With the predominate rhetoric being about
supporting lifestyle choices rather than defending those who only have one 'choice,' the Nordic
model is often presented as illiberal.
It’s not a sexy argument fronted by a happy ‘Belle de Jour’ style hooker,
and maybe that’s why so many other wise liberal people recoil from it. But
there’s nothing left-wing or progressive about ignoring the most vulnerable, or
supporting something that perpetuates the revolting idea that men are entitled
to buy women’s bodies, or that sex is something ‘done to women.’ There’s a subtle hint in much of the criticism
of supporters of the Nordic model which implies that if you’re anti-sex work, you’re
anti-sex. Obviously that’s bullshit, but I do think that’s why a lot of people
shy away from it; it’s counter intuitive and deeply ‘uncool’, which doesn’t
mean it isn’t the moral and practical option.
The choice to work
in the sex industry is not made in a vacuum.
I don’t blame those in the industry, it’s a fairly logical response to
an illogical society, whereby women are so frequently valued on their perceived
sexual availability rather than being recognised for who we are. The sex industry is as diverse as it is lucrative; but the agency of a vocal minority does not
justify the harm done to many. Obviously
exact numbers are hard to come by, but I strongly believe those on Twitter are
the entitled few. Hypothetically, if
that were disproven, I’m not sure that would justify the suffering of anyone
else, or mitigate the harm caused to society at large.
Look at the numbers
of women willing to undergo harmful and invasive surgery to make themselves
attractive to men. That is a social ill,
an international epidemic of women hating our bodies, and it’s perpetuated by a
fucked-up patriarchal society that makes money from it. Similarly to
prostitution, there are huge vested interests.
It’s valid to question why a woman who says she felt liberated by having
a labiaplasty feels that, and it’s also entirely fair to question why such
procedures exist and who profits from them. Making political and social
problems seem like personal choices is something the rightwing specialises in,
and I see the ‘choice’ to engage in sex work in this way. Everyone is damaged by the existence of sex
work, men’s sense of entitlement to our bodies infects society. Socially
sanctioning sex work, by decriminalising it doesn’t erase the stigma for women,
it just spreads the message that men are owed sex.
The clients of organisations such as One25, Rosa or most of the frontline women’s
services, aren’t going to be on our social media radar, they’ll be on street corners or in brothels.
Economic migrants, those who are trafficked, those who have substance abuse/
addiction problems are unpleasant to think about, they don’t make good copy. Amnesty
has a shameful history of refusing to share a platform with survivors of the
sex trade (Rachel Moran springs to mind). Rather than recognise the
agency of the few who are relatively privileged, we should protect the most
vulnerable. So decriminalising sex work,
but prosecuting those who pay for sex would allow women safety and security to
report abuse, but obviously it needs to be balanced with support and exit
strategies. There have been problems
with how the Nordic model has been implemented, but this is often due to inhumane policing
(e.g. evicting women migrants who work in brothels) rather than any fault with the model itself. Decriminalisation in Holland, New Zealand and
Germany has lead to a massive rise in trafficking and exploitation of children. When buying sex is decriminalised traffickers
and pimps flourish, look at Amsterdam and Hamburg, both have become
prostitution destinations, with women and children trafficked to meet the
increased demand. In addition, when the entire industry is decriminalised, competition
increases and as more women enter the industry, prices go down.
Everyone deserves
to have dignity at work, but sex work is not comparable to other dangerous jobs.
For one thing, it’s almost entirely women selling and men buying; that’s a fundamental
and damaging power imbalance. I don’t
think women should be punished for working in the sex industry, but the society
that presents that as an option must be changed. If it were women selling their bodies for men
to punch, would you not worry that men would start to believe that they had a
right to do that, would it not concern you that there was a market for it? If it was their choice, and it enabled them
to feed their families/ addictions/ pay rent/ mortgages, is that ok or should
no-one be that desperate? I suppose,
prostitution is at the nexus of so many intersected problems. The fact it’s
often the choice of ‘occupation’ for Trans people doesn’t justify it any more
than it tends to be poor women who work in the sex industry. The onus should not be on individual choice,
but on preventing harm in a deeply unequal society. To my mind, we need to stop
people being marginalised, not make their ‘choice’ of occupation less marginal.
