Sex Talks: the Rage Against the Sex Industry Disguised as a Fight Against Trafficking

Introduction

The field of sex work is not without its obstacles, amidst constant protests from those who would like to abolish it altogether, censorship in digital spaces, limitations by banks, social stigma, and above all, its constant association with sexual exploitation. The latter gives rise in the US to the problems of Trump’s SESTA/FOSTA bills of 2018. Despite their explicit goal of eliminating sex trafficking, the actual effects have been devastating on the living conditions of sex workers, who have been banned from digital platforms and faced severe forms of discrimination.

This article aims to analyse the consequences of the American bills and then delve into the plurality of experiences within the sex industry in order to separate sexual exploitation from voluntary sex work. Through the reading of the text, it is intended to recognise women’s sexual rights, and restore their control and power over the narratives of their experiences with sex work.

Following liberal feminist lens, this article will primarily be limited to an analysis of women who are engaged in sex work. This is not to say that other people are not sex workers. The sex industry is very diverse, including men, migrants, and trans people (Hamilton, Barakat & Redmiles, 2022), yet a large majority of sex workers worldwide are women (Jones, 2023). Furthermore, the text, considering the overwhelmingly gendered dynamic of sex-work, focuses precisely on issues raised on female sex workers.

Sesta/Fosta: The American bills that failed in solving trafficking, instead aggravating sex workers’ lives

Following the wave of technological developments, the sex industry has expanded into the digital world, giving rise to new forms of sex work, such as visual activities like webcamming or pornography, and greatly improving conditions for sex workers, especially in terms of safety. However, the online platforms that sex workers use are often the same ones where sex trafficking activities also appear, which inevitably creates crossovers between the two (Poster, 2020).

Ever since sex work went online, globally, states have chased it. And often those who attack sex workers bring up the issue of trafficking with the aim of eliminating the voluntary industry. In 2018, following in the wave of the controversy against Pornhub, the incumbent US president Donald Trump signed into law SESTA/FOSTA (Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act and Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act), triggering a domino effect of shutdowns for a whole host of sites and social media that were connected to sex work.

It is true that this has reduced the use of online platforms by sex traffickers, but at the same time, the reforms have not solved the wider problem, for once one platform is eliminated, another re-emerges elsewhere, sometimes on the far more dangerous dark web. Laura LeMoon, a sex trafficking survivor, stated that “FOSTA/SESTA have actually increased trafficking” (Poster, 2020). It has actually repressed the safer means of sex work that has left workers even more vulnerable and  exposed to trafficking, thereby putting more power in the hands of pimps. The platform-busting strategy does not deal with the more structural and intersectional causes of trafficking, such as the levels of inequality people experience, nor does it provide any direct assistance to survivors.

SESTA/FOSTA ended up being a “piecemeal approach to a problem that should [have been] handled more comprehensively” (Poster, 2020), that of sex trafficking, while it created new levels of discrimination for voluntary sex workers. One of the problems is exposure to violence, as sex workers have been forced to reconsider working in exploitative and dangerous conditions, such as the street sex market, where they are  unable to track potentially violent clients prior to the service. One month after the approval of SESTA/FOSTA, “thirteen sex workers [were] reported missing, and two had committed suicide” (Tichenor, 2020).  Another negative impact was limited access to health services, and the social and civic exclusion of sex workers, due to the lack of recognition of employment. The latter also stemmed from censorship on social media, which began deleting accounts and content of people related to sex work, or shadow banning them, reducing their visibility and possibility of acquiring new clients. Many sex workers have lost access to most of their income, and will not know how to pay for their living (Stern, 2019) which significantly increases the risk of economic insecurity.

These are the devastating consequences of SESTA/FOSTA on the lives of sex workers, who are treated as criminals due to the stigma that has always surrounded the industry and the lack of recognition of sex work as real work. Sex workers should not have to suffer these degrading treatments, on the contrary they need protection, and the possibility to control their working conditions, as is the case in New Zealand (Stern, 2019). The New Zealand model is not perfect, as sex work is still subject to stigma and unsafe working conditions, but the difference is in the government’s choice to develop the model in collaboration with an association of sex workers (Stern, 2019). This is the key to develop effective measures to protect sex work and criminalise sexual exploitation and trafficking.

This section highlighted how the SESTA/FOSTA bills contributed to the stigmatisation of sex workers and their subsequent disempowerment and exposure to violence, exploitation, and economic insecurity. The implications of the social media measures have also violated their freedom of expression, with their content being  shut down by online platforms. Importantly, all this was done “without targeting people who force others into sex work and hurt sex workers” (Ticheron, 2020).

The complex plurality of sex workers’ experiences and its relevance to the recognition of sex work

The anti-sex work crusade has a long history, from religious fronts extolling modesty to abolitionist “feminist” spaces that are concerned with “saving” prostitutes by considering “commercial sex [as] coercive in all its forms because of [women’s] objectification and oppressive treatment” (Leonelli, 2023). Both relegate sex workers to the role of victims of some form of exploitation. This stereotype that sex work inevitably results in the exploitation of women is due to both the failure of the criminal justice system to offer a clear understanding of the nuances of coercion, and the refusal to genuinely consider the voices of sex workers (Leonelli, 2023). At the same time, another element contributing to the perpetuation of this stereotype is undoubtedly the so-called “unique narrative” of sex work experiences.

