Janice Turner on Amnesty International response to Oxfam Scandal

[Tinycitrus]

Janice turner - paying for sex is always an abuse of power

An excerpt:

Given its neutral stance on commercial sex, is it cool with its staff using prostitutes? “Amnesty’s employment contracts clearly stipulate that employees must not behave in a way that brings the organisation into disrepute,” it said, “and in light of the Oxfam case, we’ve instigated a full review of all relevant policies.” Which reads less like a principled stand than a scrambled PR operation: ie we’ve smelt the public mood and don’t want lost donations. Only when I pressed further did it say: “Any staff members found to be using sex workers in the course of their work would face an immediate investigation and potential disciplinary action.” Which directly contradicts its own policy! What about neutrality, women having “agency” and punters not being penalised?

I just want to stand up and applaud after reading that.

I look out at two ideas at war. The #metoo notion that, from parliament to the Presidents Club, men must not leverage power and privilege for sexual favours from vulnerable women, and the idea that “sex work” is fine, empowering even — although those driven into prostitution are among the most vulnerable women of all. As the Oxfam scandal illustrates, both cannot be true.

Brilliantly sums up the issue. I honestly don't understand how pro-prostitution feminists cope with the cognitive dissonance their position requires.

I honestly don't understand how pro-prostitution feminists cope with the cognitive dissonance their position requires

I can't really see it as anything other than an inherently racist position, although I'm happy to be corrected on that.

im confused.

Is there something that I’m not seeing?

Were those women in Haiti exercising agency in selling their bodies to these rich men? Were they ‘sex workers?’ Or ‘exploited?’

I’ve alwsys seen prostitution as predicated on the vulnerability and desperation of women and men.

And yet Amnesty does not see it this way. And yet when faced with the harsh reality and public revulsion- suddenly it does?

Janice Turner is so consistently brilliant. Can she come on for a webchat? MNHQ??

Amnesty was captured by the misogynists some considerable time ago

She is brilliant abs thank goodness someone is shining a light on all this

Janice is a fab writer and such a clear thinker - she really makes the connections.

I’ve heard the decriminalisation lobby argue Haiti is a special case: these Oxfam sleaze-balls traded sex for aid. The women were especially vulnerable: the men overly privileged. So would it be fine if they’d paid with cash not baby milk? Or if they weren’t aid workers but western tourists? Can someone pinpoint the exact power dynamic, the precise economic and geo-political circumstances when a man paying a woman for sex is not an abuse of power?

I stopped giving money to Amnesty when they made that announcement. Just disgusting, clueless trampling on vulnerable women and children with this idiotic rhetoric about choice. Pah. I'm still fizzing about how spineless they are.

Is Amnesty’s position that sex work is ok as long as women are selling their bodies in a ‘safe’ place, getting regular health checks etc (like on a farm?)

And that’s the difference between say Haiti and Nevada? That the sex work wasn’t regulated and taxed by the state?

I’m genuinely trying to understand how amnesty is trying to square this.

Isn't she great?

Yes, Janice Turner is fabulous.

I still don't understand how Amnesty got completely infiltrated by the pro-pimp lobby (quite literally -the main person driving their change of policy was quite literally a pimp who fronts one of the so-called sex-workers' unions).

Has anyone got a link with a share token?