From DEBRA@oln.comlink.apc.orgTue Aug 22 02:35:44 1995 Date: Sun, 20 Aug 1995 11:43:00 +0100 From: Debra Guzman Reply to: beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org To: beijing95-l@netcom.com, beijing-conf@tristram.edc.org Subject: Time to Challenge the Anti-Prostitution Lobby [The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] ## author : CarolLeigh@aol.com ## date : 20.08.95 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- TRAFFICKING SEX SLAVES HORROR: TIME TO CHALLENGE THE ANTI- PROSTITUTION LOBBY by Alison Murray, The Professional, June August 1995, New South Wales reprinted with permission of The Professional Increasingly strident statements of anti- trafficking groups are building up in advance of the UN Conference on Women to be held in Beijing in September 1995. One of the goals is a new UN Convention charter to replace the 1949 Convention of the Suppression of Trafficking in Persons and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (which is already anti- prostitution) Many well-meaning people are misled into thinking that trafficking, child prostitution and sex tourism are enormous problems. Without saying that these things don't exist, I hope that before people dig into their pockets for a donation, sign a petition, or join an anti-trafficking group, they will consider the sex workers perspective and the implications of this lobby for the workers in sex trades: The recent Asia Watch repost, "A modern form of slavery: trafficking of Burmese women and girls into brothels in Thailand" was followed by a fund-raising initiative from the International Women's Development Agency, (IWDA). THe IWDA campaign says that over 10,000 women and girls are trafficked into Thailand each year and that 50%-70% are HIV positive. While it is not clear where the figures come from, it is quasi- academic books like "A Modern form of slavery" which help the pass into accepted fact, although the researchers conveniently chose to remain anonymous. The authors did not visit brothels, but interviewed 30 workers ("victims") who had been arrested/ While ostensibly giving these workers a voice, their statements are reinterpreted by the experts: on one hand they pick out those who said they didn't know what work they would do, [although since prostitution is illegal in Thailand it seems logical that they would say that to avoid prosecution] , on the other hand, it seems to be usual for the women to find their own way our of Burma to find brothel agents, even though they were supposedly tricked: they seem to be so stupid they can be duped twice, as they are take for deportation to the Thai- Burmese border and then came back. Where they have made it home and boasted of the money they made, this is described as lying to "save face," even when they have gone on to recruit others or returned to work. "Their return to prostitution was voluntary only in the sense they saw their first experience as having rendered the, unfit for anything else." The women are described as fleeing the repressive regime and poverty in Burma, which contradicts the aim of "rescuing" the women and returning home. THere is a fairly well-substantiated rumor that HIV positive Burmese women returned to Burma have been executed by the ruling ALORC authorities: there is clearly evidence to support the claims of serious abuses by Thai authorities. The 1960 Suppression of Prostitution Act criminalized the industry- while there continues to be a high demand, as over 75% of THai men see prostitutes regularly (figures from the Public Health Ministry): the large amounts of money at stake allow for the bribery and corruption, and unregulated, substandard working conditions. A Thai police officer disputed the book's findings: 'At present, most of these Burmese girls come here to work in brothels of their free will. Very few of the women we meet in our day to day work say they were lured into the business' (The Nation, 5 April 1995), he also pointed out that 'police had great difficulty securing convictions against agents who recruit women for the flesh industry since very few prostitutes are willing to identify or testify against these agents in a court of law.' It is tempting to wonder why these Americans want to expose the 'horrors' in Thailand as opposed to HIV prevalence among sex workers in the black housing projects in Oakland- California, or the way US treats immigrants, even legal ones. [Editor's note: in light of the recent developments with the discovery in El Monte, California, of a garment manufacturing "sweatshop" enslaving over 70 illegal immigrant Thai women, which INS officials knew about but did nothing to stop for nearly three years, one can only wonder when the campaign will begin to prohibit commercial garment manufacturing, so that the new form of trafficking in women to sew clothing will cease.... a fund raising drive perhaps to get legislators to enact new laws against department stores which sell jeans?] Perhaps because the white women would not get very far in the projects without being beaten up, whereas they know that as guest in Thailand, which depends on tourism income they will enjoy a level of protection. The Burmese border area has rapidly transformed with increased trade, Thailand's booming economy and income inequalities, spectacular consumption and materialist expectations, causing disjunctures of western and local cultures. Thai and Burmese girls are still socialized to fulfill expectations of supporting their family through a strong sense of gratitude, and to accept their parents decision if that is to send them to a brothel. Muecke argues that sex work actually has a functional role in preserving the traditional cultural functions of daughters through remittances and merit making, this conserving the institutions of family and Buddhism [ah, bless those family values- some American politicians favorite topic!] Many Westerners find this hard to understand, preferring to blame wicked agents and monstrous clients (especially sex tourists). The IWDA campaign over Burmese women has tried to link the situation with Thai women arriving in Sydney, but their exaggerations only make things worse for the workers. Our research shows that Thai workers in Australia arrive with debts of up to $30,000, however methods of entry and conditions vary greatly. We have found that most of these women enter their contracts willingly. Because the sex industry is not fully decriminalized and sex workers cannot obtain work visas freely some of the terms and conditions