Risky Business!
What is sex work ?
Sex work is those who provide direct sexual services for money or some sort of benefit or compensation in return.
We live in an economy where if a trade or industry can’t be controlled or profited from the government it won’t exist. Also, if you don’t work you can’t live, which forces people to make money by any means necessary. Sometimes people don’t have the experience or knowledge to get what society calls a decent job. Selling sex work to make a living has been a challenge for sex workers due to government restrictions and not breaking the law. The sex work trade has been gradually increasing and being done with precautions. Taking safety measures independently or cooperatively from fixed indoor locations, hiring legitimate bodyguards who do not engage in the sexual activities to protect them from risky or dangerous situations. We need to help change the risk of safety for these workers is very high and the law refuses to do anything to change and create safe environments from misconducts.
Being heard
Arguably it is unfair for a sex worker to be dehumanized for the work that they choose and not be normalized to be protected under the workers’ rights. I argue with all the sex trafficking going on makes it harder to go out there and work for their money. Its scary knowing that every time you go to work its life or death. Kerry Porth which is a former sex worker and now activist for sex worker rights states that on December 20th, 2013 supreme court of Canada made a decision that criminal laws prohibiting living off of sex work pushed sex workers in to dangerous situations in order to do their job and also violated their rights to having security. Some workers have claimed that they have no choice but to make illegal decisions knowing that this is their only form of work and fighting for rights along with protection has been a task to be heard by governments. “I don’t think I’m going to win this fight in my lifetime,” mentioned Porth. Some local feminist groups argue that this makes it risky for workers and that human trafficking will increase more danger and violence against the sex workers. So why not come to an agreement where making the law feasible and equal as another form of occupation. Terri-Jean Bedford which is a former prostitute now a dominatrix made supreme court recognize that these workers are human too. Evidence has led me to argue that this has made an incredible difference in the sex work industry and would agree that marginalized sex working people have the same protections as all working people, including occupational health, safety standards, possible pension and sick pay. That was to have sex workers feel better because they’re still facing and dealing with challenges on an everyday basis. As a woman living in a male dominating society being in the sex world would leave me furious knowing that I live in a country where I should not be judged and protected from my government. This will leave me furious and in rage knowing that every day I step out into the streets to do my everyday day job what society doesn’t consider a real job to support my family would put me at a scary risk. What’s considered normal and accepting in the workforce of our country. What will it take to approve the safety rights of sex workers across the Canada? More deaths and violence coming from this type of work all over the world. They should have the right to be protected in all forms to prevent trafficking danger and unnecessary violence.
It looks like the country needs to see more violence in order to takes these rights seriously. André Picard a journalist for The Globe and Mail states current facts on these wrongful rights and nonprotective government when it comes to the laws for the safety of sex workers. If it’s not profiting for the government, they will make it their duty for any request on behalf of the workers, advocates, activists and survivors to not be prevailed. Anything in their power to stop a force or a movement against them. The laws were also supposed to focus on the prostitution by ending demands having sex work safe and healthier. Amanda Silliker a writter from the Canadian Occupational Safety talks about a lady name Jade who’s also a former sex worker that’s been in the trade for 16 years who was open to health and safety risks and violence of the workplace. Workers are still going to do the work illegally without the governments help while still putting their safety at risk. Arlene Pitts which is a student at York University in Toronto interviewed street-based sex workers getting direct inputs on what sex workers have been fighting for and dealing with. Sex workers are more fearful of their safety and worried about police harassment, brutality and discrimination. Are we going to continue to watch the workers get degraded and violated? Why hasn’t anything been done yet, I guess it’s not enough deaths in this field of work to take it that serious. Some of these buyers and traffickers make it difficult for these laws to be passed as they body shame sex workers by exposing their work as pornography through the internet or social media making the positive social movements more difficult gaining the rights they deserve.
When Bill C-36 was approved and put into action it made it a conflict of interest for the sex workers work and safety precautions. Imagine having to choose between working to live and your safety. You feel like you’ll never win because if you don’t work to support yourself you won’t make it in this life, and if you do go to work the chances of getting severely hurt or death is very high. If sex workers can’t be protected legally no other form of work should be protected too. Sex is apart of human nature some just use it to make a living with no feelings attached for their benefits. That doesn’t make them less of a person and it also doesn’t mean they don’t have a voice and need to be heard too. If that was the last form of work on this earth to make a living you would want protection too. Legalization needs to take into effect before more sex workers continue to get hurt. How many more advocating needs to be done to hear the voices of the workers? How many more workers need to be seen killed, kidnapped or badly hurt to understand the needs of their protection? It’s never too late to consider open options for the sake of sex work safety and their protections. If we can protect the rights of other workers, we can protect the rights of sex workers. It’s still a form of work but society makes us believe that not all work is right and should be protected under the right and safety acts of government laws. We are all human being and deserve to all be treated the same no matter what for of work some chooses to pursue. These law makers need to never hear the end of what needs to be fought for until there has been some serious changes or sex workers will never get what they deserve.
Social Activism Globally
The contemporary movement for sex workers’ rights organizes around a range of international, national, and localized grievances. They are unified in their efforts to promote and protect sex workers’ human and labour rights through the decriminalization and destigmatization of sex industry work. Within the context of social movement theory, literature on the sex worker rights movement has mainly focused on its failure to mobilize due to inadequate resources, small membership base, lack of sex worker leadership and absence of influential allies.
