Julie Bindel in Bristol Tue Dec 10th: Prostitution

[severnboring]

Prostitution as a Cause and Consequence of Women's Oppression

Organised by the Uni feminist society

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/julie-bindel-talks-back-tickets-82878442653

A frequent claim made by Bindel and others is that prostitution is both a cause and a consequence of womans oppression (or gender inequality).

However this view is contested as some maintain that prostitution itself enhances gender equality by promoting a woman’s right to control what she wants to do with her body.

If prostitution were a cause of gender inequality, on a macro level one would expect societies where prostitution is illegal would be more gender equal. This is obviously untrue-consider Saudi Arabia and the USA where prostitution is illegal, gender equality is very different. And compare Sweden with Denmark with quite different policies-is Denmark less gender equal that Sweden? (only marginally according to the European Institute for gender equality[[https://eige.europa.eu/gender-equality-index/2015/countries-comparison here]] and internationally while Scandinavian countries indices (mostly client criminalisation to a degree) score well on gender equality so does New Zealand here (prostitution decriminalised) The worst countries are Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and Yemen.

Neither does the prevalence of prostitution in different countries have any clear link to indices of gender equality, Sweden and Denmark and the Netherlands have similar gender equality but different levels of prostitution. <a class="break-all" href="//(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_statistics_by_country)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> here

Further international comparisons show there is no relationship between an individual’s attitude towards prostitution and towards gender equality , overall those with liberal views are more likely to have favourable attitude to both prostitution and woman’s equality than conservatives (Chon.D 2015 Gender Equality, Liberalism and Attitude Toward Prostitution: Variation in Cross-National Study Journal of family violence 30:7 827-838 doi: 10.1007/s10896-015-9713-y here

So while it is widely claimed that prostitution is a cause of gender inequality there is little evidence to support this assertion. What this shows is that gender equality is due to structural reasons beyond attitudes to or prevalence of prostitution and while the legal settlement around prostitution may have a role in gender equality it is only minor-other factors predominate

Looks like she's just written an article addressing some of your claims, @exponential

www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news-review/julie-bindel-all-feminists-should-deplore-the-exploitation-of-vulnerable-women-they-dont-hrspn8tbb

If prostitution were a cause of gender inequality, on a macro level one would expect societies where prostitution is illegal would be more gender equal
No. Julie is not claiming that prostitution is the only cause of inequality.
Inequality is deeply rooted in most cultures, there is no one cause and no single way to cure it. The sex trade is a particularly insidious symptom, and it always escalates.

Bump!

Women Talk Back are really putting on an excellent series of events.

Julie Bindel just tweeted: "Bristol/nearby people (yes, men are welcome too, as are polyamorous/non-binary/sapiosexual) if you want to come to this on Tuesday eventbrite.co.uk/e/julie-bindel-talks-back-tickets-82878442653: Due to organising and security measures, buy your tickets before Tuesday or you won't get in."

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/julie-bindel-talks-back-tickets-82878442653

Interesting that the event is going ahead in light of the Essex Uni situation with Jo Phoenix today. The other events at Bristol have also gone ahead.

Sorry, wrong link. Here's what Julie tweeted: twitter.com/bindelj/status/1203370801896083457

This was really excellent with a great turnout despite hideous traffic and weather conditions.

Julie was extremely informative, particularly on the fake sex worker unions, and the parts played by the GMB union and (of course) the Guardian.

A woman who had survived grooming into the sex industry as a teenager spoke powerfully abou the real cost to women and girls.

She is working with Julie, Harriet Wistrich and Fiona Broadfoot on the campaign to have prostitution-related offences removed from women's criminal records. I had known of this campaign but hearing her speak really made me realise how important it is.

She has convictions from the 90s as a millstone around her neck, while the men who paid to rape her have simply gone on with their lives.

www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/17/former-prostitutes-launch-high-court-challenge-to-uk-law