Red-light work a grey area for universities

[susi]

Red-light work a grey area for universities
7 May 2009

By Rebecca Attwood

Stance on staff or student links to sex trade centres on reputation, not welfare, writes Rebecca Attwood

UK universities do not have policies prohibiting staff or student involvement in the sex industry, but many hold "unwritten assumptions" that could be used to penalise "legal but stigmatised" sexual behaviour, according to new research.

Academics from the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) and Kingston University sent a Freedom of Information request to 326 universities and colleges, asking whether they had policies governing staff or student involvement in the sex trade.

Of 236 responses, none had a specific policy but 36 per cent implied that disciplinary action would be taken against staff or members of the student body who worked in, or purchased, commercial-sex services.

No institution referred to policies supporting private freedom and diversity or prohibiting discrimination, and only four referred to the health or welfare of staff and students.

Many replies indicated that the institution concerned viewed such behaviour with "taken for granted" disapproval, say the authors of "Higher and Further Education Institution Policies on Student and Staff Involvement in Commercial Sex", published in the Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management.

The authors, led by Linda Cusick, reader in substance use at UWS, write: "It is also clear from the dominance of discussion about disciplinary procedures and behaviour bringing institutions into disrepute (in the responses) that staff/student participation in commercial sex is widely perceived as some kind of institutional threat."

The evidence "suggests that other undeclared moral judgments underlie the selection of policies considered relevant to our inquiry and were submitted to reflect unwritten institutional positions".

The authors say they are not surprised that universities lack policies governing commercial sex due to "widespread confusion" in the UK about the area and how to respond to it. But they argue that it is in need of careful management, and point out that students are "targets" for media reports exposing their involvement in the sex industry.

"Should an institution follow a newspaper lead and leap to discipline the employee or student whose privacy has been violated by the media, this would surely constitute institutional bullying and harassment and, as such, be the only action with potential to bring the institution into disrepute," they suggest.

They add that "enlightened" policies may emphasise the sector's respect for privacy, and its reputation as non-discriminatory and supportive of human rights.

rebecca.attwood@tsleducation.com

 

[susi]

Not-so-secret Diary Of A Russell Group Call Girl

NOT-SO-SECRET DIARY OF A RUSSELL GROUP CALL GIRL

A blogger who claims to be working as a prostitute while at university has detailed her life as a student sex worker.

The author, who said she is an undergraduate at a university in the West Midlands, said she turned to prostitution after her efforts to make ends meet through other means failed.

In her blog, "Diary of a Russell Group University Call Girl", she writes: "Unlike so many of the students who attend my university, I do not have upper middle-class parents to soften the blow, or a hefty trust fund to dip into."

The blogger declined to speak to Times Higher Education directly or to reveal her identity, but in an email said she was writing the diary because "I am not the only one in this position. I had been approached by several escort agencies, most of which outlined that the majority of their 'workers' were in fact students."

http://studentcallgirl.wordpress.com/diary-of-a-russell-university-group-call-girl/

john.gill@tsleducation.com.

 

[treveller]

Occupation

More reason to prohibit discrimination based on occupation.

 

[susi]

More reason to prohibit discrimination based on occupation.

i think we could argue distinct culture....here's something i wrote...

From the first sex worker found in world history in the “whore of Babylon” story of 4000BC and the goddess ishtar who was reborn a virgin every morning and became a sex worker every evening to Egyptian hieroglyphs circa.1500 BC and brothel signs and coins depicting sexual acts discovered in the ruins of Pompeii, the sex industry is present throughout our entire history.

Worship of goddess ashera was led and dominated by women who sang special songs to their goddess and wove beautiful clothing for her. Sex was a predominant pat of temple rituals and offerings were made to the priestesses. From around 100 BC Ashera was worshipped more than ever and an entire class of priestesses evolved. History records this as cultic sex and temple prostitution but clearly this was a widely accepted practice and a respected position in the community.

The sex industry is a part of the human experience and we are all members of a culture which extends beyond recorded time. We should feel proud of our roots and we can certainly learn from the history of our amazing culture.

here's something else i wrote too;

The Sex Industry Community as a distinct culture

Currently violence against sex workers is not considered a hate crime. Although most can agree that there’s not much difference between a truck full of good ‘ol boys in white hoods jumping in the truck to drive downtown and find some to lynch and a bunch of teenagers jumping in their car to go downtown and throw things at “crack whores”. The most disturbing aspect of this is that most of our community members reported the majority of attacks of this nature were being committed by women.

When we delve into history a bit we find references to the sex industry all through out recorded time; Always kept separate, always a distinct and secretive culture. A difficult revelation about recent history is that women in fact are responsible for a lot of the stigma sex industry community member live with today. In 1917 when women received the vote in the War Time Election Act one of the first actions influenced by their vote was the implementation of prohibition. Drugs, alcohol, gambling and sex were all made illegal. Unfortunately for sex industry workers that made us as people illegal.

During this time sex workers were put into asylums under the guise that they were somehow mentally ill thus their immoral behavior. This attack on sex workers in particular female sex workers by other women resulted in great pain and in some cases death for the workers affected. These women went as far as to create an ad campaign depicting sex workers as evil and as the vectors of disease. Their campaign of speeches, posters and radio spots was so broad and far reaching that this stigma exists to this day. We can see in the high numbers of women reportedly attacking sex industry community members and in the way feminist abolitionist groups still promote sex industry workers as victims, helpless and unable to defend or look after our selves. This latest campaign of hatred has gone on for 100 years some of us refer to it as the prohibition war. Since the beginning of this war human rights have come to the fore front and now the sex industry community is seeking recognition as a distinct culture deserving of protection under the charter. We hope to end the campaign to “end sex work” and have our rights to choose employment, be protected from hate propaganda against us, and to be protected from discrimination based on who we are.

