Fire Cat Kitty

Kanye, we need condoms.

Rescuing sex workers from themselves is the hot new trend amongst celebrities. From Mira Sorvino to Julia Ormand and a growing number of child actors, celebrities are flocking to the “rescue industry” as if a red carpet has been thrown on the global stage. 

There are even top ten lists dedicated to “Top Ten Celebrity Human Trafficking Activists.”  (See Change.org here for an example http://news.change.org/stories/top-ten-human-trafficking-celebrity-activists)

This is how I picture it all going down:

Celebrity walks into their agents’ office looking for a booking.  Agent tells them “You have money, you have time now between films. We need to get you out there. Take up a cause. Throw your money at it. Support it! The public will see you as one of them and embrace you!”

Celebrity says “Of course! And I can do some good. We can do a huge campaign and I will go on The View. I’ll start an organization. I can write a song and make a music video! We will free the slaves!”

The presence of celebrity in anti-trafficking movements is extremely problematic. Many, if not all of these “activists” lack an analysis based on research which is, in turn, silencing the very people they want to support. More and more, the red carpet set is embracing activism in the absence of analysis which is fueling myths and moral panics.

Combine this activism with a well funded publicity machine and us advocates for sex workers are trying to dispel more myths than Adam Sandler has Razzies, all while sex workers themselves are pushed further behind the curtain.  

It is as if celebrities who lack analysis are following some pocket guide – a star map to anti-trafficking activism. 

Celebrities love to quote flawed statistics that are not based on research and that no one can prove to be accurate.

“100,000 to 300,000” seems to be the magic number of folks who are trafficked according to sitcom star Ashton Kutcher, and his A-List buddies who have stated “if you do not care, I have no opinion of you.” They also seem to know the average age of entry into prostitution, despite the fact that advocates and academics who have worked in this area for decades agree that this number cannot be proven. The result? A sympathetic public with a love for In Touch magazine and MTV are being misinformed about the issue’s true scope, while money pours into organizations that do little than flash 1-800 trafficking hotlines on their website.

Celebrities love to take field trips to promote their efforts.

Celebrities love their field trips! Take for example Meg Ryan who recently joined Nicholas Kristof on a trip to Cambodia where he participated in a brothel raid. Does Meg know that raiding brothels can be more detrimental to the health and safety of young girls? Does Meg know that sex workers would rather have rights over rescue? Does she know how Human Rights Watch has expressed concern over the detention centers that many of these “rescued girls” end up in? Well, most likely not.  That would take balanced research.

Celebrities love to take up space that should be reserved for sex workers to influence harmful laws and policies. 

Just recently, Jada Pinkett Smith with husband Will and daughter Willow in tow (all in matching Free the Slaves T-Shirts) testified before the Foreign Senate Relations committee to urge them to wage war on human trafficking. 

Jada has been active on this issue for less than a year, and shared with the committee that she became concerned on this issue based on her 11-year-old daughter’s research. Yes. Her 11 year old daughter’s research.

Therefore, while we have a Senate Committee hearing for a celebrity whose eyes have been opened by the research of her 11-year-old, countless organizations by and for sex workers can only dream of an opportunity to provide real solutions and strategies. 

It is a slap in the face, really, to know that there are strategies out there that can help tackle the problem of human trafficking, by those who are most impacted by policy. Yet, sex workers and their organizations are totally shut out by celebrities who are provided access to forums when they have absolutely no experience. 

Moreover, the Smith family has recently joined a human trafficking organization that is fighting for the removal of ads from Backpage.Com. A protest by these organizations occurred in the US recently. Even though sex workers were in attendance, the machine that is now the “rescue industry” overshadowed them. If only celebrities and the organizations they are promoting would listen to sex workers, they would come to understand that the removal of such sites will only exacerbate the situation by driving the trade underground, by limiting the ability of sex workers to screen clients and by putting them in more danger. 

Celebrities love to start ridiculous campaigns that embrace their own narcissism as opposed to providing real facts.

I am still trying to figure out what Justin Timberlake was doing with shaving cream and that chainsaw in the “Real Men Don’t Buy Girls” ads. Also, why is Selma Hayek directing music videos with a naked Jada Pinkett Smith rolling around on the floor? (I’m especially disappointed in Selma. I had such high hopes for her after her Candy Girl routine in Dogma). 

Celebrities are a money machine.

They will bring big bucks to the table, which will leave sex workers and those who have been trafficked with various useless resources and centers. Thus leaving the door open for organizational corruption and a complete lack of accountability. Research clearly shows that the best services are those that are tailored by the folks that need the services. 

Celebrities are using their influence to tell the masses that the issue of human trafficking is conflated with sex work.

Does trafficking exist? Yes it certainly does. Is it a cause for concern and action? Most definitely. Are there sex workers, even those on the street who choose to be there? Yes. Are there sex workers who do not need to be rescued, but who demand better health and safety protection? Overwhelmingly so. 

The fact of the matter is the issue of trafficking vs. sex work is complicated, and celebrity machines are complicating it more, while society continues to view sex workers as either 1. People who need saving or 2. people who need to be persecuted. 

Yet, while persecuting sex workers is a fan favorite of many residents and businesses in communities where sex workers are located, “rescuing” sex workers appeals to those who are sympathetic and who are fed moral panics without an analysis. 

