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By Kara • 13 years ago

Move Along: Policing Sex Work in Washington D.C.

As a resident of the D.C area, I am very interested in the laws and policies which directly impact sex worker’s lives in Washington D.C. I recently came across a report by the Alliance for a Safe & Diverse DC titled “Move Along: Policing Sex Work in Washington D.C.”.   This report explores the direct impact that commercial sex policies have on the lives of sex workers. One of the policies which I found to be the most baffling was the the creation of Prostitution Free Zones (PFZ’s).  The Metropolitan Police Department reserves the right to declare PFZ’s in areas where “the health or safety of residents is endangered by with prostitution or prostitution-related offenses”. When an area is declared a PFZ, it is “unlawful for a group of two or more persons to congregate in a public space or property in that area for the purpose of engaging in prostitution or prostitution-related offenses”. Considering that this is already the law, PFZ’s can be seen as a means to provide stricter punishments for those engaging in sex work under the guise of public safety. Such laws are counter-intuitive because they not only decrease public safety and public health, but further stigmatize and marginalize sex workers and trans people. As the report notes, interactions with the police were “characterized by humiliation, abuse, and extortion” (1).
By Kara • 13 years ago

Sex Work is a Feminist Issue!

Is sex work damaging and degrading to women or is it a a service profession just like any other? This is an issue which has caused a schism among feminists everywhere. As an individual who identifies as both sex-positive and a feminist, I have always found it hard to grasp why many mainstream feminists in the United States don’t really support sex worker’s rights. There is a long history behind this opposition, one that needs to be reevaluated and questioned. I think that it is important to situate sex work activism within an expanded feminist framework, one which takes into consideration the opinions of sex workers themselves as well as the ways in which their experiences serve to enhance the ...

Is sex work damaging and degrading to women or is it a a service profession just like any other? This is an issue which has caused a schism among feminists everywhere. As an individual who identifies as ...