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Article 20
1. any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law
2. Any advocacy or national, racial, cultural or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law.
Article 26
1. all persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, color, sex, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.

International Declaration of Human Rights
Article 1.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Article 2.
Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.
Article 3.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person

Part III

Article 6
2. The states parties to the present Covenant recognize the right to work, which includes the right of everyone to the opportunity to gain his living by work which he freely chooses or accepts, and will take appropriate steps to safe guard this right.

3. The steps to be taken by a state party to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include technical and vocational guidance and training programs, policies and techniques to achieve stead economic, social and cultural development and full and productive employment under conditions safe guarding fundamental political and economic freedoms to the individual.

feel free to disagree.... just kidding....LOL

 

[treveller]

Hate Crimes

Holly, I don't know the history of the hate crime legislation but I have always thought the distinction between a hate crime and other violent crime should be the motivation or intent of the aggressor. It had never occurred to me that there was any significance to the the way in which the victim becomes a member of the protected group.

There could be four sorts of intent or motivation behind an assault.
1- Random by a nut case,
2- A consequence of some other goal such as terrorism or theft,
3- Personal, anger toward a neighbor or partner, again a nut case but not random,
4- Deliberately targeting an individual because they appear to be a member of a particular group.

I understand the law is not so general but I would call #4 a hate crime, whether the group is communists, Jews, gays, foreign workers, sex workers, blacks or women. If this definition is valid then it would not matter how an individual came to be a member of the group.

Also, it seems your understanding, "it was my understanding that the major purpose was to give extra protection to people who are members of groups that they cannot choose to enter or leave (such as black, homosexual, female, etc)", would exclude religious groups from protection. It is my understanding that religious groups are protected by hate crime legislation.

Some quoted material:

"Hate" is defined as a crime under two parts of Canada’s Criminal Code: sections 318 and 319. To convict anyone under the Code, very specific proof is required: both of the criminal act itself, and of the intention or motivation to commit the crime.

Section 318: Advocating Genocide
The criminal act of "advocating genocide" is defined as supporting or arguing for the killing of members of an "identifiable group" — persons distinguished by their colour, race, religion or ethnic origin. The intention or motivation would be the destruction of members of the targeted group. Any person who promotes genocide is guilty of an indictable offense, and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.

Section 319(1): Public Incitement of Hatred
The crime of "publicly inciting hatred" has four main elements. To contravene the Code, a person must:
- communicate statements,
- in a public place,
- incite hatred against an identifiable group,
- in such a way that there will likely be a breach of the peace.

All the above elements must be proven for a court to find an accused guilty of either:
- an indictable offence, for which the punishment is imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years; or
- an offence punishable on summary conviction.

Section 319(2) defines the additional offence of communicating statements, other than in private conversation, that willfully promote hatred against an identifiable group.

As with all laws, the devil is in the details. It seems that religious orientation is included in the identified groups. I would like to see sexual orientation and occupation included in the groups protected by both the hate crime and discrimination laws. Those laws seem to allow for an expansion of the protected groups. Building public support for such an expansion would be a worthwhile project.

I see hate crimes, as I describe in #4 above to be the most evil sort of violence, assuming there is such a thing as "evil".

Pickton's victims were not merely vulnerable. I expect that at some level Pickton knew that the larger community lacked respect for those women and he believed that gave him both permission and greater opportunity. In that sense we are a party to his crime.

 

[susi]

I completely agree with you that both of these violent and aggressive acts are disturbing and unacceptable.

However, I don't agree that it should be considered a hate crime to be violent toward sex workers, just as I don't think it should be considered a hate crime to be violent toward members of any other professions, like doctors, or police officers, who also both have distinct cultures.

There's a significant difference between being born black or homosexual and choosing to engage in a particular kind of work. Yes, I know that some people can be forced into the sex trade, and that is unfortunate, but it is still dependent on life circumstances, whereas if you're homosexual, you're homosexual.

I'm not too familiar with hate crime legislation, but it was my understanding that the major purpose was to give extra protection to people who are members of groups that they cannot choose to enter or leave (such as black, homosexual, female, etc).

i agree that not ALL violence against sex workers is a hate crime, however i will share an extreme case with you that demonstrates that we can be the vidtims of hate crimes;

a survival sex worker, doused in gasoline and then beaten within an inch of her life while the "haters" called her a dirty crack whore an threw matches at her...she wasn't working for them as a sex worker or ripping them off or whatever....they waited until she was alone on track and jumped out of their van to assault her.

or how about the high school and university students who used drive by the stroll and throw eggs or pennies at us yelling "back alley sally" and shit like that....

this is not a rape...and if it happened to a black person or gay person there would be no question....hate crime.

so...why not us?
are we not human?
does our culture not exist?
that's over 6000 years of recorded history and culture....

if we are not a distinct culture....what is?

other cultures have class serperation.....

ie- barrack obama is not likely to be lynched- but a black man in rural missouri.....

so i don't know....you tell me....

 

[Thais]

Make me feel proud of the University of Calgary:
The Women's Resource Centre had a neutral and accepting presentation on sex work this year, which included distributing a zine written by a student who worked as an escort. The recording was supposed to be broadcast throughout the Sexual Awareness Week.

The University of Ottawa has a lady on tenure who is out about being a former exotic dancer and actively researches escort business practices.