Excerptcize

the public with an opportunity to learn about the men who buy sex, the experiences of sex workers with their clients, and why neither sex workers nor their clients should be criminalized

The turnout of over 120 individuals (all seating used plus standing room) indicates at the very least that this is an issue the public is interested in and desires more information on it.

The forum began with the viewing of a short film entitled We want to save you (and if you don’t appreciate it, you will be punished!) The film is an interview with Pye Jacobsson, a sex worker and activist from Sweden.  She succinctly outlines the background behind Sweden’s adoption of statutes that have criminalized the purchase of sexual services while making the sale of sexual services legal.  Pye then goes on to explain the effects of this legal regime on Sweden’s sex workers. The video is at the end of this post.

Following the video was a to the point talk given by Jody Salerno.  She discussed her history of growing up in an abusive home and emphatically underlined her main point that the criminalization of sex consumers puts sex workers at higher risk.

Next, Chris Atchison presented some fascinating data from his “John’s Voices” project.  Picking up on the point that Jody had started to make, that sex consumers are regular people, Chris’ findings made this notion extremely clear.  Sex consumers come from all walks of life, different socioeconomic classes and demographically are very similar to the country as a whole.

Following a short break, Susan Davis presented some information from a new resource entitled Trade Secrets.  This online guide draws on a wealth of knowledge from sex workers and consumers both.  The excellent schedule the panel put together had Susan presenting viewpoints of sex consumers that reinforced much of the picture that had already been started by Chris.  Suprising to some would be the extremely high levels of respect and care that most sex consumers appear to demonstrate towards those workers whose services they use.

Finally, Tamara O’Doherty tied everything up nicely by presenting a side by side comparison of the law as it stands in both Sweden and Canada as well as the consequences of those laws.  Despite a different statutory system in either country, the end results ended up being very similar.  The criminalization of sex work does not and cannot prevent individuals from entering the sex trade.  Criminalization enhances stigma and endangers sex workers.  It conflates sex work with other issues, that although related and connected, such as human trafficking and abuse, are different.  The conflation of these important issues is a detriment to making improvements in them on all fronts.

A largely productive question and answer session closed out the evening and it highlighted two points.  First, continue the dialogue on decriminalization wherever possible. Second, any donation to any one of the many sex worker support groups goes a long way.  Any of the allies listed at FIRST here would be a great place to donate to if you are interested in contributing.

The aim of the ‘Swedish Model’ is an abolitionist one; the goal being that the criminalization of purchasers will slowly deplete the pool of buyers until a point is reached where there is no customer base for sexual services and sex work will lose all economic viability.  This goal is espoused by two different ideological schools of thought; radical feminism that equates ANY sexual intercourse as rape and a Christianist stance that views sex work as inherently ‘evil.’  Both of these approaches are blinkered to reality.  Vice has never been something that can be legislated away.  The marginalization of sex workers (and consumers) affects their safety.  Only decriminalization will allow a scenario where the police can be fully brought to bear on the problems of women abuse and human trafficking. These efforts are currently hindered by our current laws.  Sweden’s experiment with criminalizing the purchase of sex is now 10 years old.  It has failed at it’s intended goals and in practice produces outcomes similar to what we already see today in Canada.  A better, smarter approach is needed to allow safety, freedom and equality to, as Jody said during her presentation, “our sisters, mothers, daughters, aunts, grandmothers, brothers, fathers, uncles and grandfathers.”

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