The Conflation of Sex Work & Sex Trafficking.
Migration has become a significant feature of globalisation. This is evident when observing how flows of migration increase when attempting to accommodate to the demands of the expanding global market (Zubiashvili, 2017). Sex-trafficking is one of the largest universal concerns when discussing migration, that various bodies are taking up measures to combat. However, the conflation between sex-trafficking and sex work undertaken by migrants or non-migrants is another major concern that is often ignored in order to further and fuel a state’s own motives and prejudices. The introduction of new policies and the various other measures that are enacted in order to combat not only sex-trafficking but all forms of sex work, ultimately place sex workers at risk of discrimination and stigmas (Yingwana, Walker and Etchart, 2019), abuse from police raids (Ava, 2016), self-deprecation, lack of/loss of work (Ava, 2016), gender stereotyping, inability to move freely (Okyere, 2018), fear of deportation (nswp, 2019), lack of healthcare and support (Yingwana, Walker and Etchart, 2019), as well as the loss of individual agency and autonomy (Bettio, Della Giusta and Laura Di Tommaso, 2017). These issues vary depending on the work and whether the individual undergoing said sex work is also a migrant, however, the danger of tighter laws and the criminalisation of all sex work that ultimately reiterates the detrimental conflation of terms, is an issue that needs to be properly understood, recognised and dealt with.
It is important to understand the conflation of terms. “Trafficking in persons”, as adopted under the Palermo Protocol by the international community, outlines that trafficked persons are non-consensual, economically and sexually exploited victims of crime who are forced to live under slavery-like conditions (George, Undurti and Ray, 2010). Sex-trafficking is often defined as forced-prostitution or sexual exploitation (George, Undurti and Ray, 2010. The forced nature of sex-trafficking, however, does not coincide with the fact that many individuals working within the sex industry choose to do so (Yingwana, Walker and Etchart, 2019). It is voluntary, not forced. Obviously, some sex workers may have been coerced into the industry and are subject to violence and abuse (Yingwana, Walker and Etchart, 2019). However, it important not to paint every other individual in the sex industry with the same brush. Sex work (prostitution, escorting or other) is often referred to as individuals (men, women and transgender), offering sexual services in exchange for money (Open Society Foundations, 2008). Many of these workers consciously define said activities as income generating or occupational, which they have chosen to do at their own accord; whether their reasons include pleasure, economic stability or the need to feed their families (Yingwana, Walker and Etchart, 2019). It has been highlighted that economically sex work is more beneficial than working in a factory; the pay being extensively larger (Okyere, 2018).
There are various assumptions made in order to cement this conflation. Due to merging of sex work with sex-trafficking, in many states were sex work is illegal, rhetoric surrounding trafficking prevention is usually thrown in the same category as the prevention of women selling sex (nswp, 2019); assuming they are the same, even though the two streams are very different. The differences between the two may seem obvious, however, the various distinctions seem to have been lost on many individuals, states and media organisations who instead promote the idea that any and all sex work is exploitative and another form of modern-day slavery (Kempadoo, 2016). Another assumption often made that falsely links the two practices is that those who support the rights of sex workers also support sex-trafficking. This cannot be farther from the truth, as many individuals within the sex industry advocate against trafficking (Yingwana, Walker and Etchart, 2019). Sex workers can also be vital in unearthing violations, abuses and trafficking that other women and men may face (Yingwana, Walker and Etchart, 2019).
Assuming all those working within the sex industry are victims of exploitation is another assumption that not only forces shame and guilt onto these individuals, delegitimizes their work (Ava, 2016), turns their employers into “mafia men” and their customers into criminals (Okyere, 2018), but also, assumes that women have no choice, no agency, nor any awareness of the exploitation they supposedly face (Feis Bryce, 2015). This highlights several aspects of gender-based discrimination and stereotyping. Through the assumption that all women in this industry are victims unable to save themselves from such psychological destruction and the death of their sense of self (Ava, 2016), instead of accepting that they may (and in many cases are) autonomous and proud individuals consciously choosing such work (Ava, 2016), reiterates the toxic stereotype of women being anabolic (passive) and men, katabolic (aggressive, assertive) (Thomson and Geddes, 1889). All genders are negatively affected when the sex industry is tainted with criminality. This victimisation is also used to ignore and reject the success stories of sex workers and their claims against exploitative prostitution (nswp, 2019). Especially if said sex workers are of a different ethnicity. Those with language barriers are often subject to further discrimination and are erased from the conversation altogether (Ramsawakh, 2018).
