What do prostitutes really want?
Posted by Ellee on Dec 17, 2006 in updates | 23 commentsWhile the tragic murder of five prostitutes brought their terrible plight to the attention of the national media, it was a subject that aroused little interest before the murderer struck, and I’m wondering what we will 
learn from this, what changes will be made as a result.
The Suffolk slayings will poignantly be commemorated today, the 4th International Day to End Violence Against Sex Work, initiated by the Sex Worker’s Outreach Project in America to highlight the shocking murder of more than 60 prostitutes who were killed by the ‘Green River Killer’ Gary Leon Ridgway. People, groups and organisations around the world are today bringing public attention to violence against prostitutes and other sex workers.
As a solution to improve their safety, our press refers to having licensed brothels (as I have done), as well as tolerance zones, but is this what the women want? What would work best for them? Quite a few legal brothels are closing down in Amsterdam for safey reasons, will we also end up with an escalation in trafficking?
According to the English Collective of Prostitutes, we should decriminalize prostitution along the lines of New Zealand. And this is the reason why, according to Sara Walker, a spokeswoman for the group,
“We are not in support of toleration or management zones because we think the government should decriminalize prostitution. With such zones we are there on tolerance, not on the basis of our right to work.
“Many want to keep their anonymity and come out of prostitution when they are ready. That is more difficult in managed zones because they are run by the police and council,” she said.
Sara cites New Zealand as an example of a country that has improved the rights of prostitutes by decriminalizing the practice, she believes managed areas create a “two-tier” system whereby women can work within the zone but are criminalized outside of it. (There was even a bizarre case in July 2006 when a police officer in Auckland was reprimanded for moonlighting as a prostitute without permission, but was allowed to keep her job as she had committed no crime).
Sara also pointed out that the legitimate working spaces are in run-down parts of cities, creating “ghettos” that many women do not want to work in.
The state of Victoria in Australia has also decriminalized prostitution, but the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women warns that it is not the answer:
“Legalisation has offered nothing for women caught in in this system of exploitation. Legitimising prostitution as work has simply worked to normalise the violence and sexual abuse that they experience on a daily basis.”
Thanks to everyone who posted comments with these links, and thanks to Faith for what I feel summarises the background to prostitution:
“Very few women prostitute themselves when they have other options. They are almost all women who lack skills and/or opportunity,” and “VERY few of them are doing it by choice. They have no other choice.Choosing to do something that degrades you and causes you serious psychological harm because you have no other options is not a choice.”
And JessieAnne, a drugs/prostitution counsellor, commented that 90% of the girls want to quit, and refers to their high suicide rate.
I feel we must improve sex and drugs education for young girls before they find themselves trapped in a vicious circle where they become prostitutes in order to feed their addiction, or because they are single mothers in a poverty trap. Do they feel they can’t talk to anyone about their drug problem, that help isn’t available for them? We should also refuse to glamorise drug taking. Why is Kate Moss allowed to get away with snorting coke, what message does that send to our young people?
If most of them want out, what should be done to prevent them becoming prostitutes in the first place? Isn’t that the real issue? We also need to acknowledge that sex workers will continue for their own reasons, and how should this be “managed”? Do you feel we should decriminalize prostitution or legalise brothels? Should the government be doing more? And is ‘political cowardice’ and public indifference the reason why it has been ignored?
Should we not be asking the girls what would work best for them, what prostitutes really want?
N.B. Apologies for the lost comments, I accidentally deleted the post an hour or so ago!
Update: 18 December, police arrest 37-year-old Tom Stephens.
Faith: Is there? It’s still sex for money and I wasn’t aware that there were degrees in which this could be measured.
Daryl Hannah’s Mission to end sex slavery…she was nearly a victim herself:
http://www.amw.com/features/feature_story_detail.cfm?id=1299
Faith, Thanks for all these really useful links, much appreciated.
