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I went to a panel on sex work a few months ago, it was five women, from a pro-legalization scholar, an Aboriginal rights activist, an Asian rights activist, a queer woman sex worker and a woman from a harm reduction charity.
The term "sex work" was used to say "most sex workers are empowered by their work and choose it", which pissed me off. "Sex work" includes a lot of people, like Apathy said, and it wasn't specifically about prostitutes. The two rights activists pointed out the overwhelming racist nature of prostitution in Canada and called for the Nordic model of legalization, and the harm reduction people were talking about how they meet prostitutes where they are, provide clean needles, safety tips, etc. So there was a few white people telling the racialized women that they were wrong and patronizing.
It rubbed me the wrong way, there definitely is privilege and hierarchy even in the sex industry. If a white escort is putting herself through college with her pay, its something quite different than an Asian girl being trafficked or an Aboriginal woman on the streets with few options.
I hope there's a day where it isn't degrading, but I think people are duped if they think its a position of power.
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