Sex workers PIC

Language K

The term prostitute is used to oppress women
who are forced to sell sex through poverty. Using
the term sex workers is a preferable alternative.
Pritchard 10 (Jane, The sex work debate)International Socialist Journal, Issue: 1255-1-10
http://www.isj.org.uk/index.php4?id=728&;issue=130)

The language itself is highly problematic and emotive. The use of the term prostitute is regarded
as a denigrating word used for women who are forced into selling sex through poverty and
exclusion, while the use of the term sex worker is seen as dignifying an activity which
reflects and compounds womens oppression. This article does not suggest that sex work is a job
like any otherhowever, the term sex work will be used, first because it avods the moral
condemnation often attached to the word prostitute. Second, this term is used because
women who directly sell sex on the streets, in flats or in brothels are only a subset of a
much larger number of women who work in the sex industry.
1
The modern sex industry is a
multibillion dollar industry, which generates huge profits for both transnational corporations
and criminal gangs. The sex industry is difficult to define because it encompasses a huge range of
diverse activities. According to the writer Elisabeth Bernstein:
The scope of sexual commerce has grown to encompass: live sex shows; all variety of pornographic texts,
videos, and images, both in print and on line; fetish clubs; sexual emporiums featuring lap-dancing and
wall-dancing; escort agencies; telephone sex and cyber-sex contacts; drive through striptease venues;
and organised sex tours of developing countries.
2

Accurate figures are hard to come by, but there is a general consensus that the last two decades have seen
a resurgence in the international sex industry, including street prostitution, the voluntary or forced
migration of women to work in the sex industry and the proliferation of lap dancing clubs. What is certain
is that the sex industry is hugely profitable. A European Parliament report from 2004 estimated the global
sex industry to be worth $5,000 billion to $7,000 billion.
3
Some of the transnational corporations
involved, such as Hugh Heffners Playboy and lap dancing chains owned by Spearmint Rhino and Foxy
Lady, are well known. However, many apparently more respectable companies make huge profits from
providing telephone lines and cable and satellite programmes, and being the internet providers for the sex
industry. These include GM Motors (through DirecTV), Time Warner, News International (EchoStar
satellite, AT&T) and hotel chain Marriot International.