More sex trafficking/forced prostitution links:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2006/11/26/2003337971
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2006/12/08/trafficking-motion.html
http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=16197
Articles documenting sex trafficking in san francisco and south korea:
http://www.sfgate.com/sextrafficking/
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/06/MNGR1LGUQ41.DTL
“I posted today on this topic as I am currently staying in NZ, and decriminalisation as opposed to legalisation (which has done nothing for women) seems to be the best option.”
That’s what I’ve been trying to say. I do not want to see any woman convicted of a crime for prostitution, regardless of whether they do it by choice or not. But legalization is not the answer, it will only further increase the abuse and trafficking.
I am not in any way trying to be condescending towards any woman involved in prostitution. I’m only trying to do whatever I can as one person to protect women, whether she’s a prostitute, stripper, porn star, wife, or president of her nation.
“And what about women who enter into or stay in a loveless marriage for financial security? What is that?”
There’s a major difference between staying in a loveless marriage for security and having sex with 10 or more strange men on a daily basis. I really don’t even see the comparision in the slightest.
“I ask you both, what evidence do you have that “They have no other choiceâ€?? Is there a gun to their head? Or is it that prostitution is the best option available to them from a range of badly paid unskilled labour (e.g., cleaning, basic retail, waitressing, agricultural labour)? If they are being “forcedâ€? into prostitution by drugs, are these women incapable of making a decision to come off drugs?”
Quite often there is a metaphorical gun to their head. I don’t have time to explain fully, but pimps and traffickers use various methods of abuse and violence to get women to prostitute themselves. As for women who are drug addicts, it isn’t as easy as just making a decision to “come off drugs”. Kicking a drug addiction is one of the most difficult processes any person can ever accomplish.
I am running a blog documenting a UN book that covers many of these issues:
http://brokendreams.wordpress.com
“It is patronising and wrong to assume (as Faith does) that most or all are victims. I agree that women should not do sex work because they feel there is no other choice, but this isn’t the case with everyone.”
Most are victims. That isn’t really up for debate. They clearly are not all victims, but the ones who do what they do by choice can and will do so regardless of legislation. Which is more important, protecting the thousands upon thousands of abused women and children, or protecting the right of a few women who do what they do by choice?
Pick one.
New video produced by pimp explaining how he lured child victims into prostitution:
http://www.azstarnet.com/news/160989
Hi Ellee,
I posted today on this topic as I am currently staying in NZ, and decriminalisation as opposed to legalisation (which has done nothing for women) seems to be the best option. When I met with the prostitutes collective I met with a few women who were doing what they did out of choice. It is patronising and wrong to assume (as Faith does) that most or all are victims. I agree that women should not do sex work because they feel there is no other choice, but this isn’t the case with everyone.
Thanks for including me on your blogroll btw! I like your writing too….
Prostitution isn’t the kind of “choice” that you make at school during careers lessons but if you don’t have the education or ability to access help and advice it may appear, later on, to be the only option. Given a certain set of circumstances, we could all go there:
“For the colonel’s lady an’ Judy O’Grady
are sisters under their skin.”
And what about women who enter into or stay in a loveless marriage for financial security? What is that? There is so much hypocrisy surrounding the whole issue. Whilst most of the reporting this week has been sympathetic to the girls some of it has been salacious.
I have a friend who has a brain-damaged, adult son. He has sexual desires like everyone else and she says she would pay for him to go to a prostitute if she could be sure he would be treated kindly and would not catch a STD. Is regulation the answer to the needs of someone like that?
I agree that the only way forward is education but we must admit that there will always be prostitution and take steps to protect the women AND the other people who live in the areas where they work.
Thank you for your advocating and the update.
Prostitution it is important issue that needs to be address in Canada. Our government is very different with women’s issues.
Thank you for stopping by my site Ellee, hope to keep in touch.
Sincerely Holly Desimone
Catherine, My views are based on the research of others who have posted on this and their evidence. My conclusions were that we should try and educate these women at a younger age so they did not have to become prostitutes, to prevent them becoming drug addicts and single parents living in poverty, that they should have skills and self-respect to do other work.
According to the Times, the police have arrested a suspect in connection with the killings of these women.
