Culture

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Sun, 2009-11-01 11:08

susan davis susan davis's picture

Culture

Culture

Criminalization has isolated the under ground community from the mainstream and allowed us to evolve as a separate distinct culture which has its own art, language and rules. Different things are honorable or polite to us. If you imagine that the currently the accepted average age of entry in the sex industry is 14 years old (these numbers are skewed by a disproportionate sample taken mostly from street venues as opposed to indoor legal work spaces) and as one of the coop development team members you are 56 years old, you have been isolated from the mainstream community for 32 years. Matters of honor, respect and even language have evolved completely separately from the mainstream community.

This creates misunderstandings and makes it difficult for sex industry workers or other members of the underground community to communicate their needs or function within mainstream culture/ employment. Understanding our culture could greatly improve understanding between sex workers and those who are charged with our protection.

Some examples of terms that members of WCCSIP have seen create barriers in the past;

Honey/ baby/ darling- Although acceptable in mainstream culture, these terns are considered patronizing or insulting in under ground culture. A sex industry worker of 32 years is a veteran, a survivor and is no body's baby.
Prostitute- We are sex industry workers; prostitute is a term that encompasses the oppression of our community. This word demeans us, degrades us and contributes to the perception of sex workers as less than human or disposable.
Real Women- WCCSIP members described mainstream community members discussing sex workers vs. "real women" in terms of protection and support. This kind of "othering" also contributes to the perception that we are some less or disposable.

Some examples of practices WCCSIP members have seen create barriers in the past;

Wearing a gun or uniform- Because the oppression and isolation of the underground community through criminalization, our culture fears uniforms and guns. When engaging us, wear plain clothes and come unarmed to ensure all feel safe expressing their needs.
Don't ask us to "rat"- In the underground culture, criminalization has created a wall of silence. The number one rule on the street is never; under any circumstances speak to the authorities. That could mean social services, family services, police or any other group/ person with power over our safety.

This underground culture will vary from place to place with some consistency coming from community members moving around the region/country. A translator is the best way to ensure no problems arise due to miscommunication. One can draw on local front line support agencies for people who understand local culture and hopefully connect mainstream audiences with experiential translators as time goes on and trust between the two cultures is renewed.

Sun, 2009-11-01 11:12

susan davis susan davis's picture

Hate Crimes

In the BCCEC report, "From the Curb" Sex workers who participated listed the following acts as violence;

Physically being beaten, raped or assaulted by dates, pimps and drugs dealers
Being ignored, belittled, humiliated, sworn at, shunned by police and public for being a "dirty ho, crack whore, or slut"
Having items thrown at them from vehicles- (very common)

Sex workers commented that even children threw garbage at them. People in cars throw beer bottles, pennies, pop and hot coffee. One respondent lost part of her ear due to an assault by a non sex working woman in which the woman threw a beer bottle at her while she was working on the street. Sex workers in our consultation described the pain of being "beaten down by words". Experiences of robbery were also very prevalent amongst respondents. Workers felt they were more at risk after they had made some money.

Their words;

"Any type of mistreatment is violence because people don't care what happens to our kind."
"Being looked at like you're less"
"Saying no to allowing us use of their phone or washroom- it leaves us depending on dates and other people who like to harm us."
"Being mistreated by the public"
"People laugh at me"
It's like they take this beautiful thing we have... the ability to give love, and they destroy it."
"Johns demean you like you are merely flesh that doesn't deserve respect like anyone else"
"It's dangerous out there, especially recently with incidents of getting stripped, ripped off, pushed out of the car naked and hit."

Sex workers described violence as activities ranging from public humiliation and social exclusion to more extreme incidents of beatings, sodomy, rape, extreme violence and the abduction and murder of their friends.

Overwhelmingly sex workers agreed that violence against our community should be considered a hate crime. They also noted that doing so puts their violent experiences into a deeper context. They expressed that violence against our population is done with "specific intent to cause harm" due their social identity and compounded by their sheer accessibility.

The Sex Industry Community as a distinct culture

WCCSIP

Currently violence against sex workers is not considered a hate crime. Although most can agree that there's not much difference between a truck full of good 'ol boys in white hoods jumping in the truck to drive downtown and find some to lynch and a bunch of teenagers jumping in their car to go downtown and throw things at "crack whores". The most disturbing aspect of this is that most of our community members reported the majority of attacks of this nature were being committed by women.

