On 8 October 2018 we published the BTS Round Table on the Future of Work, in which 12 experts explain recent changes to the nature of work and offer new ideas in labour policy, organising, and activism. This piece has been written in response.
Political and public debates regarding sex work have intensified and crystalised into two apparently irreconcilable positions. On the one hand, we have calls for the recognition of sex work as work, with the primary goal being the end to criminalisation and legal oppression. On the other, we have the view that prostitution should be regarded as intrinsic violence against women. From this perspective criminalisation – and especially the criminalisation of clients – is an important part of larger efforts to disrupt, decrease, and ultimately abolish prostitution. This debate has important ramifications for efforts to grapple with the future of work, as opposition to the basic notion of sex work as work like any other continues to undercut efforts to improve rights and protections for sex workers.
The abolitionist model of criminalising clients has recently gained considerable ground across Europe. France, Norway, Sweden, Ireland and Northern Ireland have all criminalised the purchase of sex. Israel and other countries are debating similar laws, and Spain officially announced a ‘feminist abolitionist’ government. Despite this negative trend, sex workers continue to self-organise and formulate collective demands against their precariousness and exploitative working conditions.
