PAY TO PLAY: THE ETHICS OF SEX WORK

PAY TO PLAY

THE ETHICS OF PAID SEX WORK IN THE UNITED STATES

by Melissa Holguin | Design: Megan Piller

The United States still continues to question the ethical dilemMa of selling sexual acts for money. Although paid sex work has always been a part of our society, the act is illegal in most parts of the nation. Historically, sex work can be traced as far back as ancient Egypt, where the profession was widely accepted - unlike today. In current times, the profession’s question of legality has caused concern for the workers who fear for their safety because the public often believe workers are coerced into the work and thus need to be “rescued.” As a result, they are not given the same workers rights compared to the rest of the working class and have a lower hierarchical stance in society. It is also a common misconception that most sex workers are victims of sex trafficking. However, a growing amount of consensual sex work is produced through online media platforms such as Twitter or OnlyFans. This growing industry signals a shift of cultural acceptance in sex work. Lack of legislation on sex work can be disproportionally detrimental to specific populations of women who may experince harm from law enforcement. Having a cultural shift to accept consensual sex work will introduce new legislation to protect the safety of the employee. In 1995, the United Nations hosted a worldwide conference on women’s empowerment with the intent of advancing women’s rights globally. During the conference, officials demanded the word “forced” be prefaced before every mention of prostitution as a form of violence against women. Today, the public continues to confuse sex trafficking with sex work, a field which many women enter by choice. Although, there exists a handful of women who are coerced into sex work, officials missed the opportunity to change societal discourse that bashes sex work and divert discussion to progessive policy change surrounding sex worker safety. While sex workers typically face opposition globally due to cultural stigma and societal taboo, nations such as New Zealand and the Nordic countries have, in contrast, chosen to amplify the voices of sex workers. In New Zealand, sex work was decriminalized in 2003, meaning it became legal for citizens of legal age to sell sexual services. Unlike most countries whose elected officials dictate regulations without proper knowledge about or exposure to those employed in the profession, New Zealand consulted real sex workers to help improve legislation. In three of the five Nordic countries, buying, not selling, sex is considered illegal, thus shifting the responsibility from the demanded

to the demanders. Unfortunately, many sex workers globally are forced to engage in underground business, putting them at risk of being harmed without justice. Despite this, progression in many countries is slowly transitioning to uphold sex worker safety and rights, regardless of societal norms and opposition, showing that although there’s a lot more work to do, progress has occurred regardless. Given the widespread misconception that sex workers are coerced into their work, police are seen as saviors, even though they threaten sex workers’ safety and vitality. Throughout pop culture, and on shows like Cops, we often see glorified the work of cops for arresting sex workers trying to make a living rather than serving the public and providing assistance to those who truly need it. Before the legalization of sex work in New Zealand, sex workers reported mistrust between themselves and law enforcement because sex workers felt law enforcement’s actual intent was not protection but suppression. After legalization, though, focus shifted to ensuring the rights, safety, health and well-being of sex workers. In the United States, the only “assistance” a police officer can offer a sex worker is arrest, not resources. Furthermore, a disproportionate number of sex workers of color get arrested compared to their white counterparts because the black community is overpoliced and disproportionally accused of sex work. From 2016 to 2020, 89% of the prostitution arrests in New York City were nonwhites, often for reasons too vague to justify appropriately, such as talking to a stranger on the street or dressing inappropriately being seen as a form of loitering for prostitution. These arrests can affect a sex workers’ escape from the industry because if they do choose to leave, they are stuck with a criminal record that will impede their attractiveness on the job market. Recently, there has been a trend of sex workers taking autonomy of their work and posting it themselves on online websites such as OnlyFans and Twitter for profit. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, many sex workers found it hard to make ends meet and transitioned to working online. On sites such as OnlyFans, where users purchase a subscription for access to erotic content directly from content creators, growth has become exponential; there were only 120,000 creators in 2019, but by December 2020, the number of content creators rose to 1 million. For many people during this time, OnlyFans was seen as a financial lifeline to make ends meet during the pandemic but has now led to a boom in directly selling content to creators through other social media websites such as Instagram and Twitter, without ever having to meet clients in person. The transition of self-rule when it comes to selling sex has caused a dramatic shift in the way we view the profession of sex work, an occupation that has existed since the construction of the pyramids. Although many countries still have not taken action, the transition to legalizing sex work is critical to improving the safety of everyone involved. In the future, the self-rule of selling sex should no longer be considered an illegal method anywhere. By improving the autnonomous rights of sex workers, we can create a society and economy that empower its people with greater respect for personal decisions.