Ellee, you quote Faith as saying “Very few women prostitute themselves when they have other options. . . They have no other choice.Choosing to do something that degrades you and causes you serious psychological harm because you have no other options is not a choice.�
I ask you both, what evidence do you have that “They have no other choice�? Is there a gun to their head? Or is it that prostitution is the best option available to them from a range of badly paid unskilled labour (e.g., cleaning, basic retail, waitressing, agricultural labour)? If they are being “forced� into prostitution by drugs, are these women incapable of making a decision to come off drugs?
And why do you see prostitution as degrading and causing “serious psychological harm”? Prostitution is having sex for money. So is it the sex that is degrading? In what way? Or is the degradation about getting paid? If so, why is it degrading to be paid for sex, and not for any of the other million things we pay people for in this society?
I look forward to your thoughts in reply.
That sort of thing upsets me more than the issue being discussed.
Sure, some prostitutes get abused but what about the one-in-four married women(or those in a long-term relationship)who receive some form of abuse?
I suppose any man wishing to get married will have to undergo some type of “suitability” test.
Sorry Ellee, but I get sick & tired of all these leftie do-gooders wanting to run men down. Either we’re too aggressive, too violent or we’re child-abusers or a combination of all three.
Rant over.
Elle,
I want to take this opertunity to thank you for this blog. I find it very thought provoking and challenging.
Sadly much of our lives are to witness what we humans do to others.
This morning I witness someone throwing a kitten out of a car window at 120pkph, onto a motorway & in front of a truck… I witnessed several car attempt to avoid the little thing as it rolled and got to its feet before being hit again.
Frankly I found it very, very. very upsetting.
What is it with people who can do this, and light fires, attack women, murder etc etc…
its a crazy sad world!
**********************
On another note.
Merry Christmas. Keep up the great work that you do!
Simon (Australia)
Faith, for clarification, is there any difference between legalisation and decriminalization?
“We also need to acknowledge that sex workers will continue for their own reasons, and how should this be “managedâ€??”
I just glanced through the sexwork.com website. Pardon me for saying this, but as it is run by a man I wouldn’t pay a bit of attention to it. I am far from a moralist or a misogynist but I am also strongly against legalization. The sex workers that do what they do entirely by choice are they ones who have the looks and intelligence to command high wages. These women rarely get in any legal trouble anyway.
I still vote strongly for prosecuting pimps and johns and providing financial and educational support for the prostitutes that need help.
“Legalisation has offered nothing for women caught in in this system of exploitation. Legitimising prostitution as work has simply worked to normalise the violence and sexual abuse that they experience on a daily basis.�
Seems to be true, Ellee but I’m only a man.
“This would mean – amongst many other things – stomping out the antiquated dogma of biological male dominance which is the prime culprit in male sexual violence, child abuse, etc.”
Sorry, this should read “child sexual abuse”.
Blessings.
No problem, let me see if I can remember what I wrote…
“I feel we must improve sex and drugs education for young girls before they find themselves trapped in a vicious circle where they become prostitutes in order to feed their addiction, or because they are single mothers in a poverty trap.”
This is clearly a good start but it would only be one facet in fixing the quite complex problem. Most people tend to think of prositution and drug addiction as diseases rather than symptoms. The vast majority of runaways and drug addicts – the ones most likely to become prostitutes – are victims of child sexual/physical abuse. The perpetrator of this abuse is almost always a male relative. The irony of the situation with many girls is that they often run away from home to avoid being raped by their father only to end up the victim of a pimp. They also tend to self-medicate with alcohol and drugs. Thus to truly eradicate the problem not only do we need to educate young girls and work to ease poverty, we also need to educate people on the overwhelming problem of child abuse, the way victims tend to behave after they have been abused, AND educate men on how flawed their views of sexuality and women truly are. This would mean – amongst many other things – stomping out the antiquated dogma of biological male dominance which is the prime culprit in male sexual violence, child abuse, etc.
(BTW, thanks a bunch for quoting me.)
Blessings.