What would it mean to think of sex workers not as traitors to feminism but as feminist forebears? – Mattilda Sycamore
A…man facing rape charges is free after…claiming in a [Swedish] court…that the woman’s screams of protest were simply part of a violent sex game. “I recognized [from other girls] the way she said no as a part of the sex”…[he] said…the two met…through a common acquaintance and he invited her back for a drink…”I expressed very clearly that I didn’t want to, so there was no way he could misunderstand me,” the woman told investigators…however…the man became more aggressive as her protests increased…he covered her nose and mouth so she couldn’t breathe and slapped her in the face…[she fled] under the pretense of taking a shower following the incident…Witnesses…encountered her lightly clothed and sobbing…
Meanwhile, a retired Swedish prosecutor explains why the Julian Assange situation should never have occurred, and says “the prosecutor-general should…rescind the decision to reopen the investigation, rescind the arraignment ruling, and rescind the arrest warrant.”
While bogus “trafficking” studies by hired researchers are misleading and dangerous, those performed by “trafficking” fetishists themselves are just plain hilarious. This one from the Imagine Foundation studied online sex work ads for three months in order to reach the exciting and important conclusion that hotels tend to be clustered along busy highways. I’ll bet you’d never have guessed.
Last Wednesday afternoon I spoke to Susie Bright for her podcast In Bed With Susie Bright, and the show is now available; individual episodes cost $5.95, but are free with a subscription.
A [Louisiana] panel vowed…to pursue the johns…and…create courts dedicated to human trafficking …“We want to make Louisiana the gold standard in protecting our children (by) dealing with this scourge that can easily destroy a society,” said…Gerald Long…Valarie Hodges…said officials need to dispel the notion that prostitution is a victimless crime. For every act of prostitution, she said, there is a victim…
The idea that prostitution can “easily destroy a society” is beyond hilarious.
A French court…convicted a young woman for wearing a full-face Islamic veil in public and threw out her bid to have the…ban declared unconstitutional. Cassandra Belin, 20, was also convicted of insulting and threatening three police officers at the time of her arrest, which sparked two days of rioting…in July, 2013. She was given a one-month suspended prison sentence for the clash with the police and a 150-euro ($200) fine for wearing the veil…
I’ve often pointed out that controlling what Muslimahs do with their bodies is exactly the same as controlling what whores do with ours, and Julie Billaud & Julie Castro agree with me: “The interest of studying veiled women and prostitutes together lies primarily in the fact that their bodies…have been identified by the state as problematic and, therefore, as requiring political intervention…”
One rapist cop from Tennessee:
A…deputy has been terminated after handcuffing a woman and forcing her to perform oral sex on him…Willie Marshay Greer…was…charged with aggravated rape and official misconduct. Greer reportedly stopped [the] woman for speeding…[and used the threat of] arrest [to extort sex]…
A woman who was shown on camera tumbling out of a moving LAPD squad car last year said she fell out…to avoid being sexually assaulted by her arresting officer…Kim Nguyen, a 27-year-old pharmacist, says she was handcuffed…when [he]…began opening her legs. [After the fall] Nguyen…spent two weeks in the hospital [with] her jaw…wired shut [and] lost all of her teeth…
An Example To the West (TW3 #14)
In 2011, the Hyundai Research Institute published the findings of a survey commissioned by the Hanteo National Union of Sex Workers. It examined “the changes in public opinions…after the enactment of the Anti-Trade Sex Law” in South Korea based on [telephone] interviews with 1,000 adults from different age groups and all walks of life…The report…has now been translated into English…
Here are two audio files featuring male allies; in the first Christopher Ryan (Sex At Dawn) interviews Thaddeus Russell (A Renegade History of the US), and in the second Zander-Dexter Falcon debates a prohibitionist on Canadian radio.
