What do the ACLU, Amnesty International, Freedom Network USA, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Harm Reduction Coalition, the World Heath Organization, and the United Nations Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls all have in common? The answer is simple: they are all among the many organizations that support the decriminalization of sex work.
Today is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, and it’s a great day to join the cause—or to recommit to your efforts. Read on to learn more about what is needed and what you can do.
History OF IDtEVASW
Founded in 2003 by sexologist and artist Annie Sprinkle and activist Robin Few, International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers grew out of events honoring the lives of sex workers murdered by serial killer Gary Ridgway. Also known as the Green River Killer, Ridgway primarily targeted sex workers in the areas around Seattle and Tacoma, Washington during the 1980s and 1990s. Though he was convicted on 48 counts of first-degree murder on November 5th, 2003, Ridgway is believed to have killed up to 71 women and girls—making him the second most prolific serial killer in the United States. (Samuel Little, who also targeted sex workers and killed at least 61 and perhaps up to 93 women across the country between 1970 and 2005.)
Over the past twenty years, International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers has grown to be a global movement committed to not just centering the perspectives and lived experiences of sex workers, but also naming and taking action against those factors that leaves sex workers vulnerable to violence in the first place. Both the day and the larger sex worker rights movement have come to be closely associated with the symbol of the red umbrella, which was created in collaboration with sex workers by artist Tadej Pogacar and debuted (along with a coordinated demonstration and march) at the Venice Bienanle in 2001.
Violence Against Sex Workers
A systematic review of studies on violence against sex workers found that, for sex workers, the likelihood of experiecing work-related physical or sexual violence is between 45% and 75%. Another study found that 78% of sex workers report experiences of psychological or emotional abuse. Impacting these studies is the further fact that, given widespread and deeply ingrained social stigma regarding sex work, many sex workers are less likely to report or discuss their experiences—including not just law enforcement but also medical professionals, which can result in increased risk of STIs and a risk of HIV standing at thirty times that of the general population.
Just as there are many varieties of sex work—escorts, cammers and other content creators, dancers, and those who offer professional Domination, to name just a few—there are many varieties of violence faced by sex workers. Aside from physical harm, sex workers can risk losing their jobs, their homes, their families, and their communities. These losses can leave sex workers vulnerable to further physical, sexual, psychological, and emotional harm, compounding the problem of violence. The underlying stigma against sex workers at play here is so strong, in fact, that research has found that it extends by association even to those who study sex work.
Intersectionality Matters
As with any issue, we cannot advance in our actions to help end violence against sex workers without working from within an intersectional framework that acknowledges overlapping identities and the effects of multiple axes of oppression and cultural domination. From uneven enforcement of laws to increased use of force (including sexual violence) by police, BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ sex workers find themselves particularly vulnerable—especially Black trans women, who are consistently the most targeted demographic when it comes to violence (including lethal violence) against sex workers. Many persons with disabilities rely on sex work as one of few viable options for autonomy and livable income, though disabled sex workers—especially those with multi-marginalized identities—often find themselves at greater risk of violence. There simply is no way to move forward effective and productively without adopting an intersectional lens of these issues.
Decriminalization Now
Time and time again, studies have shown that decriminalization of adult, consensual sex work is the best path forward for reducing violence against sex workers and also increasing public health outcomes in general. Decriminalization has been shown to lead to decrease in prevalence of STIs as well as decrease in violence against women and rates of human trafficking. The decriminalization of sex work would also allow for better allocation of time and funds for more effective activities and initiatives related to the prevention of crime.
Decriminalization, however, needs to be strictly distinguished from the “partial decriminalization” of the Nordic Model, which decriminalizes providers of sex work while still criminalizing the purchase of sexual services. Such models have been shown to make sex work even more dangerous, in part by making sex workers “financially reliant on criminalized clients” with whom interactions are constrained by a sort of legal antagonism. A report spanning two decades also found that, in Sweden, such “partial decriminalization” models are unambiguously ineffective at their stated aims of reducing demand for sex work and combatting trafficking.
Decriminalization must also be distinguished from legalization, which would create a legally regulated (and policed) industry rather than simply declaring that the exchange of money for sexual activities among consenting adults is not a crime—and, again, freeing up resources to be better utilized in effectively combatting violence, sexual assault, trafficking, and other crimes.
Committing to action
If you haven’t done so already, today is a great day to start committing to the collective effort—rooted not just in the right to bodily autonomy but also in the struggle for racial justice, LGBTQIA+ liberation, and disability rights—to end violence against sex workers.
Start by expanding your circle: follow, support, and listen to sex workers. Pay attention to what they say about topics such as the Nordic Model, FOSTA/SESTA, and their own experiences with law enforcement, harassment, violence, and social stigma. Offer what you can to mutual aid efforts and organizations working toward the decriminalization of sex work. Notice your own internalized discriminatory attitudes toward sex work and sex workers, being mindful of how they influence and manifest through your thoughts, words, and actions.
These might seem like small steps—and they are. But if we all commit to taking them, we all collectively move forward toward a world where we are that much closer to having eroded the physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, and structural violence endemic to the world of sex work. It’s in that spirit that, on International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers—and on each day to come—I ask: will you walk with us?
Written by Ley David Elliette Cray, PhD (she/they), GSRD (Gender, Sexuality, and Relationship Diversity) Content Specialist for the Sexual Health Alliance.
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