Sex work remains a contentious issue among feminists and human rights activists, some of whom see it as a form of labour, and others as a form of violence against women. Equally contentious is the relationship between sex worker rights organisations and anti-trafficking organisations. The frequent conflation of sex work with human trafficking in the past two decades has increased the marginalisation and stigmatisation of sex workers and led to violent intrusions by state and non-state actors in their lives. At the level of legislation, most states continue to favour repressive policies that lead to further human rights abuses against sex workers.
This webinar briefly presents several academic articles on sex work and human trafficking, published in an issue of the journal Anti-Trafficking Review.
The speakers explain the polarised discourses around sex workers and the conflation of sex work with human trafficking that can be observed in many countries and pose challenges for sex worker rights activists to work with anti-trafficking activists. They also discuss collaborative efforts that are happening to achieve a reduction in the amount of violence that people are experiencing, whether someone chooses to do sex work, whether it's circumstantial that they would love to do something else but it's their best or only way to meet their needs, or they’re being forced and experiencing trafficking.
In California, Senate Bill 233 has been signed into law only a few weeks ago and will offer sex workers immunity from persecution if they contact police to report a violent crime, which the panelists felt will help those people who really do want to seek out legal help and support when they've been a victim or witness of a crime, to have a little bit more assurance and protection.
The speakers conclude that any type of collaborative work takes time and that it is imperative to recognize that it requires a lot of thoughtfulness, clarity, and having - sometimes difficult - conversations in order to establish common values everybody agrees on.
Speakers:
Calogero Giametta, Aix-Marseille University
Ntokozo Yingwana, African Centre for Migration and Society, University of Witwatersrand
Alexandra Lutnick, University of California, Berkeley
Borislav Gerasimov (Moderator), Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women / Anti-Trafficking Review