When we delve into history a bit we find references to the sex industry all through out recorded time; Always kept separate, always a distinct and secretive culture. A difficult revelation about recent history is that women in fact are responsible for a lot of the stigma sex industry community member live with today. In 1917 when women received the vote in the War Time Election Act one of the first actions influenced by their vote was the implementation of prohibition. Drugs, alcohol, gambling and sex were all made illegal. Unfortunately for sex industry workers that made us as people illegal.

During this time sex workers were put into asylums under the guise that they were somehow mentally ill thus their immoral behavior. This attack on sex workers in particular female sex workers by other women resulted in great pain and in some cases death for the workers affected. These women went as far as to create an ad campaign depicting sex workers as evil and as the vectors of disease. Their campaign of speeches, posters and radio spots was so broad and far reaching that this stigma exists to this day. We can see in the high numbers of women reportedly attacking sex industry community members and in the way feminist abolitionist groups still promote sex industry workers as victims, helpless and unable to defend or look after our selves. This latest campaign of hatred has gone on for 100 years some of us refer to it as the prohibition war. Since the beginning of this war human rights have come to the fore front and now the sex industry community is seeking recognition as a distinct culture deserving of protection under the charter. We hope to end the campaign to "end sex work" and have our rights to choose employment, be protected from hate propaganda against us, and to be protected from discrimination based on who we are.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Article 20

any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law
Any advocacy or national, racial, cultural or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.

Article 26

1. all persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, color, sex, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

International Declaration of Human Rights

Article 1.

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Article 2.

Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.

Article 3.

Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person

Part III

Article 6

2. The states parties to the present Covenant recognize the right to work, which includes the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his living by work which he freely chooses or accepts, and will take appropriate steps to safe guard this right.

3. The steps to be taken by a state party to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include technical and vocational guidance and training programs, policies and techniques to achieve stead economic, social and cultural development and full and productive employment under conditions safe guarding fundamental political and economic freedoms to the individual.

Sun, 2009-11-01 11:31

ennir

That is fascinating, in all the feminist reading I have done, I do not recall reading anything about sex work. Mind you, I haven't done much reading for some time, I stopped when I found my views diverged from what seemed to accepted as dogma.

Thank you for your post. I appreciate your effort to enlighten us as to your perspective.

Sun, 2009-11-01 11:32

susan davis susan davis's picture

no problem!! thankyou for your comments.

Sun, 2009-11-01 12:05

ennir

Thinking about it now I feel quite stupid, yet it makes sense that once you make people illegal their stories are invisible within the official story being told.

Sun, 2009-11-01 22:38

fortunate

I found this site through a link on an escort blog site. There are many of these blogs, but this particular one is very involved with education, legalization, feminism and sexuality, of course.

www.realprincessdiaries.com/

This site is called Erotic Service Providers Union

espu-ca.org/wp/

The Erotic Service Providers Union (ESPU) seeks to gain agency on by and for all erotic service providers regarding our occupational, social, and economic rights through affiliating with organized labor. An Erotic Service Provider is anyone who is compensated for his or her erotic services or compensated for their support of someone else’s erotic service. By associating with organized labor which is already aware of our common labor rights, we can access support for our rights to negotiate for our labor and work conditions.

On this web site you’ll find information and resources to help educate and better inform erotic service providers about the benefits of organizing, how to get organized, and how to wield the power of collective bargaining.

Tue, 2009-11-24 21:20

JMartin

I'd actually like to know more about language and how that creates barriers between the "mainstream" population and sex-industry women, particularly those in outdoor environments.

Are there practices that NGO or 'front-line workers' can be conscious of so as not to violate this culture or miscommunicate with sex-industry women?

Wed, 2009-11-25 12:41

susan davis susan davis's picture

susan davis wrote:
Some examples of terms that members of WCCSIP have seen create barriers in the past;

Honey/ baby/ darling- Although acceptable in mainstream culture, these terns are considered patronizing or insulting in under ground culture. A sex industry worker of 32 years is a veteran, a survivor and is no body's baby.

Prostitute- We are sex industry workers; prostitute is a term that encompasses the oppression of our community. This word demeans us, degrades us and contributes to the perception of sex workers as less than human or disposable.

Real Women- WCCSIP members described mainstream community members discussing sex workers vs. "real women" in terms of protection and support. This kind of "othering" also contributes to the perception that we are some less or disposable.

Some examples of practices WCCSIP members have seen create barriers in the past;

Wearing a gun or uniform- Because the oppression and isolation of the underground community through criminalization, our culture fears uniforms and guns. When engaging us, wear plain clothes and come unarmed to ensure all feel safe expressing their needs.

