Sex Worker, Not Prostitute
I first heard about using the term “sex worker” instead of “prostitute” while listening to an episode of “My Favorite Murder”,112 – Our Bodies, Our Twelves, My Favorite Murder (Apr. 14, 2016) (downloaded using iTunes). a true-crime comedy podcast, demonstrating how the debate over the term has become mainstream. People have used the word prostitute since approximately 1520,2Dictionary.com, https//www.dictionary.com/browse/prostitute (last visited Nov. 21, 2019). although the exchange of sexual acts for compensation has existed throughout history, since the Sumerians.3New World Encyclopedia, https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Prostitution (last visited Nov. 21, 2019). For example, Carol Leigh first used the term “sex worker” in the early 1980s.4Carol Leigh coins the term “sex work”, Global Network of Sex Work Projects, https://www.nswp.org/timeline/event/carol-leigh-coins-the-term-sex-work (last visited Nov. 21, 2019). She preferred saying sex work instead of prostitution because it “prioritized the work of the provider rather than the customer.”5Id. The term is now used widely, including by notable groups such as the World Health Organization.6World Health Organization, https://www.who.int/en.
This blog post discusses the change in rhetoric regarding sex work and how that change contributes to the legalization thereof. There is currently no global consensus on the legalization or criminalization of sex work.7Countries Where Prostitution Is Legal 2019, (Oct. 10, 2019), http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/countries-where-prostitution-is-legal/. Several countries have decriminalized sex work,8Id. whereas other countries still impose fines—and sometimes even corporal punishment—for the work.9Penal Code, Ta’azirat Ch. 18, Art. 637, 638 (1996) (Iran). In the United States, sex work is illegal in every state, except for some counties in Nevada.10Staff, Prostitution Laws Around the World, Global News (2013), https://globalnews.ca/news/128029/at-a-glance-prostitution-laws/.
A heated debate surrounding the advisability of legalizing sex work continues. Some believe it should be legalized to respect sex worker’s bodily autonomy, decrease health risks and decrease the stigma currently associated with sex work. Others maintain that legalizing sex work furthers violence against women by legitimizing a system where women are frequently physically and sexually assaulted.
The change in language from “prostitution” to “sex work” supports legalization of sex work. The Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) stated that “this shift in language had the important effect of moving global understandings of sex work toward a labour framework.”11Global Network of Sex Work Projects, https://www.nswp.org/. Focusing on sex work as a service industry guarantees women full human rights as workers. If sex work is decriminalized, it can be regulated, which will decrease health risks and increase workers’ ability to change professions. If workers do not have a criminal record for sex work and do not have to pay fines related to arrests for sex works, they will have a better chance at a way out, thus increasing workers’ autonomy.
The movement to decriminalize sex work in the United States has gained traction. Rep. Ayanna Pressley recently announced an extensive criminal justice reform resolution proposing that sex work be decriminalized throughout the U.S.12Marina Pitofsky, Ayanna Pressley introduces extensive criminal justice reform resolution, The Hill, (Nov. 16, 2019),https://thehill.com/homenews/house/470791-ayanna-pressley-introduces-sweeping-criminal-justice-reform-resolution. Several conservative lawmakers oppose this resolution, claiming that it is “hollow”.13Id. However, this resolution is a huge step in the right direction, even if it just brings the idea of legalization of sex work into mainstream political conversation. Until the law finally decriminalizes sex work, we should continue changing language used in discussions of sex work to decrease stigma for those involved.
