Foreword
The following text was written in a context in which a debate has arisen in Sweden in general, but specifically in the revolutionary left concerning the decriminalization of buying sex.
In Sweden, it was legal to seek the services of a prostitute until 1999 when the Sex Purchase Act (Sexköpslagen) was passed. In short, this act entails the criminalization of the purchase of sex, but allows the sale of it. For us in AFA Skåne, it is obvious that buying sex is a coercive, violent act which should be fought by any means necessary, and categorically condemned. We are not writing this to defend the state, its interventions into our lives in general, or even the Sex Purchase Act specifically. Instead, we aim to fight the liberalization of the sex market, and combat liberalism in the left.
Antifascist Action Skåne: Concerning the Sex Trade
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Today, both nationally and internationally, we are witnessing a shift in attitude concerning prostitution and buying sex. Liberal, capitalist and reactionary tendencies are attempting to gain a foothold in public discourse with lobbying on a grass roots level. The revolutionary left is in no way an exception to this. These tendencies are slowly but surely taking hold even among groups and constellations that we would otherwise see as friendly. Instead of attacking the structures that promote prostitution or supporting initiatives that support people who are in the grips of the sex trade, more and more comrades have begun to accept liberal narratives and myths about prostitution as a job like any other.
If we support people who sell sex by decriminalizing sex purchases, then is it also comradely to buy sexual services? Are Johns our comrades?
Due to this, we want to explain how we view the act of buying sex, as a praxis and as oppression. We want to emphasize that when we talk about our positions against prostitution, we mean sex buyers and the purchase of sex – not the sale. When we write about purchases, we mean an exchange of compensation for sexual services. This not only includes money but can also be about gifts, alcohol, sleeping accommodation, food, et cetera. With that said, we want to state our position based on what we know about the solicitation of prostitutes.
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The global sex trade
On average, the debut of selling sex occurs at the age of fifteen. This applies both globally and in Sweden. When children and young adults start selling sex, this is often a form of self-harming behavior and an attempt at anxiety relief based on, for example, previous sexual abuse, sexual violence, abuse, paperlessness, homelessness or mental illness. In many cases, it is in fact the only way to find a livelihood.
The problem is much broader than only women being victimized; at younger ages, it is to a greater extent boys than girls who have been exploited. Prostitution differs in several respects between the sexes. Among other things, girls and women are to a much greater extent exposed to trafficking or being sold by pimps, in other words; a comprehensive and organized form of prostitution. One thing that does not differ, however, is that the buyer is almost always a man regardless of whose body he chooses to pay for.
It is estimated that about 4 million, mainly women and children, are exposed to global sex slave trade annually. In Europe alone, at least 500,000 people are transported and sold every year. A pervasive tendency is that these individuals come from poorer countries to be exploited by richer men, in richer parts of the world.
With this as a background, we have chosen to formulate this text from a women’s perspective, trans women included, with a focus on women and their bodies in a sexist society. We are well aware that patriarchy and sexual exploitation also affect other groups. The sex trade affects millions of women globally every year. As many as 9 out of 10 prostitutes surveyed say that they want to leave prostitution, but do not have the opportunity to do so. Of course, there are exceptions and more or less favorable circumstances for certain individuals, but we can not allow the voices of the few who are prostituted under better conditions to drive the narrative the of those who are most vulnerable.
Prostitution is a product of a patriarchal society. A society where men in various ways have the right to consume women’s bodies.
We are anti-fascists, we are feminists and we are socialists. This is the basis of our critical analysis of marginalization and oppression, of racism, patriarchy and capitalism – and the understanding that these can never be separated. Prostitution is a product of a patriarchal society. A society where men in various ways have the right to consume women’s bodies. This means that the sexualized body is a commodity, an object, always available to men. This is one of several reasons why we have not achieved gender equality and why patriarchy persists.
Buying sex is violence and coercion, and buying consent is principally impossible in this context. It is an oppressive act of violence that we as political groups cannot stand behind, and which we as a movement should work tirelessly to counter.
The coercive nature of prostitution is felt not only in the practice of the sex trade itself, in the exchange of services for money, but also in the overall context in which prostitution takes place. In a survey where 854 people from nine different countries were asked, 73% answered that they had been physically abused in connection with prostitution. 64% stated that they had been threatened with weapons and 57% had been raped, which in this case means that they were forced into sex they neither agreed to nor were paid to carry out. Of those who were raped, 59% stated that they had been raped six times or more.
