With the advent of globalization, internet
dating, chat rooms, cyber-sex etc, the world’s touted oldest profession has not
been left behind in modernizing its trade and services to keep up with the ever
changing technology; dynamism is indeed the name of the game. In today’s world,
a sex worker is no longer just the woman in skimpy red dress and high heels,
lurking at the corner of the street in the middle of the night looking for a
customer. A sex worker now include prostitutes, pornography actors and
actresses, chat room /telephone sex providers, escorts, gigolos etc.
However, like all work, especially in this era
of neo–globalization and privatisation of anything that generate profits, prostitutes in many cases do not own their bodies anymore, many are not really in a position to negotiate the prices for their services. The big lords, hotel
owners, club owners, chat room owners, internet warlords are now the real
employer of sex workers' labour. The money bags have the money to run the business,
employ women and in a growing number of cases men too, to render sexual
services, they act as the sub contractors, in fact, it is just an advanced
stage of pimping.
‘IF YOU HAVE A BOSS, YOU NEED A UNION” is a
popular slogan in Labor movement. It is increasingly obvious that sex workers
are in most cases employed by other big time business operators, who like many
employers, are basically concerned about profit and not necessarily the welfare
of their employees. Even in cases where sex workers are their own bosses, instances
of police brutality and harassment abound. Policemen have been known to extort sex workers,
demand for cuts from their earnings, deny them protection, rape and torture them;
in fact, sex workers are subjected to all sorts of indignities and degrading treatment
when arrested.
In Nigeria, it is a common occurrence for policemen to raid a brothel, clubs or local joints to arrest young
women, especially female students on the suspicion of prostitution.
To the policemen, the evidence of the prostitution charge lies in the way the women are dressed, their physical appearance, if they were smoking, drinking alcohol, the company they keep, or just the
mere fact that they were in that environment at an 'ungodly' hour serves as evidence of
prostitution.
Many women arrested in
such circumstances are often tortured, extorted, blackmailed, raped and
assaulted. In an effort to protect their identity and secure their freedom,
these young women would do anything to please their torturers. Sometimes they are forced to confess to crimes they never committed and
in many cases, are forced to perform sexual favours to gain their freedom. Of
course, this action of the police is sexist, a violation of so many fundamental
human rights and a restriction on the right of women to move freely in the
country.
It is however interesting to note
that the over-zealousness of the police is never extended to elitist clubs.
Sex workers, who work for and provide services to the elites, enjoy a sort of
coded protection. However the protection is only valid for as long as the boss
is pleased, any disagreement or rancor could lead to withdrawal of that
protection. Therefore the power to negotiate the terms and conditions of
service is tacitly taken away from the vulnerable sex workers.
Also, sex workers are often looked at
as disease carriers, a mobile carrier of HIV/AIDS and other sexually
transmitted diseases. While there is no gainsaying that exposure to many sexual
partners without protection increases the risk of contacting a sexually
transmitted disease, it is also important to note that the client could be as
guilty if not more guilty than the service provider therefore it is important to
involve and educate the clients too on the need to practice safer sex. It is
important to have a holistic approach to this subject in order to curb sexually
transmitted diseases.
Sex workers must be accorded the respect they deserve and seen as stakeholders who can contribute meaningfully to creating awareness about HIV/AIDS and help curb its spread. We must also recognize that sexual health and well being of sex workers is also important.
Sex workers must be accorded the respect they deserve and seen as stakeholders who can contribute meaningfully to creating awareness about HIV/AIDS and help curb its spread. We must also recognize that sexual health and well being of sex workers is also important.
The stigmatization and consequent
exploitation of sex workers would be minimized if sex work is accorded its
recognition as a bonafide job, a real job which has its challenges like every other
job but which also has its rights and protections under the law.
Criminalization of sex-work in many
countries and jurisdictions makes it difficult to create a safe, enabling
environment and workplace for sex workers. The continued criminalization of sex-work,
rather than serves as a deterrent has only succeeded in exposing sex workers to
violence, intimidation, harassment, exploitation etc.
As was said in the Wolfenden
Committee report of 1957, what two adults do in the privacy of their rooms is
no business of the law. Decriminalization of sex work would make it easier to
organize sex workers, improve their working conditions, curb exploitation and
protect their rights and accord them the dignity in labour every worker
deserves.
Recognizing sex work and organising
sex workers within mainstream labour movement is a task not just for the unions
but one that must jointly be carried out by both the trade unions and sex workers. Sex workers must be ready to organise themselves
from within, they must be prepared to approach unions that are capable of
meeting their needs and willing to accept them as full members with all the
rights accorded members.
