By Raha Boshra
“With shame comes stigma, and with stigma comes violence.” -Intelexual Media on YouTube.
Stigma is everywhere, whether it is positive or negative. The history of sex work is filled with stigma, as well as negative factors like racism, misogyny, and class issues. From the 80s until now, there has been a wealth of cultural activism through books, art, and media that humanizes sex workers and legitimizes their existence to the mainstream. But even these positive gains are hemmed in by a culture that continues to dehumanize sex workers in video games, music, and movies (Intelexual Media, 2021).
Today, most U.S. laws criminalize the sex act as well as associated activities such as pimping and pandering (Brents et al., 2010). With Nevada being the only state where prostitution is legalized, there are still instances where many see sex work and prostitution as a fake business. Yet with Las Vegas being in Nevada, there are various instances of advertisements related to prostitution, either on paper or online. Las Vegas is known as “Sin City”, a place with rich entertainment factors, and places such as casinos, clubs, bars, and even the strip, a great attraction to tourists and anyone looking for a great vacation. The saying “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” is a hint at its freedom of adult entertainment with no judgment, yet despite all of this, the judgment and stigma surrounding sex work are still present.
In Nevada, prostitution is treated as a legitimate business. In Nevada’s legal brothels, there are structures in place that have successfully prevented violence, disease, and severe exploitation. The rural communities where prostitution is legal do not experience problems typically assumed to be associated with illegal prostitution: underage prostitution, trafficking, drugs, littering (of used condoms, drug paraphernalia), violence, disease, and a general increase in crime (Brents et al., 2010).
Going back to the topic of pornography, related to my last blog, I still agree on the dangers of pornography and how it enforces violence, but I generally try not to involve this with sex workers. There are worse issues that overlap with sex workers, such as murder, and sex workers who have been victims due to the negative stigma surrounding them. At least 502 known male serial murderers have existed in America between 1970 and 2009, and 3,288 of their victims were women, and 32% of those women were sex workers (Intelexual Media, 2021). These crimes were often committed due to the hatred towards sex workers, and how they would often not go missing since no one would look for them. However, there has been a push for activism in an attempt to dehumanize sex workers and decriminalize prostitution. Other states and communities around the United States can learn valuable policy lessons about the structures and experiences of prostitution today by paying attention to Nevada as a model, not as a social oddity (Brents et al., 2010).
By recognizing the similarities and differences sex work has with other forms of labor, it is possible to frame, define, legislate, and regulate commercial sex in ways that are more empowering for sex workers and healthier for communities (Brents et al., 2010).
All in all, prostitution and sex work are managed like a legitimate business, and learning the difference between sex workers and those who are trafficked and forced to do sex work can help in minimizing the stigma and the violence that comes from that hatred. Those who do sex work are still making money, and money is difficult to come by in this day and age. So, why judge sex work when there are worse and more dangerous ways to make money?
References:
Brents, B. G., Jackson, C. A., Hausbeck, K. (2010). The State of Sex: Tourism, Sex, and Sin in the New American Heartland. [PDF]. Ebook pages 213-226.
Intelexual Media. (2021, August 20). A brief history of America hating sex workers [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/PPNbYtv0Gpo?si=BRDC1vP7tshXuwj3
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