution and blamed men’s unbridled lust. They created a coalition
of groups, which included working men’s organisations and religious
organisations. They were also joined by the growing “social purity”
movement, whose ideas of sexual chastity were more restrictive than
Butler’s. [3]
Once the act was repealed in 1886, this alliance turned their attention
to “white slavery”. They envisioned laws to target those who earned
money from prostitution rather than prostitutes themselves. The
abolitionist campaign in the end was overshadowed by the social purity
campaign. Many feminists either founded or joined these campaigns but
they always became overrun by social purity organisations, whose
relationship to prostitutes was questionable. While professing sympathy
for their situation of having fallen into the hands of “white slavers”,
they still condemned these women, whose risqué behavior was to blame for
their situation. [4] These campaigns later turned into prohibitionist
move- ments, which would make the act of prostitution illegal. [5]
Abolitionism is still popular among feminists today. Its advocates argue
that all prostitution is violence against women and that no consent is
possible. All prostitutes are victims in the eyes of abolitionists.
Melissa Farley, one of the most well- known abolitionists, once said
that, “If you look at it, [prostitution is] paid rape. You’re making
them subservient during that time, so you’re the dominant person. She
has to do what you want.” This claim is insulting, as it delegitimises
rape survivors’ and prostitutes’ own experiences.
If one looks at feminist abolitionist material, they only ever speak of
female prostitution and seem to ignore the existence of male and
transgender variants as they do not fit into their analysis of
prostitution being male sexual violence against women. That silence has
the effect of marginalising those voices. This approach focuses far too
much on the gender divide in sex work and simply reinforces the gendered
nature of our society. They enshrine the idea that women who work in
prostitution will always be victims, typically stating that they were
victims of abuse before going into the industry, suggesting that women
enter sex work because they are psychologically damaged.
One of the main proponents of TORL is an organisation called Ruhama,
which was founded by the Good Shepherd Sisters and Our Lady of Charity
Sisters, who both ran Magdalene Laundaries and whose relationships with
prostitutes were never the best. Other supporters include feminist
groups such as the Irish Feminist Network and the Open Feminist Forum,
along with trade unions and a range of NGOs. We can see history repeat
itself again, as religious groups monopolise the movement. [6]
One cannot talk about sex work without talking about migration. Laura
Maria Augustin discusses the rescue industry in her book “Sex at the
Mar-gins: Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry”. Migrant
women who know they will work as sex workers are assigned victim status
by the rescue industry, who deport them back to their own country or
prevent them from working. Sex work is realistically one of the few
forms of work which may be viable with precarious immigration status.
[7]
These abolitionist laws help to build fortress walls around Europe that
prevent migrants from coming in, while pretending they are doing it for
the women’s own good. Police are paid to watch sex workers, to find who
their clients are and penalise them, but will also use this as a method
to find out the legal status of migrant women. The rescue industry does
not offer these women permits or viable alternatives to support
themselves, especially considering that asylum seekers in this country
are not allowed to work and have to live on €19.10 per week.
In the view of the General Secretary of the Technical, Electrical and
Engineering Union (TEEU), “prostitution could not be considered work.”
[8] If the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) follows this line then
sex workers would not be entitled, in the eyes of the union movement, to
the same rights that other workers enjoy. [9] The International Labour
Organisation (ILO) to which ICTU is affiliated however, recognises that
sex work is an industry and sex workers should have the same rights as
other workers. [10]
The introduction of the Swedish Law would criminalise the purchase of
sex but there are already stringent laws in place for prostitutes.
Prostitution is legal in Ireland but several of the activities
surrounding it are illegal. The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act of
1993 prohibits soliciting, living off the earning of prostitution and
keeping a brothel. Advertising brothels and prostitution is prohibited
by the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act of 1994. [11]
If we look at countries that have already introduced this law, it is
clear that it doesn’t work as intended. The police in Iceland have
actually given up on fighting prostitution. They reported that “they
neither had the funds nor the manpower to fight prostitution which they
conclude is clearly thriving in Iceland in spite of it being illegal.”