Trade unions on their part must be
ready to live up to its primary duties, which is organising workers and
protecting their rights. In this time when the labour movement is concerned
about dwindling membership mainly due to global economy down turn, trade unions
should look towards organising this untapped membership.
Sex workers have bosses in many
cases, they work under hazardous conditions, and sometimes under very demeaning
circumstances, they need protection from dangerous clients, overzealous
policemen, and even the larger society.
Organising sex workers would also
give them the opportunity to build their capacity to negotiate their own
services and contracts, educate and empower them enough for them to make a true
choice or at least give them a chance to really have a choice.
No one should be forced to be a sex worker;
it should be voluntarily chosen. Unfortunately, our economy reality has
restricted the power to freely choose our profession, however it is still
imperative that conditions of work in this profession is subjected to
international labour standards. Sex workers should not be abandoned to their
fate just because they happened to be on the wrong side of a questionable law.
The key word is CHOICE and an
ENABLING/EMPOWERING environment to make a CHOICE. Many choose 'prostitution' or
what I'd rather refer to as 'Commercial Sex Work' to survive the brutal
economy. Just the same way many women and men choose to enter into Marriage unions or
relationships for economy reasons and same way many migrants are forced to
marry or enter into contractual sexual relationships for a green card or entry visa. Mutual Adult choices that harm no one should be respected.
We should all stand up against FORCED
commercial sex work, FORCED LABOUR anywhere, anyhow should be condemned.
Persons that have chosen sex work whether out of economic circumstances or just
because they love it, should be accorded all respect and protection, not pity.
Commercial sex workers should not be
denied workers’ rights because of societal stigmatization and moral
judgments. They are adults, have made their choices and need not explain to a
third party why they made their choice. Decriminalization can help minimize
violence, sex trafficking and exploitation of sex workers and a UNION would
give them the representation many other workers enjoy.
Employment CHOICES, whether made out
of economic frustration, lack of choice or real passion for the profession MUST
BE RESPECTED.
Sex workers do not have to be viewed as people who need help, especially when they are in the profession voluntarily. Not everyone loves their jobs, including commercial sex workers. In almost all profession, you will find people who truly loathe their jobs but are constraint to stay in the jobs because it pays the bills. So next time someone says "but prostitutes don't love their jobs", well ask the person if they truly love their jobs? Also, not loving your job is not a reason for the society to criminalize or stigmatize your chosen profession.
Some sex workers are in the profession because, believe it or not, they have a passion for it, many are there because of limited choice but for whatever reasons they are in the profession, RESPECT is the key word, not PITY and certainly not moral judgment.
Sex workers while building their alliances with labour movements, must also build links with social movements that will protect their rights and interests. They should build alliances with liberal women organisations, human rights organisations which in some cases also help to provide legal services to allies and of course the World Social Forum.
Sex workers do not have to be viewed as people who need help, especially when they are in the profession voluntarily. Not everyone loves their jobs, including commercial sex workers. In almost all profession, you will find people who truly loathe their jobs but are constraint to stay in the jobs because it pays the bills. So next time someone says "but prostitutes don't love their jobs", well ask the person if they truly love their jobs? Also, not loving your job is not a reason for the society to criminalize or stigmatize your chosen profession.
Some sex workers are in the profession because, believe it or not, they have a passion for it, many are there because of limited choice but for whatever reasons they are in the profession, RESPECT is the key word, not PITY and certainly not moral judgment.
Sex workers while building their alliances with labour movements, must also build links with social movements that will protect their rights and interests. They should build alliances with liberal women organisations, human rights organisations which in some cases also help to provide legal services to allies and of course the World Social Forum.
Social movements on their part must
continue to demand for a better world, where the oppressed in the society can
rise above their oppression, where poverty will not be the motivating factor
behind sex work, where people can truly decide what type of work they want to
do, be it providing medical service or providing sex service and have their
choice equally respected.
Trade unions in Africa should also try
to represent this group of workers, who most often, work in the most demeaning
conditions. Discrimination has no place
in trade unionism, the interests of the sex workers must be protected, their
voices must be heard and their concerns taken on board. Unions should not just
be speaking for sex workers but must also let sex workers speak for themselves
from within the unions.
In conclusion, we must bear in mind
that organising sex workers itself is not about promoting the sex trade or sex
services, it is about PROTECTING the rights of those who either out of
choice or no choice find themselves working as sex workers.
Trade unions cannot and should not
discriminate on which category of workers they offer their services to. Workers of the world have always tried to unite against any form of slavery, freely
chosen sex work is not slavery and where stifling environment encourages
exploitation of this vulnerable group, union machinery should start working to
defend the rights of these workers irrespective of status, class, color or
gender.
