Violence against sex workers
It has been said that rape is the only crime in which the victim, not the perpetrator, is on trial. This double standard of the woman who somehow "deserves" the violence, while the man is "provoked", affects all women. Women who are outside the norm of passive feminine behaviour stereotypes are further discriminated against — like sex workers.
If a woman who has had multiple sex partners in her personal life is said to have "asked for it", then a sex worker is even worse off in the eyes of the law. In the case of a sex worker who has survived a rape the onus is removed further from the rapist because he is seen as having received mixed messages about availability, and surely "no" can't mean no when her sexual services are advertised and paid for.
Women's vulnerability to rape increases if they are part of a disempowered group that the rapist knows are less likely to report him. Sex workers are one of those groups.
Prostitution is a risky business. In a private sexual contract negotiated behind closed doors, there is always the potential for violence, whatever prostitution's legal status or public image. However, this does not mean that rape is just part of the job, or that sex workers don't have the right to be outraged at sexual violence against them.
Not all sex workers get raped while working. Many are lucky enough to have sympathetic and aware co-workers, management, receptionists and drivers to assist in cases of trouble. Women working alone don't have that support and are much more vulnerable, especially to robbery, an armed attacker or more than one attacker. 65% of the incidents of rape, violence, robbery and harassment against sex workers that Self-Health for Queensland Workers in the Sex Industry (SQWISI) has monitored in our "Ugly Mugs" file have been perpetrated against women working alone or as single escorts to the client's home or hotel. The questions most frequently asked by attackers in these situations have been "Are you alone?" or "Have you got a driver?"
If the proposed legislative changes of the Goss Labor government are passed, the only legal way to work will be as a single worker operating from home. Violent clients will face the resistance of only one worker. If she is not alone, the client could potentially report her to the police for working illegally.
The proposed laws will mean sex workers become more isolated and vulnerable, and therefore have less control in their work. For example, in negotiating safe sex with a client, the worker will be in a disempowered situation — sex workers may find it easier to give in to a "condom-breaker mug" client than to risk worse aggression. The health and safety implications are far-reaching.
Whenever we try to deal with the issues of violence against sex workers, we cannot ignore the way in which prostitution is and is To push ahead with the proposed legislation will increase violence against workers to the point of an epidemic, and place them in a worse position than before the inquiry which produced the Fitzgerald Report.
All women — and men — should take a stand against the further criminalisation of the sex industry in Queensland.
By Amanda Davies, Carolyn Ride and Meg Vann for SQWISI