Permanent Revolution

PR webby on Wed 19, November 2008 @ 17:53

PR webby — 2008-11-19 17:53:55

For sex workers comments see here

http://www.permanentrevolution.net/entry/2419

Mark P on Fri 21, November 2008 @ 16:04

Mark P — 2008-11-21 16:04:30

Isn't "sex workers" a deliberately obfuscatory term, in that it quite deliberately includes everyone from phone sex line workers to essentially enslaved prostitutes in one catch all category?

Jason on Wed 26, November 2008 @ 19:49

Jason — 2008-11-26 19:49:01

The point though, Mark P, about the term is it is one used by activists in the various forms of work connected to sex themselves. But one thing it clearly does distinguish is between women- and men- who engage in prostitution or other forms of sex work voluntarily.

Women who are forced to have sex are not sex workers but are being imprisoned and raped. The popular media concnetrated on this- of course this should be illegal and is. However, the media deliberately confuse this with condemning women- and men- who have consensual sex for money.

Actually criminalisation leads to more possibilites for abuse as it makes unionisation and public campaigning and workers' control of the conditions of working and health and safety far more difficult.