I am proposing to research international development, human rights, and prostitution. I would like to explain how it became possible that leading development/human rights organizations such as Amnesty International and UN Women began to support decriminalization of sex work as a policy solution in the late 2000s and 2010s.[1] I am studying development and human rights discourses on decriminalization of prostitution. Within those discourses we see sex work represented in the following ways: sex work as “work” and sex work as criminal.
Moreover, there is a discourse that represents sex workers as empowered workers, another discourse where sex workers are represented as victims of trafficking/exploitation and being incapable of consent. Within the discourse of sex work as work there is another discourse that represents decriminalization of sex work as a harm reduction model rather than a means to solely recognize economic freedom. I propose to study this in order to help my reader better understand how the counter discourse of sex work as work became mainstream in development/human rights circles and what are the intersubjective meanings of work, consent, exploitation, and victims. I also hope to help my reader understand what strategies and policy solutions became impossible or possible as this counter discourse became mainstream.
The first source I found has representations of sex work as not criminal. This source doesn’t call for decriminalization explicitly, but it illustrates how those within this discourse were weary of strategies that were punitive in nature. The source I found is a record of an open floor session at a development conference.[2] In the text, sex worker activist Cheryl Overs and NGO workers Meena Seshu and Nandinee Bandhopadhyay discuss what they interpret to be the reasons for why the development industry must move away from representations of sex workers as victims that need to be rescued and rehabilitated. One thing I noticed about this primary source is that those within conversation use the term sex-worker multiple times and distinguish between sex work and trafficking.[3] It could be possible that this text is an example of how sex work is represented in the discourse around decriminalization of sex work as harm reduction. I posit this because there is mention of how the health and economic security of sex workers is jeopardized by punitive measures.[4] There is some mention of consent and sex work as work but the greater concern between the three discussing the topic, is the health and human rights of sex workers.[5]
The second source I found is a blog post from the non-profit Nordic Model Now. The blog post discusses how decriminalization is not a solution.[6] It represents what those in the previously mentioned source would describe as sex work as criminal and exploitative. I identified a few tensions between this source and the other source I mentioned. The blog post discusses that most people who participate want to leave and that those who are usually trafficked are impoverished.[7] The source from the conference also said this however both sources did not share interpretations of why this is the case. The way poverty was discussed in the blog post allowed for the representation of those who partake in sex work to be represented as victims while the way poverty was discussed in the conference recording poverty led to be an explanation for why less criminalization would reduce harm. I assume as I continue to find more sources this tension and others will become more apparent and recognizable. I also think I will be able to better identify where these tensions come from.
[1] “The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) – The Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW).” Accessed November 8, 2019. https://www.gaatw.org/component/content/article?id=754:gaatw-is-statement-on-attack-on-un-research-calling-for-the-decriminalisation-of-sex-work.
[2] Seshu, M. & Bandhopadhyay, N. Development (2009) 52: 13. https://doi-org.proxyau.wrlc.org/10.1057/dev.2008.86
[3] Ibid pg 13-14
[4] Ibid pg 14-15
[5] Ibid pg 14
[6] Admin. “Lies, Damn Lies and Ignoring Statistics: How the Decriminalisation of Prostitution Is No Answer.” Nordic Model Now!, October 1, 2017. https://nordicmodelnow.org/2017/10/01/lies-damn-lies-and-ignoring-statistics-how-the-decriminalisation-of-prostitution-is-no-answer/.
[7] Ibid pg 2-5