> >
> >Am I the only person who really, really hates the word
>"sex worker"? What's wrong with "prostitute"?
also, because that's what organized sex workers want to be called, asshole.
<quote>
Sex workers, usually referred to as prostitutes, have occupied an anomalous position in societies throughout history. Prostitutes are generally regarded as a social category, as women who do not adhere to sexual and other behavioural norms; pitied or despised, they are excluded from mainstream society, their lowly and marginal position analogous to that of a low caste or minority ethnic group. Outcast status denies them whatever international, national or customary protection from abuse is available to others as citizens, women or workers.[1] This social exclusion renders the prostitute vulnerable to exploitation.
The designation of prostitution as a special human rights issue, a violation in itself, emphasises the distinction between prostitution and other forms of female or low-status labour, such as cleaning or food-serving, however exploitative they are. It thus reinforces the marginal, and therefore vulnerable, position of the women and men involved in prostitution. By dismissing the entire sex industry as abusive, it also obscures the particular problems and violations of international norms within the industry which are of concern to sex workers.
The terms 'sex work' and 'sex worker' have been coined by sex workers themselves to redefine commercial sex, not as the social or psychological characteristic of a class of women, but as an income-generating activity or form of employment for women and men. As such it can be considered along with other forms of economic activity. An employment or labour perspective is a necessary, if not sufficient, condition for making sex work a part of the mainstream debate on human, women's, and workers' rights at local, national and international level.
The lack of international and local protection renders sex workers vulnerable to exploitation in the workplace, and to harassment or violence at the hands of employers, law enforcement officials, clients and the public. The need for worker protection, including occupational health and safety provisions, is of particular relevance in the current context of HIV/AIDS. Sex workers without rights in their place of work are uniquely vulnerable to infection with HIV and other sexually transmitted disease, as they routinely lack the information, materials or authority to protect themselves and their clients.
This report is intended as a preliminary step in the process of ending the exclusion of sex workers. By looking at commercial sex as work, and at the conditions under which that work is performed, sex workers can be included and protected under the existing instruments which aim to protect all workers in a general way, all persons from violence, children from sexual exploitation, and women from discrimination. The focus of the report is on how much sex workers have in common with other people and workers, not on how they differ. This report demonstrates that the social discrimination faced by sex workers and the problems they face in their working lives are not, in general, unique. Rather, their experience resembles the experience of other persons and workers. An examination of international human rights and labour standards reveals that most issues of concern to sex workers could be subject to the international instruments already developed to protect the rights of others. This approach contrasts with the historic treatment of prostitution at international level.
</quote> http://blog.pulpculture.org/2007/06/26/member-pro-prostitution/
Bitch - wondering who mugged Doss recently - Lab