Among the many failings of our economic and political realities revealed by COVID-19, the most visible one is the fact that the pandemic is accentuating all the pre-existing inequalities. In fact, it has a much more devastating impact on oppressed sections of society who are already in fragile financial positions and living off precarious jobs.
A profession that falls within this is sex work.
While tackling the question of sex work, it is imperative that a distinction be made between the worker and the industry. Everything under Capitalism is a commodity, and the sex industry is no different. It is a global billion-dollar industry, with profit at the forefront of its operations, aided by pimps and business moguls. The industry makes women’s sexuality subservient to that of men. Most of the women, men and non-binary people are part of this industry because of the coercion of poverty, trauma and inequality. Exploitation and coercion, both physical and financial, is rampant and well beyond what many imagine. The sex industry is thus the poster child of neo-liberalism and capitalism, and stringent opposition against it needs to take place. The sex worker on the other hand, deserves unequivocal support and respect, much like any other worker. Like the rest of us, they need to feed themselves and their families, and should have access to the same humane and safe working conditions as everyone else.
The federal government has replaced the Canada Emergency Response Benefit(CERB)with new schemes. Whereas a lot of workers in Canada have been able to avail themselves of CERB, EI and other benefits in these uncertain times, sex workers have not. The new systems seem to be just as bad on this score. On paper, sex workers were eligible for CERB as long as they’ve made the qualifying income; however, they don’t apply out of legitimate concerns about disclosing their job on government applications, since many aspects of sex work are criminalized and stigmatized.
According to WISH, a Vancouver based support organization, 75 percent of the women they see during COVID-19 don’t have enough money for food, medical supplies and rent.
In theory, sex work itself is legal in Canada, yet aspects of the work are deemed criminal. The Conservative government of Stephen Harper implemented Bill C-36 in 2014 which made it a crime to pay for sex work, but not to be a sex worker, a law among the most restrictive in the Western world. But sex workers can and are still targeted for activities related to the sex trade. In many countries, sex work is fully criminalized, with the buyer, seller and any third party being subject to criminal prosecution such as in the United States, China, Russia and the majority of countries in Africa.
Social distancing is impossible in a profession where physical contact is necessary. Yet other professionals whose work entails more or less the same lack of social distancing have not suffered similar financial consequences because they enjoy the cushion of government regulation. Sex workers have essentially had their incomes completely dissolved overnight. There’s a range of sex work within the sex industry from full-time legal pornography to working part-time as escorts or exotic dancers, which can supplement other sources of income. A small number of these workers may have the financial cushion to survive the impact of COVID-19, however many sex workers rely on street-based economies. Workers’ Rights organizations have started relief funds as a result to support them; however, they do not even begin to offset the financial and health cost of criminalization. Furthermore, a significant number of sex workers in Canada are migrants, some trafficked, who have unclear immigration status and lack valid social insurance numbers, making a grim situation even worse.
Some sex workers have looked into other solutions and moved to the online world, offering clients video sessions. Others have moved to simple phone calls, text messages, videos, pictures, sessions over Skype and platforms that offer subscription-based pornographic material. Despite appearing to be a viable alternative to in person sex work, for many it is not. On top of this, some online platforms such as OnlyFans have recently introduced caps on the amount that can be earned. The website also introduced a 30-day payout, meaning that sex workers using it have to wait a month before they can transfer money from the site to their bank accounts. To make a bad situation even worse, COVID-19 has seen an increase in violence and, due to a drop in demand, clients paying less. “Johns are much more aggressive,” according to Vancouver’s WISH, that supports women in street-based sex work.
One sector that re-opened was strip and burlesque clubs. However, after several were the sources of spread, they are now closed in Ontario, Québec and BC. Most strip clubs have taken as many precautions as other indoor venues, in some cases more. At least some of the criticisms likely flow from moral rather than medical causes.
While acknowledging the exploitive nature of the sex work industry, concern for the health and well-being of sex workers is appropriate. This is about the humane principle of every worker deserving safe and healthy work. Sex workers should be no different. Removing legislation that creates structural barriers to safety for sex workers, particularly those who are lower income, racialized or undocumented, would help make this work safer. Furthermore, the right of sex workers to organize for safer working conditions should be fully supported. Sex workers should be provided with assistance in exiting the industry, through access to healthcare and trauma treatment in culturally accessible ways, education, training, legal rights and status, housing and jobs.
In his Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Karl Marx described sex work as being “only a specific expression of the general prostitution of the labourer.” It is also part of the continuum of women’s oppression under capitalism – sexism, unequal pay, lack of childcare, misogyny and violence against women. It is also part of the deep oppression of sexually non-conforming humanity.
In The Communist Manifesto four years later, he called sex work the “complement” of the bourgeois family and predicted that both institutions would one day vanish. That cannot happen under capitalism, as only in a socialist society the need for women to be oppressed in their families and work would no longer exist.
We must continue organizing for worker solidarity to help create a socialist world. That is when we will have true freedom, sexual and otherwise.