Don't ask us to "rat"- In the underground culture, criminalization has created a wall of silence. The number one rule on the street is never; under any circumstances speak to the authorities. That could mean social services, family services, police or any other group/ person with power over our safety.

This underground culture will vary from place to place with some consistency coming from community members moving around the region/country. A translator is the best way to ensure no problems arise due to miscommunication. One can draw on local front line support agencies for people who understand local culture and hopefully connect mainstream audiences with experiential translators as time goes on and trust between the two cultures is renewed.

this is still my advice, one would hope front line service providers would get to know local underground culture through friendship and building trust with their members.( we say members as it is less condecsending than client)

if you're org is haveing a difficult time making connections with underground community members, perhaps provide a focus group with food and honoraria as a way to draw people in. then ask if they have any concerns about services being offered, lack of services or potential miscommunications that may have already put up barriers.

in one organization where i worked, we did not require people to be sober or to be wishing to exit sex work. we would offer support in what ever way they needed it no matter where they were in their lives.

i remember one sex worker came in and went to the fridge, got some ice and poured herself a drink!!!vodka and OJ i recall, then sat down and started calling politicians!!the mayors office, MLA's city councilmen......

we repsected our members lives and choices and worked within that to provide support.

if a person was unsure is they had offended and underground community member, just ask. say" i'm sorry, you seem offended. did i do or say something to offend you?"

in the underground all you have is your name, honor and respect. if you show an underground community member respect by asking if you caused offense, you will be shown respect back.

another way is to ire members of the local underground as emplyees. then they can share local cultural practices with other staff members.

the only way to engage us, work with us, get to know us and understnad the way we live.

i guess another point is that a little known tradition in our culture is the handing down of knowledge from older , more experienced workers to newer, inexperienced workers. on the street, we often would refer to the worker filling this role as "mom"or "aunty". local police officers may have a sense of who "mom" is amongst the sex workers and be able to arrange an introduction.

in my opinion if an NGO or other body would like to reach out to street level sex workers, i would suggest this route. "mom" will know the other workers and spread the word about programs offered. she will also be more confident and more easily approached. she will be able to fill you in on local culture/customs and share concerns workers may have about accessing services or attending meetings.

this kind of respectful negotiation and easy/non enforcement related approach should begin to build the trust needed to initially engage sex workers.

try to remember, residents throw things at us, business owners point water hoses at us, police interupt our work and see us naked, doctors refuse us service, nurses treat us with disdain.....we have alot of reasons to be suspicious. it will take time but will remove the barriers caused by mistrust with time and effort from all sides. it has been no small effort for vancouver sex workers to be heard. for 30 years the sex worker rights movement has existed here.

if people can learn from these experiences and move forward using best pracitices, we should be able to increase sex worker trust of the system at large and increase participation in programs intended to protect us.

as is suggested in the policy/procedure mannuals revisions thread, we need to bring all sides together to really define what best practices and policies are for beginning this process.

i can offer suggestions, but other people must have ideas too...i had hoped these threads would have drawn more discussion and we could have teased out some good ideas....

Thu, 2009-11-26 23:29

fortunate

To everything susan has mentioned, I would add, never assume you know anything about that individual, just because there are assumptions made daily in articles and so on.

Don't assume all sex workers are street workers, or addicts, or traumatized, or undereducated, or not ambitious, or not interested in the environment/politics/society, or cannot move freely amongst you without you recognizing them for what they do, or don't look like the college student next door, or don't look like your daughter, sister, aunt or, for that matter, mother and brother, or have any experience with violence in their lives, or are judgemental, or lack morals, or have multiple stds, or have been trafficked/forced/coerced even once in all their life, or lack freedom of movement, or are uncultured, or have never traveled, or are homeless (or nearly so), or do not live comfortably, or do not drive, or do not have another full time job, or have never traveled, or are not continuing their education even know, or is not a teacher/leader/advocate/vegetarian/environmentalist/cancer survivor/parent/peace activist, or has no knowledge or interest in others working in the sex industry who are less fortunate than they are, or have no credit rating, or do not own houses/cars/rental properties lol, or are not organized, or are not completely commited to improving the working conditions for every sex worker -- including sharing information amongst us about bad dates, std transmission, sources for informatio, networking thru online communities to ensure a safer environment, and so on.

Wed, 2009-12-09 11:33

#10

JMartin

Thanks for all that information. My internet was down so it's taken me a long time to respond to it, but I do appreciate it.