I consider myself a feminist. I work for an organization working to end violence against women. Yet, this does not mean that i am opposed to prostitution, stripping, phone sex or pornography. I do not see them as one and the same. Certainly, some of this is violent and atrocious, but to say that the sex industry as a whole is is problematic. What is violent is the abuse that women who choose these professions receive, often because they are required to take on pimps for protection. Often, these pimps are police officers who are abuse these women terribly under the guise of “protection.” I have a problem with this. I have a problem with how the sex industry, by being underground, creates a systemic mechanism for putting women at risk.

Every person sells their body. They sell their hands, their minds, their smile, whatever. Often, in marriages, women trade their bodies in return for protection. Labor is involved and labor is about the sale of bodies, and labor brings money. If we must sell our bodies, women should have a right to choose what part of their bodies they sell. If a woman chooses to sell her vagina for hard-earned cash rather than protection, that is her right. She should be protected; her choice of profession should be honored and she should be given the rights and protections afforded all laborers under the law. Making sex work illegal does not eliminate it; it eliminates the protections that women have for safety and protection. Thus, i continue to be appalled by organizations, working under the notion of feminism, to end sex work; they are asking for increased abuse of women. End violence, yes. Control and ostracize women to do so, no thank you.