The power of celebrity can be good for social causes; if only they would develop an analysis and make space rather than taking it up.  If only sex workers did not have struggle to have their voice heard in the presence of the all mighty celebrity. Hopefully there are still some celebrities out there who will use their publicity machines to listen to those who are most impacted by policy. 

Who will listen to sex workers? Who will learn that the key to being an advocate is listening to those who are most impacted and worrying about the MTV appearances later? 

I don’t think Kanye West has been roped into the hype lately. Maybe he can help. 

Kanye, if you’re reading this – we need condoms and juice boxes for the stroll. 

Remarks to Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Remarks for Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Province House, Halifax Nova Scotia May 1, 2012

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The safety of a community can be determined by the safety of her most marginalized populations. If this is true, as I believe it is, Nova Scotia has a lot of work to do.

To the average citizen of Nova Scotia, the streets are safe to walk at night.  No would think that the atrocities that happen against sex workers are as widespread as they are, and that sexualized violence is a common reality for so many women, men and transgendered women in the trade.

The bad date reports at Stepping Stone reflect the horror that is occurring in our communities. When sex workers have nowhere else to report crimes due to their criminalization and mistrust from the community, they find tools to warn another of rapes, forced confinement. These bad date reports illustrate the violence sex workers face in our city. In our neighborhoods. On our streets.

But these acts of violence rarely get reported to the appropriate authorities.

Like the woman who was attacked and thrown out of a moving car, only to be dragged up the street half a block when her clothing stuck in the car door.

Or the woman who was taken to the outskirts of a city, tied to a tree, and raped repeatedly, only to have a $10 bill thrown at her by her attacker when he left her there.

Or the woman who escaped the trunk of a car, naked and bound head to toe in duct tape, covered in bruises, who will always remember the white van that drove past her while she tried to wave down help on the side of a suburban street in Halifax.

The majority of cases that occur in our very communities, on our very streets, are rarely reported by a population who is immersed in stigma by a society that overwhelmingly views them as disposable.

“They deserve it,” they say.

“They should not be involved in such a dangerous activity,” they say.

“They are sexual deviants,” they say. 

“They are just hookers.” they say.

Crimes occur with impunity by predators who know they will get away with it. But it is those of us who turn a blind eye, who state that “this” group of people are the underground, that let this impunity to fester.

And I can point my fingers at the cops right now, here and in most cities in our nation. Point to how arresting harms rather than does good.

And then I can point them to the Department of Justice. Point to how their courts have failed so many women in the trade in our system.

While I believe these two points to be true, pointing fingers is not enough. The reality of sexual assault extends beyond our legal frameworks, our justice system, and these walls of democracy that we gather in today.

Despite the epidemic rates of violence experienced by sex workers, decision makers, community agencies, residents, the media, assume to know what is in the best interest of a population they know little about, and exclude them from the very policy discussions that directly impact their health and safety.

Whether through coercion or choice, sex workers are part of our community, not adjacent to it.

If I have learned anything from sex workers, it is that their lives, and the trade they are in, is grand and complex. We must break down the barriers and show leadership. We must distinguish between coercion and choice. We must distinguish between trafficking and consent.  We cannot allow ourselves to become wrapped in campaigns that will only victimize the very people that we aim to support.

We cannot continue to silence the accounts of injustices that occur against those with the least protection, for our silence is complacency, and our complacency will only fuel such injustice.

We must true leadership by stepping aside and creating safe spaces for those who are most impacted by policy to direct. We must listen to them. They must guide us. For only then, can we ensure the safety of all Nova Scotians, and put an end to this atrocious violence.

Thank you. 

Sex Work - Sexual Assault is Not Part of the Job.

Misinformation and untruths surrounding the sex trade industry continue to be embedded  in our society. These myths fuel the violence and stigma that sex workers face on a routine basis.

One of the most harmful (if you could even categorize them) of these myths is that sex workers are somehow ‘asking for it’ or that sexual assault is just part of the job.

The reality is that no one ever, ever, deserves to be sexually assaulted. Whether there is payment or not, regardless of why sex workers are involved in the trade, any sex act performed without consent is a form of violence.

In 2010 in Nova Scotia, 682 victims of sexual violence reported their assaults to law enforcement but it is estimated that 9 out of 10 assaults were not reported. These stats do not reflect the reporting of sex workers, but in terms of the sex trade, it is estimated that reporting is much, much lower. Because sex work is criminalized, many of those working in the trade are intimidated by the police and will not communicate violent attacks against them for fear of arrest or ‘not being taken seriously’. These feelings os mistrust are not only towards law enforcement who are working within a set of draconic prostitution laws, but by those who continue to treat sex workers as society’s punching bag.

Next month, May, is the Sexual Assault Awareness Month where community stakeholders come together to raise awareness on sexual assaults in our community and how we can work together to eradicate it. 

This year in Nova Scotia, Sexual Assault Awareness Month activities will involve organizations that work directly with sex trade workers and I will be speaking to the issue of sexual violence against sex trade workers at the launch at Province House, on May 1st at 9am. This will mark one of the first times (if ever) that issues surrounding the sex trade will be part of the conversation in the same building that houses our legislature, and along side law enforcement, community organizations, and all levels of government. This is crucial not because we will be giving a speech next to Ministers in a fancy red room, but because sex workers need to be a part of the conversation that impacts them and myths dispelled… in all forums.

Entering into dialogue with new partners and dispelling myths may not impact sexual assault rates against sex workers in the short or medium term, but if we are to address the violence that sex workers face in all our communities, the discussion … and inclusion of all groups… must be paramount.