Thanks to “gang” rhetoric, “sex trafficking” is becoming a new excuse for locking up young black men:
Twenty-four street-gang members…have been indicted on charges of conspiring to run an interstate prostitution ring…in San Diego, Arizona and New Jersey…At a national “Players Ball,” one of the defendants received an award as pimp of the year. Pimps…have a liking for chalices and scepters, known as Pimp Cups and Pimp Sticks…[and] “often” have removable dental “grills” made of gold and costing thousands of dollars…the U.S. attorney is seeking forfeiture of such trophies…Of the 60 sex-trafficking victims [arrested], 11 were minors…Some…were “branded” with tattoos of gang monikers, bar codes or the name of their pimp…[they were recruited with] rap videos on YouTube…
Kudos to Reason TV for doing a short documentary on how horrible California’s “anti-trafficking” CASE Act is, and for interviewing sex workers about how criminalization increases exploitation. Unfortunately, they also interviewed the superlatively awful Dennis Hof, who as usual used the opportunity to spread lies about independent sex workers (in this case, that we’re diseased) in order to argue for imposition of the Nevada system which enriches and empowers people like him. I’ve spoken to video producer Zach Weissmueller, though, and asked for his help in getting Reason more on board with (libertarian) decriminalization rather than (crony-capitalist) Nevada-style legalization.
It’s always deeply satisfying to catch a “trafficking” lie in the process of expanding; in September we were told that Tampa ranked third in Florida for “sex trafficking”, but now they’re claiming it’s third in the whole country. I suggest they discuss this with Miami and Toledo.
Backwards into the Future (TW3 #131)
Despite a decreasing prevalence of HIV/AIDS among…sex workers [in Myanmar], health workers say the stigma…and…harsh laws…are undermining sex workers’ access to HIV-related services…Even possessing a condom could be used as circumstantial evidence of prostitution until 2011…most of the public are unaware of the directive…[banning the practice, and fear] carrying…condoms because they could be targeted as sex workers…karaoke bars and massage parlours…frequently change locations due to harassment by police…[and] managers…deny health workers access…for fear of prosecution…
These self-appointed “trafficking experts” claim they can identify “sex traffickers” (in South Dakota. Seriously.) But after all the “abduction” and “Stockholm syndrome” mythology, it still comes down to harassing women: “it may be easier to determine whether someone is a trafficking victim, than it is to figure out a trafficker.” The “signs” include staying out late and having a generous boyfriend.
Community leaders and law enforcement…presented a…documentary [on]…sex trafficking in Nevada… Trafficked No More…[compiles] true…sex trafficking cases and their impact on…prostitution of children…One person who knows firsthand the damage the underground sex industry can do is Annie Lobert…of…Hookers for Jesus…
Long-time readers will remember we’ve seen Liars for Jesus before.
Lying Down With Dogs (TW3 #324)
More clueless anti-whore pomposity from Zambia:
…a plan of reforming sex workers…is something that [they] should have…embraced…However, the…sex workers…refused to relocate to their respective villages where financial help…could have been accorded to them. Some of [them] even attended meetings that were organised to help them reform only to demand money instead of assistance in form of material and equipment…sex workers…should have taken advantage of this noble gesture…the sex workers were not looking beyond their noses. To them it was about here and now…
A club boss has told a court of the moment he was kidnapped by three lapdancers and their manager – with the women wearing ”miniskirts, stilettos and Daisy Duke shorts”. Curtis Woodman was outside his work premises…when the women and two men drove up in two BMWs…the group ”surrounded him” before bundling him into one of the vehicles and driving off. It is alleged that Mr Woodman…was…robbed of £60 cash and his £4,650 Brietling watch…[and] forced to transfer £4,800 into the bank account of the lapdancers’ manager, Charlotte Devaney…The women believed he owed them more than £42,000 for work they carried out at his pop-up nightclub during the Cheltenham Festival in March 2012…he had received calls demanding the money…for months…
Laura Lee’s ill-treatment while giving testimony to a parliamentary committee in Northern Ireland:
…the Best Practices Policy Project worked with SWOP-PHX to send a report to the Human Rights Committee for consideration during the review of how the United States has fared in meeting its obligations to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights…The submission describes…mass police “sweeps,” arresting scores of…people the police profile as sex workers. Arrestees are handcuffed and transported…to the Project ROSE center, where they…have no opportunity to speak to a defense attorney…even if they request one…
There are a lot of sleazy strip club owners, but licking badges and using “sex trafficking” hysteria to sic the pigs on rival strip clubs and massage parlors is a new low. I first introduced COAST in the titular item, but this article tells you more about them than you really want to know. Caution: You’ll probably feel like you need to need to shower after reading this.
