Prostitution - is no excuse for violence towards women

London Feminist Meetup Group

September 25th 2007

Introduced by Sue Mayer

Speaker ..................English Collective of Prostitutes*

Introduction

Although entitled 'Prostitution' this meeting is about the current struggles by ecp  against the stigma, prejudice harassment  and violence suffered by  women sex workers, that are not being addressed  - IMO because of the distorted attitudes towards women and sexuality that are used to deliberately muddy the waters and prevent rational reform of the law relating to sexual prostitution

Definition:-

Prostitution - is the selling or offering of talents or work for unworthy purposes. Which, with or without causing offence to others, in public is widespread and largely accepted as 'normal' in our society. Exchanging services for money is not considered a generally 'unworthy' purpose.

There are many people who prostitute themselves and their talents for money, status  and/or ideology:

Well paid people, doctors, lawyers, politicians & other professionals who use their talents,  training and status to advantage those able to pay over  the odds for essential services, and disadvantage the poor who cannot pay.

(None of these fields in which women predominate. So that's all right then.)

But there are also teachers, media people and writers and entertainers who prostitute their skills to promote goods and services, ideas and attitudes that are harmful to individuals or society alcohol, cigarettes, spurious cures for which there is no evidence of efficacy - and peddle cultural stereotypes & prejudices that drive discrimination on gender, race, religion and class

Many of which are quite unworthy in my book, but are accepted and often well rewarded.

Nor are we just talking about street nuisance, because there are many intrusive public nuisances that are not illegal - some street selling, rowdyism , litter, internet spam and junk mail, and the general saturation of society with intrusive advertising.

As feminists it is no part of our agenda to ignore or minimise the problems of sexual prostitution on women sex workers and their children and families who get caught up in the criminal gangs  that exploit so many of them . Nor ignore the effects that these attitudes have on women and children more generally.

But the problems are real and need to be intelligently addressed urgently -

Street prostitution is a problem for some residents in some areas, and not least for the sex workers themselves. As are the health hazards, personal safety, coercion, addiction, crime  violence and poverty that are exacerbated by illegality.

All can be considered the results of, and punishments for, falling foul of traditional teaching and attitudes to women and sexuality.

And worst of all for some people - addressing the problems would make the problems worse with yet more harassment from the public, police and judiciary.

These attitudes were amply illustrated on a recent programme in which Ann Widdicombe took a superficial look at the subject from the POV of residents in a red light district and a young woman drug addict who she attempted to get to 'pull herself together and get a better life'. This from a Catholic conservative politician - the last person to have any recognition of the religious or economic origins of the problems let alone support policies needed to give such women the choice of that 'better life'.

If I may, before asking ------------------to outline the current campaign by the ecp and the proposals that are being drafted by the government I would like to very briefly go back to  the traditional attitudes  that underlie the attitudes to the selling of sex.

Briefly it is because it is one aspect of  'illicit sex' 

Christianity preaches, even today, that Sex is only acceptable within the narrow bounds of  holy matrimony, sanctified by the church for the procreation of children. - No sex for the unmarried (women at least), sex for money, sex for pleasure, sex only for heterosexuals, even solo sex was/is sinful and to be punished if only by guilt and shame..

It is arrived at as a result of patriarchal religious attitudes to women - as the property of a man, father, husband or son to whom she belongs, to serve, entertain and provide sex and progeny. And it is these attitudes towards women that explain the opposition to happy and successful same sex relationships

The worst of this still exists in the 'Better Dead than Defiled' attitudes of some religious believers and the killing of women for 'dishonouring' their families by infringing sexual taboos. see 'Illicit Sex and the God Machine' on attitudes towards rape.

A Better Way

More of what has caused the problems is no solution. Suppression and punishment only make matters worse and feed the irrational stigma, harassment. Reformers need to look at what leads to people seek refuge in drugs, research into the phenomenon of addiction, remedial solutions, and for those still in need of drugs ensuring that they do not need to prostitute themselves or become criminals, and consort with criminals to get them. (Perhaps it would answer some of the problems of Afghan farmers if there was a ready and regulated market for their heroin!)

Same Sex Relationships

The attitudes towards sexuality and women come together in the religious opposition to homosexuality. Same sex relationships undermine this notion of women as the necessary inferior and subservient partner for a man. Any relationship between two men or two women based on love, respect and equality subverts this notion of marriage as an unequal relationship between a superior (male) and an inferior (female) partner. The Christian ideal. Why do so few people seem to realise this, and puzzle over the supposed notion that it is about what is 'natural' or what is in the Bible?

*  English Collective of Prostitutes -  http://www.ecp.org.uk

'Illicit Sex and the God Machine' by A.Shaw

www.feminism.freeuk.com

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