Cambodia and trafficking
Fri, 2006-12-15 09:42
#1
Cambodia and trafficking
Fri, 2006-12-15 09:42
#2
First, why is the thread with folks chatting about this article closed? I don't get it.
Secondly, for me, it would be ENORMOUSLY helpful if folks like Ms. Kemp could clearly distinguish in their work between SEX SLAVERY (which I think we can all agree sucks and must be stopped) and SEX WORK which is an occupation, wherein workers are entitled to labour rights, migratory rights and RESPECT!!!! It is important that we not erase the agency of women who work in the sex trade of their own volition.
At recent events, I have met a number of women from Asian countries who are sex workers and activists for sex workers' human and labour rights (i.e. EMPOWER), and they are dismayed by the anti-trafficking hype advocated by Western "feminists" -- they described much of it is racist, deeply invested in the idea of the "plight" of "3rd world women" and say that those folks fail to recognize the agency of women who migrate to work in the sex trade. I have no idea what the real scene in Cambodia is, but I have learned to take a lot of the trafficking-hype with serious grains of salt.
I think discussion of these issues is productive and worthwhile.
Fri, 2006-12-15 12:40
#3
I too would like to know why the topic was closed.
Is the "journalist" a friend of the Mods???
I loathe pedos and injustice, but it looks like it cannot be discussed here.
Ignorance maybe?
We may never know. [img]mad.gif" border="0[/img]
Wed, 2007-01-03 09:38
#4
Interesting comments, VV. Part of your answer might lie in the fact that to be eligible for some of the most lucrative funding, for instance USAid money, applicants must declare that they are absolutely opposed to and in no way recognize prostitution as a legitimate profession. That stipulation is certainly written into USAid contracts, and USAid is a huge donor.
To receive this funding, therefore, they can't be advocates for more legal rights or protection for the sex workers who may have freely chosen this trade because if they recognize sex as a trade they potentially lose their funding. Catch 22. I suspect this tends to adversely affect smaller, grassroots organizations such as those set up by sex workers for sex workers who would probably take a more pragmatic approach and advocate more rights and information for those who decide they want to stay in the sex trade rather than just the rescue and rehab options.
That is certainly NOT to say that organizations receiving USAid or other Christian value orientated aid are not doing incredibly valuable work, and there are certainly other funding options for groups who don't want to tow this line. But it may contribute to the sentiments you say you have heard expressed, because many of the larger groups in this area are either Christian, receive USAid funding or both.