Audacia Ray's Blog, page 49

wussypillow:What I'm saying next time someone bugs me about my...

wussypillow:

What I'm saying next time someone bugs me about my tattoos.

Anti-Trafficking Efforts and Harm: an appendix to Rachel Rabbit White's post

Rachel Rabbit White interviewed me and a few other sex worker rights activists for a piece on the trafficking statistics debate recently sparked by the Ashton Kutcher/Village Voice debacle. Read the piece: Sex Workers on Trafficking and Real Men Getting Their Facts Straight.
Rachel edited down some of my answers, so here's my full set of responses to her questions.

1.How does quoting false statistics, like Ashton and so many news sources do, harm the cause?

2. Does this harm sex workers?

Unfortunately, good intentions are not enough. I do believe that even one child trafficked into and exploited by the sex industry is too many, but I also believe that it is of a very high importance that in the pursuit of justice, the human rights of all people should be protected. In attempts to stop sex trafficking, there are often human rights abuses that are experienced not just by consenting sex workers but sometimes by the survivors of trafficking themselves. This is highly problematic. For example, here in New York, young people who are commercially sexually exploited are often arrested and imprisoned for prostitution - arrest is often the main way victims of trafficking (both youth and adult) are identified. Some get prison records, while others are put into forced rehabilitation programs that may not meet their needs but are identified as an alternative to prison. In addition to being singled out for arrest, victims of trafficking are sometimes subjected to police raids, which can be very traumatic and often result in detention (but not necessarily a day in court). The 2009 Sex Workers Project report "The Use of Raids to Fight Trafficking in Persons," notes that the people interviewed for the study who did not self-identify as trafficked resented the raids, as did many of the people who identified as victims of trafficking.

Though as our society our reaction to terrible things generally tends toward "find the people responsible for this and put them in prison!" what happens more often is that the people most likely to go to jail or be otherwise detained are the people who actually need services and human rights protections.
 

3. What do you think most people are not getting about trafficking—as far as what trafficking is and isn't?

The annual Trafficking in Persons report published by the U.S. Department of State defines trafficking as "activities involved when one person obtains or holds another person in compelled service." Though sex trafficking often gets the most attention, the International Labour Organization estimates that only one in nine cases of human trafficking are sex trafficking. The other eight cases include domestic, agricultural, textile, and industrial labor as well as child soldiers. Increasingly, in the United States, anti-trafficking legislation is used to enact anti-immigration sentiments.
 

4. The overwhelming response I've seen to Village Voice vs Ashton/ DNA in major publication's comment sections is: "But who cares, even if only one child were trafficked, this is a problem!" What is your response?

5. How has DNA and campaigns like it shunned sex workers who want to help?

Most anti-sex trafficking campaigns are anti-prostitution campaigns full stop, or like Kutcher recently did they recognize consenting adult sex workers as an extreme minority whose opinions are irrelevant. I think it's really important for adult sex workers, especially those who chose their profession, to be educated about the complexities of the issue. Most people who fall into the category of choice and are able to be out are white, middle class, native English speaking, able bodied, cisgender women - and most of the people who are victims of trafficking (or profiled as such) are not. So there is a disconnect there.

It is also important to know that there are both human rights groups and service providers that understand the complexities of sex work and trafficking and support survivors of trafficking in a useful way that centers the needs of the survivors. The reason you don't hear as much about these groups as you hear about the celebrity-endorsed campaigns is mostly because they are busy doing the unglamorous work of providing services and waging legal battles to secure human rights and dignity for the individuals they work with.
 

6. Any words to help readers understand the concept of choice vs circumstance vs coercion?

In most people's realities, all choices are constrained by something. There isn't really such a thing as "free choice," especially when it comes to making a living and supporting your family. Though the mainstream media creates these extremes of the "empowered high class call girl" and the "exploited drug-addicted street worker", the reality of the sex industry is much more complex, and it is important to work to amplify the voices of real people who exist in that gray area. That gray area is "circumstance," and it is the reason most people work at all.

Sautéed zucchini with basil, turnips and spinach with miso...

Sautéed zucchini with basil, turnips and spinach with miso butter. Race to finish CSA before tomorrow's delivery!

"It is time to begin "changing attitudes of us as people, not changing attitudes about laws or..."