of contracts are exploitive, and working conditions may be poor. Through their Operation Paper Tiger, the authorities have deported 80 illegal Thai workers in 2 years: as the crackdown continues the cost of the bonds goes up. Workers who are persecuted, arrested and deported before they pay off their debts are left with nothing for their hard work. Police and immigration activity scares clients away, this means more pressure to work in substandard conditions because work is slow. It also makes it harder for workers to be contacted by support organizations providing information, condoms and HIV/AIDS information. Asian workers who seek employment in the sex industry in Australia do so for the money, as do Australian workers: "It comes down to how much money you have in your hand at the end of the night.... A good night in Sydney I make $400. A good night in Bangkok I make $20. It's simple. (Mary). Workers should be free to move to seek better pay and conditions just as many Australian workers go to work in Japan and Singapore. In the very rare cases when workers have been trapped by false promises, of course this is unacceptable. The anti-trafficking campaigns increase discrimination as they perpetuate the stereotype of Asian workers as passive and diseased. This stereotype also encourages clients to think of Asian workers as helpless victims and encourages them to violate the rights of these workers. There are now a number of anti-trafficking groups which use the emotive discourse of trafficking to push an abolitionist, fundamentalist agenda, based on the ideology set out by Kathleen Barry, Catharine MacKinnon et al. The feminist abolitionist position dates back to 1875, with Josephine Butler and International Abolitionist Association. "Prostitution is important to feminism because the prostitute body is a terrain on which feminist contest sexuality, desire and the writing of the female body' (Bell). MacKinnon's thesis is that in the patriarchy we live in, all sex is prostitution as female sexuality is entirely constructed as an object of male desire. [In this view of sexuality] prostitution is a fundamental violation of women's human rights. Meanwhile Western sex workers have developed their own structures of support and advocacy, partly through funding for HIV education, which has allowed them to challenge some of the feminists. This may be one reason that abolitionists have turned their attention to Asia. The lack of accurate information has so far limited the ability of Western prostitutes to respond, however I believe that some response is urgently needed as the anti-trafficking lobby has broad implications for all sex trade workers, freedom of sexual expression and HIV/AIDS prevention. The Global Alliance Against the TRaffic in Women was launched in Chiang Mai in 1994, and is supported by ECPAT & PCV (despite criticism from other sex workers groups) and IWDA among others; it claims not to be abolitionist, but it helps those who are, particularly the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women based in the US. This group and others have formed a network, supported by UNESCO; the NGO Coalition Against Exploitation of Women, which is taking a petition to beijing. The proposal will ban prostitution completely, not just forced prostitution: as they claim "Legalized prostitution... is an open door for traffickers." Their petition states: " It is a fundamental human right to be free of sexual exploitation in all its forms, from prostitution, sex tourism trafficking in women, mail-order bride selling and pornography to incest, wife abuse, sexual harassment and rape...." Is there an element of titillation in these women's focus on sex workers, when similar problems are faced by migrant domestic workers and others [case in point, the Thai women held in captivity in the California sweatshops]? If a petition like this were passed at the Beijing conference it would be an apparent endorsement by representatives of all women of reinforced measures against prostitution. And since in an increasingly commodified and materialistic world the marketing of bodies in all forms is only likely to increase, then reinforcing sanctions will only have the effect of increasing criminal control, corruption of law enforcement and exploitation of the workers. The Network of Sex Work Projects is coordinating a sex worker presence at Beijing to counter the anti-trafficking lobby, Sex workers must struggle, since the Chinese government does not even allow visas for sex workers. Sex workers were similarly excluded from the 1994 International AIDS Conference in Yokohama, however workers did manage to be heard and establish an Asia-Pacific Network of Sex Worker projects. Migration of female labour is increasing due to processes of economic globalization and removal of political boundaries, and clearly this process is accompanied by an increasing degree of coercion and exploitation of women due to prevailing systems of sex and gender in sending and receiving countries such as Thailand. A Utrecht conference statement made a valid point that force and not the type of work should be the issue in 'trafficking.' existing laws and Conventions cover the issues of slavery and similar practices, non-consensual sex and the exploitation of children, therefore all states need to ratify and apply (if they have not done so) these conventions: laws should be introduced to control the sale of children by their parents. All states need to consider decriminalizing prostitution, applying occupational health and safety standards to workplaces (including provisions for street workers) and working towards eradicating discrimination. Restrictive immigration policies contribute to the exploitation of migrants and should be reviewed: sex workers should have the right to travel freely and obtain working visas and support networks should be funded. Finally, where sex workers have been forced to work against their will they should be offered every support and free transport to their place of origin if they so wish. It is important to distinguish different types of sex trade work using participatory research that involves the workers. Blanket statements about prostitution and the exploitation of women are part of a political agenda which seeks to control the way people think and behave. The situations which the anti-traffickers rail against, in so far as they exist, are a result of economic,political and gender inequalities, and it is those inequalities which should be our central cause for concern.