As a provider with a heck of a lot of privilege, I love being able to get out into the community and talk about sex work. But there’s one thing that happens every time I talk about my work, and it really pisses me off. Whenever I get up behind a lectern, open up to new friends, or drop into a lefty discussion group and share my experiences, someone inevitably raises the issue of sex trafficking.
I remember one incident in particular – a guest spot at a friends workshop for undergraduate design students. We were talking about sex-negativity and the way it influences industrial design practices; a fun topic, to be sure! But after we’d considered safe sex toy design and talked in depth about why putting random household objects in your anus is a bad idea, one guy up the back of the room raised his hand. “I just wanted to ask your thoughts on sex trafficking,” he said.
It had nothing to do with the work we’d been discussing. I’m pretty sure the venn diagram of “sex trafficking policy” and “ethical industrial design” is two entirely separate circles. So, why did he bring this up? And why did he think I’d be the right person to talk about it?
A little learning is a dangerous thing
Satirical poet Alexander Pope had it right in the 1700s: when it comes to politics, knowing just enough to make you feel as though you have a handle on it and form an opinion is sometimes more dangerous than knowing nothing at all. With an increased governmental and media focus on sex trafficking worldwide, it’s easy for any slightly-well-read civilian to assume the position of armchair expert.
The US government has gradually moved towards linking all commercial sex to trafficking. The Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) says: “Today, the conflation of sex work with trafficking remains one of the most prevalent forms of misinformation surrounding sex work, underpinned by fundamental feminist and abolitionist ideology which equates all sex work with violence and exploitation.”
Anti-sex-work activists, sex work exclusionary radical feminists (SWERFS), and conservatives who peddle in trafficking hysteria for public approval love to sell the story that many – if not all – sex workers are coerced and/or trafficked. Even celebrities such as Ashton Kucher and Demi Moore are on the bandwagon. This misinformation drives the moral panic that captures public attention, such as the infamous and infamously debunked, increase in sex trafficking during the Superbowl. Despite their factual inaccuracy, these stories stick in the public consciousness.
Nobody wants to appear indifferent to sex trafficking, of course. I sometimes suspect that the people who raise this with me are doing so because they know that taking a stand against sex trafficking is both a safe social position, and may net them a little social cache. They’ve heard just enough about the issue to be convinced that my work overlaps with this stuff, by default. It allows them to appear knowledgable on an edgy, taboo topic, while also being covertly judgemental about sex work. Concern trolling, basically.
But getting sex work confused with non-consensual, abusive coercion is a huge problem. Trafficking is not the same thing as sex work. There is a big difference between people who are trafficked and people who choose to provide sexual services to their clients. Both for us as sex workers, and for victims and survivors of trafficking, the conflation is dangerous and harmful. Even sex workers who migrate to other countries for work – who are often automatically designated trafficked, while also punished as sex workers – are making this decision for themselves, and are doing legitimate work. Allow us our agency, for Christ's sake!
Conflating sex work and sex trafficking causes harm
It might feel good to declare you care about sex trafficking, but doing so without sharing the facts causes real harm. Worldwide, the refusal to distinguish sex work from sex trafficking affects both legitimate victims of crime and abuse, as well as sex workers who are just trying to do their damn jobs and maybe also have a little human rights, as a treat.
Trafficking hysteria harms sex workers in general because:
- It encourages the public to see sex workers as victims only. This makes us more vulnerable to attacks from predators and gives SWERFs and antis leverage when they call for unjust laws that violate our human rights and make our working conditions less safe.
- Sex workers are more likely to be targeted by law enforcement. Thanks to flimsy justifications based on the above assumptions.
But it’s not just about sex work as a whole. We also need to talk about migrant workers; marginalised people who may be even more vulnerable to persecution and prosecution, thanks to how the intersections of racism, whorephobia and economic inequality play out.
In the paper Key Issues for Asian Migrant Sex Workers, Australian peer organisation Scarlet Alliance highlights many of these harms, which go above and beyond the general stigma towards sex workers that affect these folks already:
- They’re disproportionately targeted by the state - incidents such as workplace raids are more commonplace in areas known to have migrant workers.
- There’s an (entirely reasonable) increased fear and distrust towards police and immigration officials, which makes it harder for migrant workers to seek assistance with housing or help if they’re a victim of crime.
- Increased prejudice leads to a higher risk of unjust detention and deportation, as well as increased negative health outcomes.
- Increased surveillance and discrimination from accommodation providers, landlords, and financial institutions.
- A lack of access to compensation and/or redress when mistreated in any of the above situations.
Finally, let’s consider the harm caused to labour trafficking victims. I’m talking about people who have been trafficked in ways that don’t always involve sexual coercion – labour trafficking is a much more well-documented problem than sex trafficking. here’s how trafficking victims, regardless of sector, are also affected:
- Trafficking victims are often persecuted as sex workers, and denied actual assistance – instead being detained and/or deported.
- Effort isn’t being made to address the real problems. Money and resources that could be focused on programs and community interventions to help trafficking victims are instead used by law enforcement to target both sex workers and survivors for prosecution.
In an interview for the Tryst.link blog, activist and writer Lola Davina says: “Why focus on sex work if the goal is to eliminate trafficking? When law enforcement sees sex workers as part of the sex trafficking problem, they’re wasting their efforts on the wrong people, while neglecting those who are being genuinely harmed. It doesn’t make sense.”
Want to ask me about sex trafficking? Here’s what I need from you:
To be honest, I need you to stop. Stop asking sex workers to be accountable for, to voice their opinion on, or educate you on, trafficking. By bringing up this stuff, you’re further entrenching the idea that sex work and sex trafficking are interrelated in ways they simply are not. Sex workers are just people trying to do a job.
Given the struggles we already have around stigma, and the lengths we often must go to in order to defend our human and labour rights, it’s unfair of you to ask us to also assume the emotional labour of explaining these facts to you over and over again.
Rather than raising this stuff with providers directly, I’d ask you to start engaging with better sources of information. There are some great books, such as The Truth About Modern Slavery, and I also recommend the podcast episode You’re Wrong About: Sex Trafficking. Avoid any source of information that conflates trafficking with sex work or calls for the criminalisation of sex work as a way to control trafficking; we know that doesn’t work. Full decriminalisation is the only practical way forward.
If you’re keen to learn how misinformation on this topic affects us, you can visit the websites of our peer organisations. In Australia, Scarlet Alliance convenes with the Asian Migrant Sex Worker Advisory Group (AMSWAG), made up of Asian migrant sex workers and Asian migrant sex worker peer educators. AMSWAG centres the voices of Asian migrant sex workers in the development of Scarlet Alliance policy and advocacy on issues impacting migrant sex workers. In Europe, one of the key focus areas for The European Sex Workers Rights Alliance is migration and racial justice. UNSWP has also published many reports on these issues.
Ultimately, talk is cheap. Self-reflection, investigation and education demand more effort, but will prevent you from becoming just another armchair expert, and allow you to sensitively discuss these issues with the people around you.
If you care about sex trafficking, you’ll do more research on the issue than reading about the Superbowl in the news. And if you really care about doing the right thing, don’t bring it up while I’m talking about my experiences. Confusing consensual activity with coercion harms both those who are trafficked, and those who are simply trying to get on with their job.
Are you a sex worker with a story, opinion, news, or tips to share? We'd love to hear from you!
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