Unfortunately, my powerpoint has gone in the wrong direction.

[JulieBindelRocks]

I have to do a powerpoint about consent for my degree coursework, and I understand they really want us to include prostitution within the discussion. Looking at the resources they have given us, they are very much pushing the 'sex work is work' agenda, however, I just can't. So I have found some alternative resources which expose the realities of prostitution and produced some slides I am happy with.

I know we have many university tutors among us, so I wondered if anyone had any thoughts on how this might go down. I can't talk to any of my fellow students because I don't know them (it is all on-line), and I don't want to give my tutor the heads-up until I am sure I am going to submit it. I can afford a slightly lower mark as I have good results up till now. But I am still a bit concerned about future marking. Anyway, sorry if it is a bit rambley, but it is all whirling around in my head at the moment.

I'm not a tutor but I thought I'd chip in anyway 🙂Well done for using some critical thinking! I would say explaining different viewpoints and then coming to a conclusion would be the best approach - so cover the sex work is work as an idea then take it down with a feminist critique or at least present the feminist viewpoint. Make sure your sources are solid. Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

Thank you @Lovelyview. This is what I must do. I am finding it so hard to engage with their "happy hooker' narrative though and endless own choice narrative. Sigh.

As long as you have sources to back up your claims, you can state anything you want.

You could argue for sex work to be mandatory for all adults over 18 instead of claiming benefits... Just back it up.

Also not a tutor but have recently been an MA student....

I'd be drawing their attention to the one-sidedness of the situation ie that the vast majority in sex work are women and the vast majority of punters are men. Also women tend not to be able to speak truthfully about their experience until they have left the trade, due to needing to advertise and also because it is common to need avoid facing up to trauma.

I'd also question why the positive experiences of a very privileged minority of women in sex work are used to justify a trade in which the majority of women are traumatised; abuse survivors; in poverty etc. and in which an unknown number are trafficked. This is akin to using the experiences of this country's wealthiest white people to extrapolate that there is no cost of living crisis; that housing is affordable; there is no institutional racism etc.

This might not make sense to you OP, but I like to compare the ivory trade to stuff like prostitution and surrogacy: It is illegal to sell ivory. This includes antique ivory and even the ivory that I discover on an elephant I find that died of natural causes. This is because it is understood that the trade in ivory fuels demand which puts all living elephants at risk. Now why can't we protect female humans to this extent?

There is a lot of focus on whether legal/Nordic Modal/other models hurt or help current sex workers. But that isn't the only metric. And it's a metric which is used so that men who like negotiated consent can pretend to care about the women they do it to whist doing it.

Other metrics might be; harm to women in general, harm to the concept of consent, the trade in humans, comodification of both women's bodies and consent.

A fundamental issue for me is this, regardless what the women doing it feel, the man knows he is having unwanted sex with her. She would not be doing it if she had other choices. As far as I'm concerned, that makes him a rapist. Even if she doesn't see it that way. Even if no one else sees it like that. Legalising rape isn't good for women.