The author of this internet article, Iman Idiot, thinks internet censorship and expanding the “sex offender” registry are good things:
…Now, Israel has become the first country in the world to make revenge porn illegal…anyone found guilty of uploading sexually explicit content…without the consent…of the person being portrayed can expect to be designated as a sex offender, and may be punished up to five years in jail…Brazil introduced a bill in October to ban [it but]…only two [American] states have passed legislation…to stop it: New Jersey and California…
Remember how that article about Project ROSE was censored by Al Jazeera? Here’s an interview with reporter Jordan Flaherty about both the censorship and the unethical practices of the project itself.
Patricia Adler, the University of Colorado…professor…who was forced to retire over a controversial prostitution lecture, has decided to return to the campus…[after] an executive committee …allowed [her] to resume teaching the course…provided [she] gets consent from all the students to go ahead with the [whore stereotype] skit…
I have been informed that SWOP Denver has contacted Adler to offer real information in place of the nonsense she’s been teaching; we’ll see how that turns out.
The Course of a Disease (TW3 #351)
A new review of Sex Workers Unite says that it…
…jettisons the tired generalizations about erotic labor (and laborers), and instead places sex workers at the center of recent movements for social justice. Author Melinda Chateauvert reminds us that those who rioted against police violence and control…in the late ’60s (marking the beginning of the gay liberation movement) were…”sex workers, transgender people, hustlers, tricks, drug users, and drug sellers”…Similarly, [she] points out that sex workers were routinely engaging in conversations about the messy intersections of sex, desire, intimacy, love and (im)propriety long before feminism…
“After a graphic video showing a vigilante group meting out violent punishment to sex workers in Cajamarca [Peru] made international headlines, authorities…told press that the violent raids conducted by the so-called Cajamarca Committee for Urban Patrols represented a serious infringement on the rights of the women they attacked…” Unfortunately, the statement soon degenerates into “sex trafficking” nonsense, ignoring the fact that violent “rescue” raids by “authorities” are even worse.
Since the cops are just inventing these “charges” anyway, it’s up to them whether they “cease”:
…Everett [Washington]…officials…deemed the Hillbilly Hotties coffee stand…a chronic-nuisance property…and…[demanded] that alleged prostitution, indecent exposure and violations of city adult-entertainment codes…cease…the stand owner won’t hire baristas who have criminal history and that employees who break the rules will be fired…
I’m going to defend the French here …
Really – it’s preposterous on it’s face to compare the Niqāb to sex work. The two aren’t remotely similar. For that matter – why not argue that the state is getting “overly involved” with what women do with their bodies if they were to run around naked? Soooo … let’s admit the fact that the state has been given authority (by us) to police some of the public “dress code”. You can’t go topless on a beach in Mississippi … you can’t run around in your underwear.
You can’t come into into MY bar with a hoodie on. You can’t come into MY bar wearing a Niqāb. We want to SEE your face – for a whole host of reasons. The Niqāb is problematic for Western society. Get pulled over by a cop for speeding – he wants to see your license – with your picture on it. By defending the Niqāb’s unrestricted use you are defending a woman’s right to have her driver’s license picture taken with her Niqāb on – or … her refusal to remove it for the male officer so he can positively identify her when she is stopped. Or … both.
What about an individual wearing a Niqāb to testify in front of a court?
And – if Muslim women are allowed to completey cover their faces – then why can’t I?
Sooooo …. at some point – the use of the Niqāb has to be controlled – and the exact point at which it is controlled is simply an academic arguement. Society will not fuction with a large group of people who NEVER show their faces in public – not Western society anyway – and I – and MILLIONS of other Americans have no desire to adopt Mohammedan principles in order to function in the dysfunctional way that most Muslim societies do.