Once again, we would like to remind you that the average age of selling sex for the first time is at the age of 15.
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Myths about sex trafficking
The previously addressed liberal tendency often argues that prostitutes’ exposure to violence is a justifiable reason for decriminalizing sex purchases. They believe that when the person selling sex needs to go underground and avoid contact with society, his or her vulnerability increases. Sex purchase liberals believe that the answer to prostitutes’ vulnerability is decriminalization, which in a Swedish context can be understood as a repeal of the Sex Purchase Act (Sexköpslagen), which prohibits the purchase of sex. But would men, sex buyers and johns really be made kinder if they could legally buy sex? We argue that it would have the opposite effect. That the vulnerability would remain the same or, perhaps even, increase. Sex buyers would continue to commit the abuses they already commit today, but with society behind them, on their side. Sex buyers would be even more free in their violence,and above all there would be more of them. More men who would pay to humiliate, use and hate. In short, we would see a rise in demand.
What we see, based on our specific experiences of the Nordic model in practice, is not a widespread tendency for the sex trade to go underground – rather, we see an effect of a general decline in sex purchases. Open sex trafficking, which takes place on the street, is declining, but sex trafficking has also moved to other channels, other places and forums. Going underground is not an option for the sex trade, as it must always take place in some type of open context for buyers and sellers to be able to find each other. Supply and demand must, according to capitalist logic, meet in order for activity to take place.
What about the safety of people in prostitution? Are there really scenarios where their security can be improved through legalization of prostitution? Let’s take some examples from Europe:
- The Netherlands legalized prostitution in 2000. Between 1973 and 2013, 127 women in prostitution were murdered.
- Spain decriminalized prostitution in 1995. Between 2010 and 2018, at least 43 women in prostitution were murdered.
- Germany legalized prostitution in 2002. Between 2002 and 2018, 91 women in prostitution were murdered, and in addition, 48 attempted murders are registered.
- In Sweden, we have had the Nordic model since 1999. Since then (until 2018), one woman in prostitution has been murdered in the country, by her ex-partner.
It is worth adding that these statistics also probably hide a large number of unreported cases.
The Nordic model does not guarantee security for people in prostitution, but it reduces the number who end up in prostitution, and thus increased security for women in general. On the other hand, we see that legalization does not lead to greater security and safety for women in prostitution, and that violence against them continues in the same way, if not worse, than before. To claim otherwise is to insult the memory of these murdered women.
A regulation through the legalization of prostitution would, as in other European countries, only cover the people in prostitution under the best conditions, not to mention pimps and johns. Those most vulnerable, such as the undocumented, would not be covered by any new legislation. Instead the demand would cause the proliferation of the industry as a whole, including undocumented, trafficked sex work.
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Sex trafficking as work
Liberals often claim that people in prostitution would be protected by decriminalization. This because of the decreased risk of confrontation with the police, and because they get the opportunity to better their working conditions since working above the counter entails certain legal rights.
We believe working in the official economy does not necessarily mean that the rights are upheld. In order to uphold these rights, which workers have fought for over the decades through political and trade union struggle, we must wage a constant struggle for workers’ rights. Rights at work are not, as liberal observers often point out, a matter of course, which we in Sweden see not least in the restaurant industry and in agriculture. Providing decent working conditions for vulnerable workers requires union organization and hard work, something that few, if any, of the sex-buying liberals have in mind when talking about rights.
In Germany, the Prostitution Act of 2002 has been evaluated by the government. This has shown that working conditions for people in prostitution have not improved, that formal employment contracts are rarely drawn up, and that prostitutes are thus outside the welfare system . Only about 40 of the between 200,000 and 400,000 who are prostitutes signed up for health insurance. Only a minority of those who support themselves by selling sex are able too to take part in the welfare-related rights that have been added since the legalization. Legal status has not led to expanded protection of either workers or women, nor the implementation of actual rights beyond the obligation to pay taxes for their work.
As in all other activities where people are treated as expendable products, this results in traumatic physical and mental injuries.
