Interesting story... a friend of mine is a sex worker, and also an academic. She discovered that some of her colleagues at the same university were publishing a book condemning the sex industry, and basically saying that sex work is "legalized rape." The authors of the book argued that because their research was based on first-person accounts from women involved in prostitution, the evidence was irrefutable. When my friend heard this, she and some other SPs protested by staging a sit-in at the book's launch. The SPs were dismissed by the abolitionists as being "pimps", and were accused of being part of the "pimp lobby."
My friend, bless her heart, is now writing a rebuttal to this book. And no, she is not being funded by any "pimps"--she is working multiple jobs so she can continue to write in her "spare time."
I've encountered this before, where academics who insist that prostitution is inherently violent towards women will not allow sex workers with an alternative perspective to express their views.
These people always have more funding than us...the United Way doesn't fund pro-sex worker organizations, unless we couch it under "AIDS activism" or "poverty advocacy" or "harm reduction" or some such thing.
I once showed up with another SP at an anti-sex work art exhibit that had been funded by my employer at the time, and was told that I was not allowed to view the exhibit if I identified as a "sex worker activist" (I had previously made, and publicized a few videos for a sex worker organization based out of Vancouver).
And on, and on, and on..... I'm sure Susie Davis can tell you lots more stories about being shouted down by anti-sex work "feminists".
PS. I identify as a feminist, but not *that* kind of feminist. lol.