I’m still curious as to how TSA reacts to a Niqāb when a woman comes through an airline security checkpoint … according to some accounts – TSA won’t make them remove it …
http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/david-menzies/airport-security-double-standards/
I have good news though – there are PLENTY of countries in the world that welcome the wearing of the Niqāb – I recommend women who insist on wearing it everywhere call an airline to arrange a relocation.
Funny, but most sex worker rights groups and many Muslim groups don’t consider the comparison “preposterous”, and neither do the many, many French politicians who support or oppose both. The only way anyone could agree with your assessment is to believe what the French GOVERNMENT says about its reasons for both…and I don’t think I need to tell you that governments’ excuses for laws are always spurious (and that’s putting it charitably).
I’m opposed to society having to make an exception to cater to someone else’s superstition.
What exception would that be? There was no law in France about covering one’s face before this; the “security” excuse is bullshit added to derail criticism, and the law has never been applied to masked protesters, motorcyclists, etc. JUST Muslimahs.
Then let the Muslim women wear motorcycle helmets.
Problem solved. 😀
The fact is – at any given moment on this planet – out of BILLIONS of people on this planet – there are probably no more than 50 humans walking around the streets wearing a motorcycle helmet. It’s not a problem. Motorcycle helmets are a safety feature – not a superstitious “talisman”. I don’t know anyone who wears one more than five feet from their bike – and that’s only when they’re putting it on or taking it off before or after a ride.
If all motorcylists started wearing their helmets around casually while they were in the mall – or anywhere else – you can bet laws would be passed against it – and SECURITY would be cited as the reason.
Therefore, Muslim women aren’t being treated any differently than the rest of us out here in Smallville. 😉
Put another way … welders are allowed to wear full face helmets – ergo – Muslim women should have the right to take their driver’s license photo – or bypass TSA security while wearing one.
Really?
You know we’re talking about France, right? And that “security” was not mentioned at any stage of the discussion until the protests started? And that the original legal precedent was banning crucifix jewelry?
You really should pay attention to what you’re defending.
I am paying attention. I note that not all Muslim garb has been banned in France – this is NOT a law against Islam – it’s a law against the widespread covering of faces in society.
You’re arguing – that just because a welder has to wear a mask to do his job – or just because a motorcyclist has to wear a helmet (which many don’t want to wear in the first place) … that these thing justify a muslim woman’s right to wear her mask … EVERYWHERE.
That is not rational, Maggie.
A government official’s inability to articulate a law to the press doesn’t invalidate the law. So it really doesn’t mean anything to say what was “mentioned” before or after the protests. A law should stand on it’s own – this one has, so far.
And – if all these French politicians OPPOSE the law – then why not overturn it? The answer? Most of them don’t.
Can you answer a couple of questions?
1. If Muslim women are allowed to mask-up – then shouldn’t everyone? And what kind of hay do you think that would sew with enforcing criminal laws in a society where everyone wears a mask?
2. Are you really arguing for the UN-RESTRICTED right to wear the Niqāb anywhere a woman sees fit to? Such as when she’s required to stand jury duty … or while testifying in court … or when being stopped for a traffic violation … or passing through TSA security? As I stated above – if you aren’t arguing that point – then you agree with me that the Niqāb has to be controlled at some point. Mind coming up with a list of acceptable uses and places for it? Imagine that law … !!!
Bullshit. YOU are arguing that a hastily-slapped-on rationale politicians came up with to defend a law SPECIFICALLY INTENDED to stifle religious expression should be given credence. That’s the issue here. And the fact that MALE Muslim garb is not banned supports my position, not yours.
You didn’t answer my questions. 🙁
Just to clarify – I wasn’t speaking of male Muslim garb being allowed under the law – I assume it is … but so are ALL other forms of female Muslim garb that do not cover the face. The chador is allowed … everything else is allowed for women to wear.
But … males aren’t allowed to wear a mask either … so this law is not “anti-woman” as it also applies to men.