Giulia Zollino, author of the book “Sex Work is Work”, shows the facets of sex work without detracting from any of them. She then offers food for thought as to why sex work should be considered a job like any other. Zollino talks about P. the passionate cammer, G. forced by hunger into prostitution, V. a trans woman who came to Italy from Peru to support her family, T. the queer lap dancer who pays for her university studies with her work, F. the occasional sex worker, or C. who does not feel like a sex worker (Beretta, 2022). As can be seen, there are as many narratives as experiences. For some women the choice of this profession may be dictated by necessity, as it could also be to be an underpaid waitress. Zollino emphasises that in any case, one should not ignore the many women who engage in sex work because they feel like it, and this does not make them more dignified or respectable than those who do not like doing it (Beretta, 2022). It must be accepted that a woman may like to have sex for work. Certainly, one does not deny that sex work has its own specificity; however, it is no different from other sectors, where exploitation and abuse may exist; where some people exercise because they take pleasure in doing so, and others because they have to support themselves; where rights, protections, inclusive laws, and safety guarantees are still necessary (Beretta, 2022). Adopting this approach is fundamental to normalise sex work as real work, starting precisely from a reflection on the world of work in a broader sense, and the innumerable conditions that can be encountered. The rage against exploitative conditions in sex industry, without a denunciation of the exploitative conditions that can affect all areas of work, translates into mere control over bodies and sexuality, especially female ones.

Zollino then also moves against the idea that sex work contributes to the objectification and the sale of bodies, starting from her own experience. The author herself is a sex worker, and for her it represents a central moment in her relationship with her body that has contributed to transform it from object to subject (Beretta, 2022). Women are not always victims who submit to the desires of the male, sex workers are thinking subjectives capable of making demands and establishing conditions. Furthermore, on her Instagram profile on which she raises awareness on sex work, Zollino addresses one of the most frequent objections to this work, namely that of “the body is not for sale”. Zollino explains that those who do sex work, like other professions, use their bodies to offer a precise, agreed, and time-limited service (Zollino, 2020). Therefore, the person who buys does not have unconditional access to the other person’s body, but will use the service within the established boundaries, just as it works for other jobs, such as that of a masseuse. The exploitative conditions and services done with the body found in many labour sectors do not create as much fury as the sex industry. This double-standard is due to a change in perception when sex is involved, due in turn to the sexophobia that dominates society. Such sexophobia is rooted in patriarchal and misogynist ideals that frame sex work, and sex in general, as lowly and unethical, especially when it involves women and their sexual lives and desires.

Conclusion

The rage against the entire sex industry does not deal with the issue of sex trafficking, which has more complex origins that deserve advanced and structural interventions. On the contrary, it has made the lives of sex workers more dangerous, driving them into the arms of traffickers, thereby fostering exploitation. In particular, equating sexual exploitation with consensual sex work harms all those people working in the industry, while violating their right to freedom of expression, to live free from violence and discrimination, to work, to health, and to freedom of choice over their employment.

This article does not deny the existence of cases of sexual exploitation or trafficking, but rather it wants to emphasise the existence of additional narratives that risk being invisible if they are not talked about. In the world of sex work, there are many different experiences that include exploitation, but also conscious and passionate sex work. Capturing the plurality of stories is important in order not to reduce sex work to the classic pietistic representation with apocalyptic overtones that trivialise experiences and create stereotypes about this world.

The attack on sex work is an attack on freedom of expression online and on sexuality, especially female sexuality. It represents an attempt to make decisions about women’s lives on their behalf, violating their consent, as well as an unsolicited judgement towards women for what they choose to do with their bodies, thus proving no different from what patriarchy has been doing for centuries.

Bibliography

Beretta C. (2022, 26 July). Giulia Zollino: “Sex work is work”, Vanity Fair. Consulted on July 4th, 2024, from

<https://www.vanityfair.it/article/giulia-zollino-sex-work-sesso-lavoro>.

Hamilton V., Barakat H. & Redmiles E. M- (2022, 5 May). Risk, resilience and reward: impacts of shifting to digital sex work, ACM Digital Library, 537(6), pp. 1-37.

Jones M. (2023). The International Legalization of Sex-Work: Protecting Sex Workers from Abuse and Exploitation through Increased Regulation and Decreased Stigmatization, Michigan State International Law Review, 31(1), pp. 1-36.

Leonelli A. (2023). A business doing pleasure: combatting sex trafficking by decriminalizing sex work, Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development, 36(3), pp. 403-444.

Poster W. R. (2020). Data battles, platform shutdowns, and digital rights in surveillance: labor politics in the online sex industry, Saint Louis University Law Journal, 65(1), pp. 169-198.

Ramos G. (2023). Sex Work Is Real Work: Why Decriminalization Protects Every Body, Tulane Journal of Law and Sexuality: A Review of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in the Law, 32, pp. 221-244.

Stern S. W. (2019). Sex Workers of the World United, The American Scholar, pp. 40-54.

Tichenor E. (2020). ‘I’ve Never Been So Exploited’: The consequences of FOSTA-SESTA in Aotearoa New Zealand, Anti-Trafficking Review, 14, pp. 99-115.

Wiesner L. (2020). Good intentions and unintended consequences: sesta/fosta’s first two years, Temple Law Review, 93(1), pp. 151-180.

Zollino G. [@giuliazollino]. (2020). Vendita [Instagram story]. Instagram. Consulted on July 4th, 2024, from

<https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17938968835394685/?hl=it>.