Feminists, as Elena Jeffreys highlights, often rely on “tragedy porn” as their only basis and knowledge of sex work (Ava, 2016). “Tragedy porn” refers to “a desire to hear tragedy stories of hardship from sex workers” (Ava, 2016). When sex workers do not offer them such stories, their own experiences are questioned and often discarded as incorrect, as they do not fit into the abusive narrative that they base their claims and work upon (Ava, 2016). Gender-bias is also practiced to the other extreme. As witnessed in Thailand, where sex work is illegal, often only the women involved are caught and punished and not the employer or the customer (Okyere, 2018). Despite the belief of many sex work advocates that no one should be punished for sex work – if people are caught the blame should not fall solely on the woman involved. Often anti-trafficking movements work from an underlying anti-sex work standpoint (Yingwana, Walker and Etchart, 2019). This is extremely harmful and counter-intuitive when the rights of sex workers are taken away, placing them in positions of vulnerability and abuse that they previously hadn’t been subject to.
When sex work is criminalised/frowned upon, the policies put in place can often highlight wider bigotries and racisms within the government. The measures undertaken by police to uphold said policies can also place sex workers and migrants in positions of harm. As in Canada, Thailand, South Africa, and many US states where sex work is criminalised and conflated with sex-trafficking, sex workers become vulnerable to various rights violations. Some of these violations include physical abuse and privacy invasion from police (Okyere, 2018), lack of support and access to legal services, education and healthcare (Yingwana, Walker and Etchart, 2019). Finding genuine relationships with people outside of the sex work community proves difficult, as the push for anti-sex work policies creates a breeding ground for judgment and stigmas against those involved (Ava, 2016). Their financial independence and stability (Ava, 2016) are also threatened as various websites that aid sex workers in finding clients are removed (Ramsawakh, 2018) and as the caution and anxiety some women experience in accepting work, due to fear of being raided by police, increases (Ava, 2016). Even women who work in massage parlours are targeted, especially if they’re migrant workers or of a different ethnicity (Ramsawakh, 2018), which again highlights the bigoted nature of certain governments. The raids carried out within these types of work centres consist of women being forced to strip down to their undergarments whilst being humiliated, abused and illegally searched (Ramsawakh, 2018). The nature of these raids’ forces women into silence if they’re experiencing abuse from their employers or are aware of any sex work violations, for they do not want to risk being abused further by police (Yingwana, Walker and Etchart, 2019). Justifications given to such raids include that “the suffering of numerous sex workers as a result of police “visits” is justified if just on victim could be saved (Ava, 2016).” This response ignores the repercussion of such raids; harming more people than they are protecting.
Focussing more specifically on migrants, it is clear to see that the merging of migrant sex work with sex trafficking and the legislations put in place to uphold anti-sex work and anti-trafficking sentiments often leads to deportation or the further stripping of their rights. Although sex-trafficking can be identified as one possible outcome of migration, the intentionality of migrants to participate in or work within the sex industry is a completely different thing (George, Undurti and Ray, 2010). There is also a possibility that anti-trafficking can be a blanketed term for anti-immigration (Okyere, 2018). This is evident when observing President Trump’s supposed fight against sex trafficking which instead escalates racially rooted fears of migrants, instead of combatting sexual violence. The “White-Slave Traffic Act”, for example, blatantly disregards the protection of black women and girls subject to trafficking; very few people were prosecuted for trafficking these victims across the border (Lieberman, 2019). Many migrants who are caught up in anti-trafficking laws are effectively ruined, for the result of these policies is detention or deportation (nswp, 2019). New Zealand’s immigration service was criticized for adding sex work to their list of “employment skills” (Bindel, 2018). Critics, however, misunderstood the extend as to which migrants could utilise these skills, thinking that New Zealand allowed for them to move there and work as prostitutes. However, whilst migrants can gain points for their previous work in the industry (Tan, 2018), it is illegal for them to work in the sex industry under a temporary visa (NZPC, 2019). If a migrant is caught doing so, they face deportation (NZPC, 2019). Whilst New Zealand is more progressive and accepting of the legalisation of sex work, the fact that migrants face deportation as a result of undergoing such work, again highlights the discrimination migrants face (Walters, 2018).
Sex work has become conflated with sex trafficking in many ways. The merging of terms has been furthered by dangerous, discriminatory policies; especially when the workers are migrants. The livelihoods of sex workers have been compromised and the fate of deportation faced by migrants reinstates how inefficient and risky some legislations are. The assumptions made surrounding sex work ignores the reality and success of many individuals and instead stereotypes them into a box of helplessness; removing their sense of autonomy and agency. Therefore, it is safe to assume that the criminalisation of all sex work simply worsens and breeds violence and gender-based discrimination against women, rather than securing the wellbeing of women and sex workers.
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