My name is Esperanza and I am a socialist, a feminist, a transgender Latina woman, and a survivor of the sex trade. I am writing to you as comrades in the struggle for socialism and as sisters who have presumably shared the experience of being prostitutes. I prefer the term…

CW: Mentions of SA/SH/🍇

TL;DR: Sex work is horrible.

  • kristina [she/her]M
    ·
    12 days ago

    My thing is many socialist countries have earnestly worked towards many paths for sex workers, some did blanket bans, some were more lenient, and so on. All of the results ended up wanting, and it didn't end sex work and if anything it did harm many sex workers. Some sex workers would be ok with a ban, like Esperanza, but that doesn't mean all think it is the correct thing to do. I think that a simple policy (e.g. a ban, or even a ban with healthcare and amazing socialist governance) is reductive and to solve issues with sex work requires a lot of steps and safety nets to help sex workers out and a dialogue must always be open with every single sex worker.

    • Verenata
      ·
      12 days ago

      Socialism is different per country and conditions so i guess it will always require a nuanced/specific approach depending on each places relationship to sex work and we've never had a globe free of international sex trade, trafficking, capitalism and imperialism as well.

      I think the problem is looking for a solution to sex work like it itself is the problem which a lot of leftists do. The problem is the exploitation of sex workers, not the work they do. There's ALOT of trad heteronormative projection masquerading as leftism when sex work gets brought up and it shows people's actually bias and lens regarding the topic.

      So the solution needs to be focused around changing to conditions that create such a need for sex work on the scale it exists vs regulating the individuals agency within that sphere.

      Esperanza has lived experience but she's also flattening everyone else's experience and is not unbias at all because of her lived experience which fair play. But it leave no room for anyone else to have agency or a voice regarding their own experiences when leftists use her as a bludgeon to push abolition.

      Obv none of that above is you, just the same cycle every time I see this topic come up and I hate it.

      Tldr: we need to stop trying to end sex work and instead create the conditions for it to not be necessary as we know it.

      • kristina [she/her]M
        ·
        12 days ago

        So the solution needs to be focused around changing to conditions that create such a need for sex work on the scale it exists vs regulating the individuals agency within that sphere.

        Yeah but what does that even look like. A lot of socialist countries have had really good setups for social safety. Some countries have exceedingly high quality of life and yet still they have a lot of sex work exploitation. I don't think its as simple as 'if we hit this threshold of luxurious living and/or equality, then there will be no more sex work exploitation'. We don't even have a way to quantify such a thing.

        conjecture

        If I were to invent something on the spot, I'd say, ok, they're in a worker coop / agency that gets state funding to assist sex workers to leave the field if they wish. Johns are known and transparent and if something bad happens, justice will be easy, or theres someone there to help the sex worker. Sex workers and Johns get checkups regularly for sexually transmitted diseases. Due to state knowledge of earnings, numbers of sex workers, satisfaction of sex workers, and so on, it would be possible to study what changes cause sex workers to stop doing sex work in a way that is good for them. Quite a lot of issues from black market activity is not knowing the specifics of how things are transacted and their effects on every party. The worker coop should be semi autonomous, but have many requirements it must meet and help workers with. But of course even this solution is too simple, there needs to be a process of continual change to improve the lives of the most desperate sex workers.

        But yeah I gotta dip out of this conversation it hits really close to home for me.

        • Verenata
          ·
          12 days ago

          I've discussed that exact idea with friends and it sounds great on paper but how it would be implemented and even if it could I think it would rely more on a growing understanding of heternormative relationships to sex work and feminism.

          Like socialists countries can have great social security but if the cultural zeitgeist towards sex work is still as today's is then it will be a fail. We need more feminism and intersectionality that includes sex workers otherwise the stigamatisation and objectification are only propagated and we don't address the core problem.

          We need to change perspectives towards sex work as a thing imo. It's not the problem, people's attitudes are.

          I'm sorry for keeping on chatting I didn't know it was so close to home for you too. Sorry shutting up meow-hug

    • MouthyHooker [she/her]
      ·
      12 days ago

      Also needs to be said that a lot of us don’t necessarily want to be “helped out” of the sex trade.

      • kristina [she/her]M
        ·
        12 days ago

        Yeah, of course, some do some don't, and sometimes that changes over time.