Well – I’m not one to follow the crowd anymore – especially when they’re wrong. There’s zero link between sex work and the niqāb – unless you’re citing some Libertarian idealistic belief that makes all civil rights claims equal and universally connected.
And – it’s bad politics to link the two. Yes, I said politics because, contrary to popular belief, politics IS the oldest “profession” – not sex work. Politics is how humans interact and it’s how we win agreement on things without bloodshed. If you want to win rights for sex workers sometime during this millenia – you need to avoid hitching them to completely unpopular issues such “civil rights” for Muslim women to walk around EVERYWHERE with a Niqāb on.
If all those sex workers believe the two issues are linked – then let them show solidarity with their Mohammedan sisters and don the Niqāb themselves. Otherwise – it’s just sad-sack belly aching.
This ‘problem’ of the full face veil was aired in an English court recently. The accused woman refused to let the male judge and male lawyers see her unveiled. The judge wanted to be able to confirm her identity; and for her face to be visible during cross examination. Eventually, a female police officer confirmed that she was indeed the woman accused. I don’t know what more happened.
That’s kind of ridiculous. A male defendent has the right to see his accuser in Western society … to look her in the eye.
Well, we could resolve this the way the Saudi’s do – by relegating women to “non-status” in society. They don’t have a conflict with women wearing the mask to get a driver’s license – they simply ban them from driving at all. In many Mohammedan countires – women can’t own property so no need for a witness to see her face while signing ownership documents – she simply isn’t allowed to buy anything.
But … let’s not mention any of that here … we have these evil French guys who demand to see people’s faces!! I’m SHOCKED! I tell you. We simply must do something about these French guys!!! 😀
Here’s the key points from the Wiki article – which is a balanced view I think and contains none of the bullshit hysterics of this fake “civil rights” controversy …
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ban_on_face_covering
Some political context may help there.
2010 is two years before the French presidential elections. Sarkozy still hopes for re-election, but his approval ratings are sinking, leaving him stuck between the Socialists (who are appealing to the disillusioned centrist voters) and the Front National (the far right, whose racist scapegoating rhetoric proves popular during those crisis times).
So, in order to boost his popularity, he decides to look for something to attract the far right voters, while not alienating the centrists (who, in France, typically follow the right but are very wary of xenophobic ideas). Here comes the idea: ban the veil! It will show to the far right that he’s doing something against the “bougnoules” (i.e. “darkies”) while facing the Socialists with a dilemma: either support him or look like they’re supporting “subjugation of women”, etc. (seeing that the neo-feminist groups usually walk hand in hand with the Socialists, as seen by the recent “Swedish-model” law, you can imagine the reaction).
So here comes that law, of course coated with political correctness to hide its divisive roots (the mask / helmet / balaclava passage, “to prevent security risks”). The Socialists have no other choice than to follow and vote it (although the abstention is very high). The lone voice voting against, Daniel Garrigue, warns that “to fight an extremist behavior, we risk slipping toward a totalitarian society.”
The implementation of the law has some perverse effects: many women from Muslim backgrounds, feeling under attack, start wearing the full veil as a form of political statement. Some taunt the police by walking back and forth in front of them wearing the forbidden garment. Then in July 2013 comes the “incident” in Trappes where police officers are “assaulted” by a woman wearing the full veil and her husband during an identity check (btw “identity check” is an euphemism in France’s police forces for “killing time while meeting arrest targets”). Of course the couple has their own version of what happened (that police tried to aggressively remove the woman’s veil then physically assaulted her when she tried to defend herself) but they should know that police never distorts reality to serve their purposes, we all know that don’t we? 😉
Personally, I am thinking on the same line as this French Muslim representative (copied & pasted from the wikipedia article linked above):
“Mohammed Moussaoui, the president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, opposed using a law but favored discouraging Muslim women from wearing the full veil.”