"It is time to begin "changing attitudes of us as people, not changing attitudes about laws or protections that we might need"…"

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The Bay Area Reporter Online | Project aims to change Americans' opinions about LGBTs

Dear funders, this is exactly what I'm doing with sex workers. I would also like to have $730,000 for two years of work to "support political work and cultural attitudes" toward sex workers. Actually, I can do and have been doing that on a lot less money. And will continue to, whether the Red Umbrella Project is funded or not. In the meantime, I am learning a lot about organizational development and will be trying my hand at grant writing over the coming months. Nose, grindstone, and all that.

"I'm not so much offended by these words as I am offended by all the linguistic inconsistency...."

"I'm not so much offended by these words as I am offended by all the linguistic inconsistency. Is "whore" as misogynistic as we've always thought it was, or is it perfectly acceptable to use when discussing prostitutes and promiscuous people (e.g. "manwhore")? Is "prostitute" actually nicer than "hooker," or are they equally ugly? Is an "escort" the most politically correct term for those of us looking to not offend, or is that "sex worker"? Then again, "sex worker" seems too broad a term, and could include strippers, phone sex workers, Playboy Playmates, etc."

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Whore, Prostitute, Hooker, or Sex Worker: What Should You Say? - Culture - GOOD

Important semantics.

Note to self: write a post about words and the sex industry.

"The New York Post is notoriously fond of its hooker headlines – though that they were the sole..."

"The New York Post is notoriously fond of its hooker headlines – though that they were the sole source of this "news" ought to be enough to cast doubt on it. Still, even if the unnamed hotel worker had sold sex, this should have no bearing on her accusation. Feminists and advocates against sexual violence have been firm in pointing this out. But so what if Strauss-Kahn was a bad trick? So what if he was one of dozens of clients? Is the stigma of selling sex so severe – or the doubts it casts on a woman's ability to tell the truth so severe – that we could not accept this woman's accusation?"

- I've got a new piece at Alternet, on the front-page trial of Dominique Strauss-Kahn's accuser. (via melissa)

privilegedandgoodlooking:YES

privilegedandgoodlooking:

YES

"Good intentions are not enough. And vengeance doesn't make you look any more serious. I really,..."

"Good intentions are not enough. And vengeance doesn't make you look any more serious. I really, really wish Ashton Kutcher had come out and directly admitted that the numbers he offered for child prostitution were bad. The fact of the thing is that Kutcher wasn't attacking the Voice for their involvement in trafficking, until the Voice attacked him. Kutcher claims, via tweet, to only have played "stupid on TV." I guess. From the vantage point of a battle rapper, I get the point. Kutcher has successfully carved into his adversaries revenue, and pointed out their own credibility issue. But from the vantage point of one seriously engaged in a long war with a persistent and oft-underestimated foe, I do not. I am deeply suspicious of the efficacy of spectacle, of giving Ashton Kutcher's dust-up with a newspaper higher billing than the victims he is warring on behalf. Thus, for me, the critical question for me is this: How does standing on bad facts help end child prostitution?"

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Kutcher vs. the Village Voice, Ta-Nehisi Coates (The Atlantic)

This should be the do-gooders mantra (but won't ever be because its too hard): Good intentions are not enough.

"Sadly, much of what is missing in this conversation is an understanding of why youth enter the sex..."

"Sadly, much of what is missing in this conversation is an understanding of why youth enter the sex trade, whether by choice or through coercion. Poverty, lack of support for LGBTQ youth who may become runaways, and other issues often draw sex workers of all ages, including youth, to the sex trade. There is also a lack of substantial services for youth of all genders in the sex industry. Here in New York City, service organizations likeStreetwise and Safe and Safe Horizon are providing social services for youth and families on a volunteer basis, empowering people to make decisions on their own terms. However, they remain critically underfunded. It is imperative that such organizations be supported in order to continue the important work of empowering youth to make their own decisions about their lives."

- SWOP-NYC Responds to the "Real Men Get Their Facts Straight" Debate — SWOP-NYC

"But in May, Google yanked the [Turn Off the Blue Light] ad, having suddenly decided the content was..."

"

But in May, Google yanked the [Turn Off the Blue Light] ad, having suddenly decided the content was an "egregious violation" of company ad policy. Google contends the ad is selling adult sexual services, a sector it bars from advertising (with an interesting exception for stripping or lap-dancing services).

But Blue Light isn't selling sexual services. It's campaigning for human rights. Unfortunately, Google won't budge.

As if to add insult, the company then sold an AdWord to a religious organization leading a campaign against sex trafficking in Ireland.

"

- Jody Paterson: Google tramples sex workers' rights