Sex and the Revolution meeting report

"The government forced me to work on the street," says Manchester sex worker

Members of the Marxist Radical Forum, including myself, were hugely excited at the turn out of our first ever meeting, “Sex and the Revolution”. 60 people attended with two speakers from the English Collective of Prostitutes and one from the International Union of Sex Workers, alongside myself, Vicky from the Marxist Radical Forum. I spoke first. I commenced with an anecdote about the Christmas present I received at my second Christmas… A vacuum cleaner! From there, I spent fifteen minutes giving a potted history of sex, sexuality and gender, as well as the Marxist response to the questions of women’s and LGBTQ liberation, and finally, prostitution.

The second speaker, Cari from the English Collective of Prostitutes, talked about the difficulty experienced by sex workers attempting to get jobs outside of the sex industry, especially after being convicted for sexual offenses. She refuted Harriet Harman’s claims that the majority of prostitutes want criminalization of their clients and referred to the “moralistic crusade” that some feminists and Socialists embark on whenever the subject of prostitution turns up. She also talked about the many debt-ridden students who turn to sex work to fund their studies.

The third speaker, also from the English Collective of Prostitutes, had a heartbreaking story. A widow, she was a prostitute simply to support her severely disabled son. It was a way of earning money. With a previous conviction for prostitution, she found it next to impossible get another job that would enable her to support her son without putting him into care. In her words, ‘the government forced me to work on the street’. The problem with society is not prostitution, she said... It’s poverty.

The final speaker, Catherine from the IUSW, talked about the sheer numbers of sex workers in the UK, estimating that there are 80,000 women who have sold sexual services in this country. According to Catherine, wherever there is a crackdown on “kerb crawling”, there is a rise in attacks on prostitutes, as vulnerable women spend less time deciding whether or not to get into cars. She talked about the violence prostitutes often experience, not necessarily from their clients, but from the local community, and the targeting of brothels by violent gangs. However, Catherine was a woman who enjoyed her job and the freedom she felt it gave her. On the whole, her experience of the sex industry had been a positive one.

All of the speakers mentioned one thing: the importance of decriminalization as the only way to drastically improve the lives of prostitutes. And stemming from that, the need for self-organisation and strength through unity. Feminists and Socialists who didn't listen to the voices of prostitute women were condemned by all and the lively debate following the speakers was largely positive.

The next meeting of the Marxist Radical Forum, “World On Fire”, will be held in MR4 of Manchester University’s Students’ Union on the 13th October. For more information on us, check out our blog. We encourage all Manchester Marxists to contact us and get involved.

Tue 30, September 2008 @ 20:26