Sex worker murdered in Boston
And you wonder why I’m so passionate about decriminalization of prostitution and destigmatization of all sex work? You wonder why I get such a stick up my ass about self-identified feminists who don’t support decrim? (Yes, there are plenty who don’t support it, and that fact absolutely boggles my mind.)
A sex worker who had advertised on Craigslist was murdered in Boston two days ago. Dacia captures my thoughts best:
We can talk about safety infinitely, but the fact remains that sex workers are at risk. Taking security measures and being on the defensive are all well and good, but there are only so many ways you can defend yourself against violence and exploitation that is embedded in the patriarchy. Being on the defensive is a band aid, it is not a long term solution. The long term solution is that governments need to stop telling us what we can and cannot do with our bodies, and men need to stop being violent toward sex workers. We can and will fight those problems hard and loud, but sadly, sex workers can’t stop violence all by ourselves.
Are you out there, potential allies? So-called progressives? Social libertarians? Are you listening? Are you actually working to end the stigma instead of just doing nothing and saying occasionally, “Oh, yeah, legalize it” in that self-satisfied way? Are you calling out those oh-so-funny dead hooker jokes? Are you centering this issue in the way it so sorely deserves?
You wonder why I don’t give a shit about “teabagging” and who Obama did or didn’t bow to and all the other SOOPER IMPORTANT POLITICAL stuff?
Because sex workers – the majority of whom are women – are being marginalized, abused, and killed, and no one gives a damn.
*sigh*
I don’t know what else to say.
[...] Being Amber Rhea] 0 Comments No Comments so far Leave a comment RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack [...]
I wonder if people are afraid that if they advocate supporting sex workers that it will “encourage” women to engage in sex work. Please forgive me if I offend, but my understanding is that the majority of women who are prostitutes are forced into it by circumstances. (I’m not sure if the term prostitute is considered appropriate or offensive; I’m very open to being informed on that issue.) Reading the blogs it seems at least some sex workers have chosen the work. It’s all very confusing, I must say.
It seems, though, that if feminism means choice, that that would include the choice to engage in sex work. If sex workers are not in it by choice, it seems we should support them in every way we can to 1) keep them safe, and 2) help them “escape.”
Again, the issue is muddied by fiery rhetoric and a lack of honest discussion. I support every measure to keep sex workers safe. I do not support marginalizing women who make different choices than me (engaging in sex work). Beyond that, I’m baffled.
Some people might think that, but it makes about as much sense as the argument that over-the-counter availability of emergency contraception will “encourage” teenage girls to have unprotected sex.
And anyway, even if there *were* any merit to that argument – so what? Should the safety and human rights of all sex workers suffer just because one or two women out there might be *more* likely to work in the sex industry because it is – gasp! – safer? The whole thing falls apart the minute one tries to make any sort of logical sense of it.
That is a widespread misperception – and it’s maddening. But others have already addressed this countless times at great length, so I do not want to get off on that tangent here. I’m sure I’ve addressed it at some point on this blog, as well. Ren and Jill Brenneman are two bloggers who have been the very prolific on this matter; I encourage you to read their words.
But once again, this is straying away from the central point. The “choice” argument is often used to derail – as it is doing here. My post mentioned nothing about whether or not the woman who was murdered in Boston chose her work. That piece of information is irrelevant. Whether she chose it wholeheartedly or was in some way coerced, or fell into a gray area as do most of us who work for a living – it doesn’t matter. She did not deserve to die. She, and all sex workers, deserve the basic protections most of us take for granted. The issue is the SAFETY and HUMAN RIGHTS of women – not “choice.”
ANY time you want to leave a comment linking to petitions or action bloggers can take to petition for sex worker rights, either send me a private message or just go ahead and stick up as a comment in an appropriate blog if I have written one :).
This was a great post and I’m sorry I can’t put that into better words to express what I think as I read it. So many people project their thoughts about sex work without even knowing or understanding the truth about it and they have that narrow minded view that there is no way a woman can choose.
As you said it doesn’t matter if it was a choice or how she came to be in that hotel room that day. What matters is the Safety and Human Rights of all sex workers. It is a basic right.
I’m looking forward to finally meeting you at Sex 2.0 next month in DC and also having the opportunity to expand my knowledge of allies for sex workers.
[...] Sex worker murdered in Boston [...]
[...] Being Amber Rhea [...]
You are right, Amber, she did not deserve to die. And that is why the feminists who do not support safety measures for sex workers baffle me. I’m trying to understand but can’t.
I agree, all women deserve safety and human rights *regardless of whether we agree with their choics” or *regardless whether they chose* sex work.
I think that is what I’m trying to say. I don’t like porn, I don’t think I could do sex work, I’m not even sure how I “feel” about it. But that has nothing to do with whether sex workers deserve rights (of course they do!) or whether I like them as people (why would it?).
I wish I could articulate it better.
Rachel, I get what you’re saying. And it sounds like we are in agreement. Your first comment confused me because it seemed like you were trying to make the argument about choice and not about safety and human rights. But I def. understand having difficulty saying exactly what you want to say – I’ve been there MANY times. So yeah, we share bafflement at self-identified feminists who do not support decrim. The ones who absolutely blow me away the most are the ones who say they oppose it bc it would “legitimize” prostitution. And your priorities are WHAT exactly??
I think women get lost in ideologies. Shame.
The Craiglist killer has been arrested!