In a capitalist system, the employer, whose driving force is maximized profit at minimal cost, is always the winner, as long as it is possible to profit from the business. In prostitution, the body is the commodity – but bodies cannot be separated from humans. In reality, this has resulted in for example German brothel concepts where sex buyers can pay a one-time cost at the entrance, and then freely use all the brothel’s services. As in all other activities where people are treated as expendable products, this results in traumatic physical and mental injuries.
To emphasize prostitution as a profession like any other, is to conceal the effects on those exploited in the industry; and in the long run a normalization of commercial rape. There is simply no other workplace where we would accept such a high risk of violence or threats of violence. There is no other workplace where we, as a society or workers, accept a high risk of being raped, of getting sexually transmitted diseases, of being urinated on, or of being the body through which others exercise recurring, violent pornographic fantasies.
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The sex trade and the state
We never place our trust in the state to realize our ultimate will or our dreams, but at the same time we cannot turn a blind eye to its real impact on human life. By that we mean how, for example, a law affects people’s values. A historical example of this is that of domestic corporal punishment of children (barnaga).
Of course, we realize that there are problems with the law and how the judiciary system works, especially for women, transgender people, racists and LGBTQIA + people. We ourselves are often, in the role of anti-fascists or as minorities, exposed to the state repression. But in this case we are talking about society’s signal to its citizens, and how it affects people’s actions; their shame and motives. If the law were to be changed, if it were to become legal to buy sex – how on earth could the view of the woman’s bodies be improved? Societies signal would be in support of the view that men have the right to bodies in general and women’s bodies in particular.
We can get an idea of what a possible legalization of sex purchases would mean in practice by at the countries where sex purchases are legal or decriminalized.
Legal status does not prevent johns from buying sexual services and committing abusive acts. Sex tourism is extensive, and 80% of Sweden’s johns turn to other countries. Therefore, we can not stop at the borders of Sweden. We must understand that sexual exploitation is a global problem where bodies are treated as goods in a market. The Swedish legislation and the Nordic model are progressive examples of sex legislation, but not a perfect solution to the problem of sexual exploitation; nor the end station of our aspirations.
We will never be on the side of johns, rapists or their allies. The liberal groups and individuals who work to advance the position of johns in society and spread the image of the happy whore, cannot be seen as comrades in the struggle for women’s liberation. We cannot call ourselves feminists and at the same time organize with people, groups or collectives who see an economic or material transfer as the only difference between rape and a job like any other.
Radical politics are not just about assuming a position, but also about being able to defend it against attack.
Self-criticism and the examination of ourselves and our movement helps us grow and should be encouraged, rather than shield away from. Challenging established ideas and approaches is a part of good praxis, and a part of strengthening ourselves as a collective or society, and teaches us how to defend ourselves and our worldview. Radical politics are not just about assuming a position, but also about being able to defend it against attack. It is one of the important lessons behind the term antifascism is self-defense – to be able to defend oneself and each other, physically and ideologically.
We as feminists, as people with experience of prostitution, as friends and comrades, must work towards improvements in our living conditions, support those who work for progressive change, or at least not support the sex traffic lobby.
There are lots of real problems related to prostitution, that force people into the sex trade or make it difficult for them to leave the business. Social stigma often affects the people who are prostituted, which often leads to women in prostitution being deprived of their children or harassed by the police and social services. Today, social security systems are becoming increasingly weak, which leads, among other things, to people who receive financial assistance from their municipalities being forced to sell sex to supplement inadequate assistance. At the same time, there is a constant dismantling of welfare, as more and more housing and safe places for women are forced to close down. After the 2018 election, several of the country’s women’s and girls’ shelters have had their budgets sharply reduced or completely withdrawn by their respective municipalities. This affects the lives and security of women in general, but not least women in prostitution, who often lack access to other spaces or institutions.
Another of the major problems that remains with current legislation is the lack of victim status for those who are prostituted, which means that they cannot receive compensation even after the perpetrator, the sex buyer, has been convicted. Procurement, which includes for example human trafficking and the promotion of prostitution, is considered in law to be a crime against the state, and not a crime against the individual victim. This further weakens the status of the seller and complicates the process of getting out of prostitution.
Do you want to activate yourself progressively towards the sex trade and sexual exploitation? Support your local women’s shelter, donate money to a Micah clinic or Rosenlundsstödet, out your local john, present a radical, progressive agenda in your political group and among your comrades and friends. Stand up for a socialist and feminist future.
Read more about the reality of prostitution at intedinhora.se.