DIANE ABBOTT AND SEX WORK ARTICLE IN THE TIMES

[Mollyollydolly]

Diane tweeted about sex work
'Horrific that Durham University is offering training to students who want to be sex workers part-time. Sex work is degrading, dangerous and exploitative. Uni should have nothing to do with it'.
If you really want to depress yourself look at the responses to her tweet. I really don't understand what went wrong on the left, how is prostitution progressive? I just don't get it, some of the replies from the likes of Femi and blue tick Independent journalists make me feel sick. They sound like pimps.

Saddest of all are the young women who have been gaslight into thinking this is a good career choice. So depressing.

Wow lots to unpack here.

Most importantly, I doubt very much that any Durham undergraduates are actually sex workers. People will readily accept they are because of the old trope of the happy hooker putting herself through law school and then, unscathed, going on to earn £££ in a city firm. NB this never happened. And it certainly didn't happen in Durham, which is where well heeled Oxbridge rejects go to have eating disorders. And well heeled undergrads do not sell their fannies.

What's going on here is that the SU wants to display its inclusive credentials by being kind to prostitutes. As though any of them had the slightest clue about how a prostitute can keep safe. I bet a million pounds that the only take up is from posh girls bored of frigging themselves with denman hairbrushes who in idle moments on slow Wednesday afternoons toy with the idea of going on Only Fans. And then think about something else.

Diane Abbott is dead right though. No one should be sanctioning any of this nonsense.

Margarita it depends on the content.

The toolkit I saw for staff to support students did not include anything about orgs or who to talk to at uni if want to get out/ victim of violence or sexual assault, anything.

So I would need to see content before deciding what I think.

Batshaver do you have any stats to back up your post?

Things like-

% at Durham doing sex work (that includes a host of things not just prostitution)

% at Durham who struggle financially

Data showing that the students at the session were all/ mainly 'posh girls bored of frigging themselves with denman hairbrushes who in idle moments on slow Wednesday afternoons toy with the idea of going on Only Fans'.

Oh gawd the resident pro-prostitution crowd are here on cue.

Margarita, nice patronising of Diane Abbott there. Why do you think she doesn’t understand the issue?

If DA hasn't seen the content/ session then headline could be wrong which is bad.

Incidentally loads of news reports now. Is it just her that has raised it, or others? If plenty then seems unfair to focus on her.

Without seeing content I don't think it's reasonable to assume anything though, whatever views you have generally.

It's definitely not just her that's raised it. She's a woman though and she's black + obviously not kind enough. 🙄

Ah. I did wonder. Fuxake.

I do wonder at these LibMen so keen on women renting their fannies out that they'll tweet about it openly. Do they really not think we see them?

Not just openly but aggressively, using veiled racial/ageist/misogynistic slurs at a black woman. Like wtf?

The Times have now changed their headline btw, it now reads "Durham university offers safety training for student sex workers"

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/durham-university-offers-safety-training-for-student-sex-workers-6wcj7ncfh

Durham Uni's SU has refused to apologise for their offer to help students sex workers, and the Uni has issued a statement

"We make no apologies for working to ensure that Durham is a safe environment for all of our students and staff. We are extremely disappointed by the way the intentions for, and content of, this session have been misinterpreted"

www.palatinate.org.uk/we-make-no-apologies-durham-responds-to-sex-worker-training-criticism/

So a lecturer can purchase one of his students to stick his dick in, and the university sees no problems with this?

I find this absolutely horrifying. I feel so sad and sorry for young women growing up now.

I think back to myself at that age and how impressionable and adventurous I was. I wonder if my friends had been getting into it and there was an actual course being offered by the University on how to do it safely, would I have been tempted?

I think there should be a warning from the University that anyone who is prostituting themselves will be kicked out.

www.durhamsu.com/articles/jonah-graham-coverage-of-student-sex-worker-training-wildly-untrue
Student sex work is "a fact of modern life" according to Jonah, the welfare and liberation (WTF) officer at DSU.
No Jonah, it is NOT a fact of life. Women need to be helped out of this as it puts them in grave danger. That's the help they need and you either A Don't help them out of prostitution or B don't say you help them out which is particularly cowardly and obfuscating the truth to appease woke student sex work organisations. FFS.

I'm totally confused as to what is going on.
Durham say they want to support students providing sex services to do it safely.

The problem is that there is no safe way to provide sex services for money.

It's a men's rights movement protecting £££££££££ big business through merciless tactics; 1) pretend it's progressive, 2) violently attack survivors for speaking out (see Paris demonstration) and 3) Gaslight students that feminists are evil bigots in a form of coercive control that prevents victims from getting help.

@weverly

Sex workers are so vulnerable to male violence, they need to be safeguarded, so I think it's good this is being addressed on campus.

How does this make them less vulnerable?

Calling it prostitution and not 'sex work' might be a way forward. If they think that accepting it's going to happen makes them so 'right on' then at least call it what it is.

I wonder if this training or support is the same as The University of Leicester's 'toolkit' for which they received funding to roll out across other institutions? There's a petition running at the moment regarding UOL's toolkit due to concerns about it's lack of signposting to support services, the absence of guidance regarding coersion, and lack of discussion regarding the possible harms experienced as part of sex work - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/petitions_noticeboard/4344198-petition-to-revoke-student-sex-work-toolkit

And I say 'training or support' only because that's how it's described by the University of Durham!

@CheeseMmmm

I think no judgement can be made without knowing what the actual content was tbh.

Unless the content was pointing out the prostitution is degrading, brutalising, dangerous and damaging to the participants in particular and society in general and offered guidance on getting out of prostitution, a judgement can certainly be made.

Perhaps the content should also have included offers of help to find safer work?

Nordic Model Now are releasing their handbook for universities next week. I've had an advance view and it's an impressive well researched resource.

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/launch-of-the-nordic-model-now-university-handbook-tickets-192978543017?ref=eios

Let's not blame University here. Let's look at society that are normalising sex work. Only fans has been promoted as a 'legitimate' way to make lots of money by the likes of Kerry Katona, Sarah Jane Dunne etc..... Then there is TV content in itself which is explicit and pornographic etc etc.... If its on TV and I do it on the Internet that isn't pornography....etc etc....

I would think most the sex work is online and that it would involve women and men. Does it horrify me that we have got to this point - absolutely. I came on this thread 100% with Diane. And I fully respect her for speaking out. But, on the other hand.....if it is happening are the SU being responsible in addressing this?

Think about things like County Lines education in schools......would we hope that a 'just say no' message is enough? Hopefully. But it isn't. County Line happens and is a real danger to kids- so they are educated on knowing the signs to keep themselves safe.

Do I ever want my kids doing any kind of sex work....absolutely not.

Heard a young man on radio yesterday say he sold pictures and videos on Onlyfans in first year for easy money. But when he got near graduation he tried to remove all traces of this, he obviously realised the full implications by then.
If sex work is only 'work', why do we need special support services? I haven't seen any services for people who work at Costa FFS!