[12] If one looks at the statistics for Norway and Sweden, evidence
shows that human trafficking for the sex trade has increased since the
law was introduced. [13, 14] PION, a Norwegian sex workers organisation,
gave a report on their own conclusions about the law and how it affects
sex workers. They feel they have less rights and their privacy has been
invaded. They give various examples, one of which is that their
operations are revealed to landlords and hotels or that a woman’s
identity is revealed on purpose to the media when they carry out
operations. Women are less likely to come forward to the authorities
when they experience violence since the law was introduced. [13] These
women are also driven away by police when they work on the streets
accusing them of “[encouraging] criminal activity.” [14] Even if clients
see that the women are trafficked, they are unlikely to report this in
fear that they will be prosecuted.
Another major problem is the rise of STI/STDs as sex workers in Norway
prefer not to carry condoms or lubricants as this could be found by the
police and used as evidence against them for selling sex. Since the new
law has been introduced the number of punters has decreased, but punters
have more bargaining power demanding services such as unprotected sex.
[15]
Decriminalisation is the approach which is advocoated by most sex
workers and human rights groups. This approach means that prostitution
is not included in the criminal code, but would be regulated in other
ways either at provincial, state, federal or local level. It would be
treated like any other business and subject to employment laws, health
and safety and zoning laws. This would mean that brothels would be
subject to safety code standards, which would create a safer working
environment.
Decriminalisation is the best legal approach to sex work in our current
system as it destigmatises it, and removes the threat of arrest and
police intereference for sex workers and others involved. It also deems
it as a legitimate business, which means workers have a legal framework
to work with if they are treated unfairly, especially when they
experience violence. It is however a reform- ist measure that does not
tackle the problems of undocumented migrants working in the industry,
who are still left in the same position. It also still leaves sex work
community members subject to drug-related and loitering laws.
New Zealand was the first country to introduce decriminalisation. The
law only passed by one vote when it went through parliament. It has
decriminalised all forms of prostitution including street prositution.
There have been several improvements since the law has been introduced.
The number of women working in the industry has not risen, prostitutes
feel more comfortable to report violence, especially prostitutes working
on the street, and their dealings with the police has improved in
general, with more of them willing to work with the sex industry rather
than against it. [16]
Looking at all of these examples, one thing is clear; we need to lift
stigmatisation if we are to move forward and part of that is to stand in
solidarity with sex workers. Work is always going to be exploitative
under capitalism and so sex will always be subject to commodification
and exploitation. One Wobbly sex worker put it the best: “Fighting sex
work instead of fighting capitalism and patriarchy does not address the
exploitation in its entirety.” [17]
[1] Melissa Hope Ditmore, 2006. Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex
Work [Two Volumes] [2 Volumes]: Encyclopedia of Prostitution and Sex
Work (2 Volumes Set). Edition. Greenwood. (18) (19)
[2] ibid
[3] ibid
[4] ibid
[5] ibid
[6] turnofftheredlight.ie/about/whos-involved/
[7] Laura MarĂa AgustĂn, 2007. Sex at the Margins: Migration, Labour
Markets and the Rescue Industry. Edition. Zed Books.
[8] sexwork.ie/2012/09/07/torl-example/
[9] feministire.wordpress.com/2012/09/09/the-irish-trade-union-movement-throws-sex-workers-under-a-bus-2/
[10] Editor Lin Lean Lim, 1998. The Sex Sector : The Economic and Social
Bases of Prostitution in Southeast Asia. 1St Edition Edition.
International Labour Org.
[11] en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland
[12] icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/Big_Sister_Watches_Buyers_of_Prostitution_in_Iceland_0_383393.news.aspx
[13] feministire.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/norwegian-sex-workers-views-of-sex-purchase-ban/
[14] feministire.wordpress.com/2011/10/23/norwegian-sex-workers-views-of-sex-purchase-ban/
[15] feministire.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/norwegian-directorate-of-health-hiv-groups-criticise-sex-purchase-ban/
[16] prostitutescollective.net/2008/06/25/new-zealand-marks-five-years-of-successful-decriminalisation-of-prostitution/
[17] libcom.org/library/sex-work-solidarity-not-salvation