I'm a sex worker, and I want to end trafficking too
I think there is a misconception held by many on the anti-trafficking fronts that most sex workers approve, or at the very least don't care, about trafficking issues. This is just one of many untruths about our industry that continues to breathe life because so little speak out to say anything different. Well I'm hear to tell you, this is just-plain-FALSE.
Admittedly, I have not been as active in the past as I could have, or should have, with this issue... My own experiences with sex work have not overlapped into areas of trafficking, and as most of us with busy lives can probably relate to: out of sight, out of mind. Over the last few years it has started creeping into my field of vision, and it has now taken hold as a current passion for some of my activist energy. This past October, while attending the 6th Annual Prostitution Conference, I heard a sobering fact: there are less then 50 beds in the entire United States dedicated to in-patient rehabilitation for children trafficked in sex work. That's right, less then 50...not even one per state. Not even enough for the number of victims rescued in the last coordinated effort by the FBI's Innocence Lost program this past October, let alone for the entire year. And in Toledo, where I live, and where we continue to come up on the top of the list for child prostitution recruitement and trafficking, we have no dedicated in-patient beds at all for these kids. Considering the special care a child needs after surviving such an ordeal, care that should be available to them *immediately* to put every effort into helping them NOT have their entire lives ruined by such trama, we are falling gravely short. Our children are falling through the cracks, and I can't believe more people are not outraged by this.
I am a sex workers rights activist. I believe I should have the right to control what I do with my body with other consenting adults. I believe I should be able to use my body and my mind in whatever way I want to make a living, whether that be sweating behind a broiler and 500 degree oven in the summer heat while being yelled at by an angry chef, or helping another person explore a sexual curiosity or live out a long held fantasy. But fighting for these rights does not mean I condone, approve or tolerate trafficking in any way, shape or form. I want respect for what I do and for the value that sex work has in society, and there will never be any value in anything that is forced or coerced within my industry as far as I'm concerned. And I am not the only sex worker that feels this way, although those that only see the trafficking victims, and those that don't respect the different experiences those of us that choose sex work have, rarely get to hear and share these ideas. For those immersed in the trafficking issues, they only see the victims, day in and day out. With this limited, and horrific view, I can understand how it can be more difficult for some to digest other ideas. Couple that with the dearth of sex workers willing to speak out publicly on any level about our industry, and the few that do speak out usually focusing their attention solely on sex workers rights, and this shared adversary continues to thrive from the lack of effectiveness a coordinated understanding and effort could bring. This must change, and we must figure out how to bridge the gap in identifying common interests and goals even if there are other ideoligical points not shared.
As a sex worker, making an effort to end the ills that plague our industry is just as essential to fighting for sex worker rights as making a demand for decriminalization in my opinion, and in the process, offers an opportunity to broaden the perspective of anti-trafficking advocates when they can see and feel firsthand that we can choose this work while rejecting any abuse or harm that tries to attach itself. Fighting for sex worker rights means fighting for ALL sex workers, including the one's that do not choose it. Fellow sex workers: we must help remove the grime that hinders others from seeing the value in our work. If we want general society to back us, they need to know we are just as appauled by these abuses, and that we are as serious about fixing our industry as we are about demanding equal rights.
May protection come to those that need it.
Admittedly, I have not been as active in the past as I could have, or should have, with this issue... My own experiences with sex work have not overlapped into areas of trafficking, and as most of us with busy lives can probably relate to: out of sight, out of mind. Over the last few years it has started creeping into my field of vision, and it has now taken hold as a current passion for some of my activist energy. This past October, while attending the 6th Annual Prostitution Conference, I heard a sobering fact: there are less then 50 beds in the entire United States dedicated to in-patient rehabilitation for children trafficked in sex work. That's right, less then 50...not even one per state. Not even enough for the number of victims rescued in the last coordinated effort by the FBI's Innocence Lost program this past October, let alone for the entire year. And in Toledo, where I live, and where we continue to come up on the top of the list for child prostitution recruitement and trafficking, we have no dedicated in-patient beds at all for these kids. Considering the special care a child needs after surviving such an ordeal, care that should be available to them *immediately* to put every effort into helping them NOT have their entire lives ruined by such trama, we are falling gravely short. Our children are falling through the cracks, and I can't believe more people are not outraged by this.
I am a sex workers rights activist. I believe I should have the right to control what I do with my body with other consenting adults. I believe I should be able to use my body and my mind in whatever way I want to make a living, whether that be sweating behind a broiler and 500 degree oven in the summer heat while being yelled at by an angry chef, or helping another person explore a sexual curiosity or live out a long held fantasy. But fighting for these rights does not mean I condone, approve or tolerate trafficking in any way, shape or form. I want respect for what I do and for the value that sex work has in society, and there will never be any value in anything that is forced or coerced within my industry as far as I'm concerned. And I am not the only sex worker that feels this way, although those that only see the trafficking victims, and those that don't respect the different experiences those of us that choose sex work have, rarely get to hear and share these ideas. For those immersed in the trafficking issues, they only see the victims, day in and day out. With this limited, and horrific view, I can understand how it can be more difficult for some to digest other ideas. Couple that with the dearth of sex workers willing to speak out publicly on any level about our industry, and the few that do speak out usually focusing their attention solely on sex workers rights, and this shared adversary continues to thrive from the lack of effectiveness a coordinated understanding and effort could bring. This must change, and we must figure out how to bridge the gap in identifying common interests and goals even if there are other ideoligical points not shared.
As a sex worker, making an effort to end the ills that plague our industry is just as essential to fighting for sex worker rights as making a demand for decriminalization in my opinion, and in the process, offers an opportunity to broaden the perspective of anti-trafficking advocates when they can see and feel firsthand that we can choose this work while rejecting any abuse or harm that tries to attach itself. Fighting for sex worker rights means fighting for ALL sex workers, including the one's that do not choose it. Fellow sex workers: we must help remove the grime that hinders others from seeing the value in our work. If we want general society to back us, they need to know we are just as appauled by these abuses, and that we are as serious about fixing our industry as we are about demanding equal rights.
May protection come to those that need it.
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