As evident over the past two weeks, the politics of the sex industry are phenomenal, every one from politicians, non-governmental organizations and “academic specialists” claim they know what is best for the sex workers. If we want to talk about “controlling for gain,” we would be best served to look at the above’s contribution and stronghold over the issue of prostitution. What gets ignored in the decade old feminist and political battle is the actual human rights violations sex workers experience. As noticed, statistics surrounding the sex industry are flimsy, but to be fair, this is true of any underground trade, and it is not solely a problem in Britain, but one experienced by NGOs and governments all over the world. So if this is known, the obvious response would then be to consult sex worker groups, yet the International Union of Sex Workers has not been mentioned, despite the fact that they are a part of the GMB, the largest labour union in the UK with over 600,000 members.
It is demoralising to watch the UK spend thousands of pounds and attempt a 6 month country wide search for trafficking victims in known brothels. The result of which would surely not bring forth too many victims of trafficking. That is like looking for illegal guns, at a gun show. It appears as though this mad search was an attempt to cut down vice crime in the UK before institutionalizing the Equality Bill. It was sex workers who were caught in the crossfire. As reported by Nick Davies, of the 403 people actually arrested in the raids, 230 of them were women.
And the every day issues sex workers face? Abuse and rape by police, denial of access to fair trial rights, arbitrary arrests and gender and racial discrimination. According to a study done by the Sex Workers Project in New York, 16% of indoor and 17% of street based sex workers have reported being sexually abused by police who demand sexual favours. 77% of street based workers said they had experienced arbitrary arrest. Many report that when they attempt to make police reports they are ignored and not able to submit evidence. This sets up a system of impunity that encourages violence against sex workers. It is no coincidence that serial killers often attack sex workers because as one serial killer, Gary Ridgeway explained, he “could get kill as many as [he] wanted to without getting caught.” There are serious issues that face sex workers that the police and politicians could focus on, trafficking is just one of them.
Human rights violations experienced by sex workers is an international problem that is ignored and actively discriminated against by courts of law. In a Supreme Court case in South Africa, S. v. Jordan, the Supreme Court ruled that by working in the sex industry, a sex worker forgoes their human rights. This is a blatant form of discrimination against sex workers that should not be tolerated by the international community. Yet similar cases can be cited in countries around the world, including Britain. While politicians and others continue to battle statistics before implementing the Equality Bill, human rights abuses are systemically affecting sex workers, yet none of these abuses are addressed in the Equality Bill, a bill proposed, lobbied and intended for politicians, academics and NGOs.