I don’t particularly feel comfortable towards the full veil, but I don’t think law should have anything to do with that. Otherwise, if we have to legislate against all garments that make me feel uncomfortable, I suggest that we ban muffin-top trousers 🙂 Now that’s something that really freaks me out! 🙂
[To Krulac]
Bullshit and more bullshit. I already explained the real rationale (Matt also discusses it in his comment just above this one); you’re just siding with government excuses because they rationalize your already-existing prejudices. I suggest you reread “Us and Them” and “Devil’s Advocate“, and that’s the last I’m going to contribute to this pointless exercise.
Criminalization of consensual adult behavior is ALWAYS an abomination.
ALWAYS.
No exceptions.
End of discussion.
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Opinion/2011/0617/Saudi-ban-on-women-driving-is-against-Islam/(page)/2
“…dysfunctional way that most Muslim societies do”-http://www.forbes.com/sites/annedoyle/2013/06/04/behind-black-robes-hijabs-and-niqabs-saudi-women-are-dreaming-big/ -yes, this article shows how dysfunctional it is…LOL. I’m hoping the term “sand ni***r” won’t be used on here like it is in other places.
Above comment was to Krulac.
>Valarie Hodges…said officials need to dispel the notion that prostitution is a victimless crime. For every act of prostitution, she said, there is a victim…
Who? The man who has spent time and effort searching out the sex worker, contacting her, and is willingly paying, or the woman, who has advertised herself, has responded to the man, and is willingly doing the act?
If there’s a victim there, then there is in every commercial transaction.
For people like Hodges, the victims spawn at random locations out of thin air like in a video game.
I LOLed at that. 🙂
>>The idea that prostitution can “easily destroy a society” is beyond hilarious.<<
No kidding. The sky is in a perpetual state of freefall with these folks. I also like your phrase, 'aggressive ignorance'. A favorite I always used was 'willfully ignorant' but that seems to be the baseline for so many people now, I wondered what the next step…up? down? would be. Aggressively ignorant will do nicely.
Regarding that Advocate link: Maybe they ought to make the liberal left and religious right illegal in this state? As for France, I see where Krulac and Comixchik are coming from, but there are better ways to defeat that religion without either surrendering to them, brainless military action (which happens to be counterproductive, I might add), or domestic policies that ultimately end up being used against those who supported them.
Re the Laura Lee video: I’ve seen the chairman described as a ‘creationist’ and a ‘cretin’ elsewhere. Not a great example of tolerance in N Ireland. And you thought it was just sectarian.
Anyhow, serious point; one of the questioners refers to the number of murdered whores in Sweden and The Netherlands in the last 25 years, saying that there had been 1 in Sweden (petite Jasmine) and 137* in Holland. Are these figures correct? And if they are, why so?
*I saw the video previously, I’m not 100% sure if 137 is the correct number.
“[they were recruited with] rap videos on YouTube…”
So during the Satanic Panic, it was heavy metal music brainwashing kids into becoming murderous satanists.
Now it’s rap music and pop stars’ clothing brainwashing women into becoming sex slaves
Go to the head of the class. 🙂
I grew up in Saskatoon listening to CKOM when it was a rock station, and I have to say, the things you find never cease to impress me. 🙂
John Gormley is an idiot. I’m not quite sure how to describe him, except as a willfully-blind, pretend-conservative blowhard. (It’s gotten to the point that even actual conservatives who used to support him are writing him off.) People who call him on his bullshit with facts tend to get disconnected. The screeners are quite aggressive, too. I’m surprised he let the sex worker during call-in talk as long as he did, but I’m not surprised he basically ignored it all.
Just my two cents’.
Re muslimas: most places have laws about going around masked in public. If we permit religious exemptions for that, are we going to permit Sikhs to carry their daggers into courtrooms? If controlling someones body is a wrong thing for a state to do, ought I be allowed to walk around naked if I choose? What about public intoxication?
We see this all the time, the notion that because patriarchy, someone should be permitted to do whatever she damn well feels like doing provided she is packing a vulva somewhere about her person.
Sikhs are already allowed to bring their daggers into Canadian courtrooms: http://www.crescent-online.net/2013/01/canadas-supreme-court-rejects-niqab-ban-khadija-ali-3544-articles.html -GOOD!
Methinks you need to reread “Conflation Creates Criminality“.