Among the supposed allies of sex workers, who claim to support our struggle for workers’ rights, are people who still have an instinct to cling to some level of criminalization or regulation. Sometimes these people celebrate with me when sex workers obtain decriminalization, or overturn a harmful law which restricts our ability to work safely, only to advocate for laws which would similarly put us in danger.
Well-meaning people often believe that fully decriminalizing sex work can coexist with strict laws against “pimping”, but these people fail to provide clear definitions of pimping or to recognize the way these laws will be weaponized against sex workers. Rape and kidnapping are already illegal, so adding laws around pimping requires the criminalization of an act outside of forcing people to sell sex. In practice, this usually means criminalizing brothel-keeping or profiting from another person’s prostitution.
Bosses exploit people all the time. This issue exists because of the capitalist system we live in, where employers extract some of the value of their workers’ labour even in cases where they respect their workers and treat them well. To criminalize this dynamic only when it comes to sex work means that sex workers are left with fewer legal options than other kinds of workers. We will continue to work for bosses sometimes, either because we lack the resources to work alone or because we don’t have the energy and time to find a better alternative; making it illegal simply means we work more precariously and have less leverage to push for workplace improvement.
People who’ve never sold sex in their lives tell me that I’m defending pimps when I say it shouldn’t be illegal to employ sex workers or run brothels, as if I’m not someone who has directly been abused whilst working for these cruel managers in a criminalized environment. The fact I refer to these bosses or brothel owners as managers or landlords causes them even more fury, because I’m not using the language they want so that I can mark them as uniquely exploitative compared to other employers.
We shouldn’t criminalize brothel-keeping or making a profit from someone else selling sex, not because I want to protect abusive pimps but because I recognize the reality that these laws will be used to target sex workers first and foremost.
Every suggestion I hear for regulating all sex work, or for criminalizing associated activities, is one which will harm sex workers. Criminalizing brothel-keeping means sex workers will be arrested if we decide to work together for safety, or put at greater risk if we continue to work alone so that we can avoid breaking the law. Making it illegal to profit from someone else’s prostitution means that we will face housing discrimination, because our landlords would be profiting from our work when they take our rent money.
Laws do not differentiate between those who do things maliciously because they want to exert power over sex workers and profit from us and those who support us or share finances with us.
There’s something I want people to consider, when their first thought to resolve a problem is to reach for the tools of the state like fines or prison sentences: the police are not friends to sex workers. No matter how wonderful you think things would be if the laws you’re suggesting were only implemented against those you view as genuine abusers, you won’t be the one calling the shots. The police will be the ones who decide who they pursue, and they have a long history of harming and arresting sex workers.
There are already extensive issues with people not understanding the difference between legalization and decriminalization, because understandably not everyone is aware of the different legal models for sex work. The subset of people who claim to support decriminalization, only to say they want to add new criminal penalties later, just want to seem like they are listening to sex workers and advocating for us while they prioritize their own abuser revenge fantasies.
Of course, there are some people who simply seek to strengthen workers’ rights, rather than seeking to criminalize third parties involved in sex work. These people will often advocate for licensed brothels or for sex workers to be registered and subject to regular STI tests. However, making laws that require these licenses or registrations means that those who do not meet the requirements are punished. Homeless sex workers who begin to sell sex on the street on short notice don’t have the time or resources to register and thus may be arrested for working without a license. Two sex workers who share a home will be criminalized if they don’t obtain a license.
When I tell you that I want the full decriminalization of sex work, I mean it. I don’t want aspects of my work to remain illegal or to seek to add additional penalties to abusers for acts that are already illegal. I also don’t want restrictions on the way I must work, or requirements which violate my privacy and give the government the information that I am a sex worker and whether I have any STIs.
That does not mean there is no place for laws which include sex work or relate to it, in a decriminalized context, only that they should not render parts of our work illegal. For example, Belgium recently passed a labour law relating to sex workers which allows us to have contracts with employers and lays out the rights we are entitled to with regards to rejecting clients. This law grants us working rights, rather than criminalizing our work to any extent.
Sex workers must obtain the full decriminalization of sex work. We will not compromise. Decriminalization means decriminalization.
Jack Talks About Sex Work 