Sex Work As Prostitution, Liberal and Radical Approaches To Feminism

Calvin Wilkinson 41760802
Sex work as Prostitution, Liberal and Radical Approaches to

Feminism
-Calvin WilkinsonI. Introduction
In this submission, I will analyse whether Queensland should adopt the
Swedish model of criminalising clients of sex workers in line with a radical
feminist approach that seeks the abolishment of prostitution, or maintain
a legalisation policy that is reconcilable with liberal feminism as a means
of empowering and destigmatising sex workers. This is an important
discussion to have in light of recent overtures by Australian politicians to
adopt the Swedish model,1 as well as longstanding questions over
consent, agency, and the patriarchal society engendered by sex work.
Whilst the debate over prostitution has been criticised by some feminists
as an annoying binary that prevents feminists from addressing the
broader issues of inequality,2 these calls to rise above the mud-slinging
are not convincing to the protagonists,3 nor are they helpful from the
vantage of sex workers who are directly affected by the policy outcomes.
Fundamentally, prostitution is a topic that is far too complicated to expect
a uniform response from feminist legal advocates, and whilst it is easier to
criticise than create, criticism is an important step in the development of
law.
Part 1 of this essay will critique the arguments made by prominent
feminists, including Catharine MacKinnon and the late Andrea Dworkin,
from their vantage point as radical feminists. Specifically, their advocacy
of the Swedish model will be evaluated against certain criticisms labelled
against it: firstly, the extent to which their arguments marginalise the
voice of sex workers; furthermore, whether they unjustifiably deny the
agency of sex workers; and finally, to what degree this approach conflates
sex work with human trafficking. Part 2 will evaluate whether the liberal
feminism approach can be defended against certain criticisms made
against it, namely: its presumption of a sex workers freedom of choice;
and moreover, its failure to account for the patriarchal social reality that
structures sexual relations between men and women. From this
evaluation, it will be argued that the liberal feminist approach of
legalisation is, despite some valid qualifications, a more defensible
approach to sex work from the vantage point of feminism.
Part 1: Evaluating the Radical Feminism Approach
1.1 The Radical Feminism Approach defined
See Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australian politicians on prostitution study tour to

Europe, Asia, (March 20, 2014) <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-20/politicians-onprostitution-study-tour-to-europe-asia/5333472>
2
Marie Segrave, Order at the border: The repatriation of victims of trafficking (2009) 32:4
Women's Studies International Forum 251, 252.
3
Sheila Jeffreys, Prostitution, trafficking and feminism: An update on the debate (2009) 32:4
Women's Studies International Forum 316, 317.
LAWS5172, Advanced Jurisprudence, Assignment 1
Before addressing the substantive criteria, it is essential to state what is

meant by the radical feminism approach and its application to
prostitution. There are three vantage points from which to analyse the
radical feminism approach: language, origins and purpose.
The choice of language used by radical feminists to describe sex work is
important for the same reason that language is pertinent to describing
women generally: only with a language that adequately represents sex
workers can political visibility be fostered. 4 Even a cursory analysis of
writings by prominent radical feminists reveals that such feminists often
use the terms prostituted woman, or women exploited in prostitution,
to refer to sex workers.5 The use of these terms is important because it
demonstrates a particular understanding of sex and prostitution that
marginalises the consent and agency of sex workers, an issue which will
be critiqued in the next section.
The origins of radical feminism are significant because they reveal why,
from the vantage of radical feminists, prostitution must be abolished.
Radical feminist perspectives on prostitution can be traced back to
writings on the nature of sex in a patriarchal society by Andrea Dworkin
and Catharine MacKinnon. For Dworkin, heterosexual sex in the context of
a patriarchal society can only be characterised as violence against
women.6 As explanation, Dworkin argues that women are not viewed as
humans in a patriarchal society, but rather as sexual objects to be
ravaged and possessed by men. What women may perceive as sexual
freedom and agency is only an illusion.7 Arguably, these assumptions
about sex remain highly influential in radical feminist thought on
prostitution. Radical abolitionist feminists similarly characterise all
prostitution as violence against women, 8 where women are reduced to
victims and male clients to vile aggressors. Women do not choose
prostitution, but are coerced into becoming prostitutes.9 Thus from the
vantage of radical feminists, abolition is seen as the only justifiable
response to such patriarchal violence against women. Notwithstanding
this, the assumptions borrowed from Dworkins writing on the nature of
sex in a patriarchal society have been criticised as far too narrow to be
representative of all women, and will be critiqued further in the next
section.
To complete this analysis, it is instructive to describe the purposive
intention of radical feminism, which explains why such feminists support
the Swedish model. Fundamentally, radical feminists promote policies and
4
Judith Butler, Gender Trouble (1990) Routledge p. 3.

Ryan Beck Turner, Principles over People: Abolitionist Feminism and Human Trafficking (2013)
Joseph Korbel School f International Studies < http://humantraffickingcenter.org/wpcontent/uploads/2013/10/Principles-over-People.-Abolitionist-Feminism-and-Human-Trafficking.pdf>,
3.
6
Andrea Dworkin, Intercourse (Free Press, 1987) 79.
7
Ibid,
8
Turner, above n 5, 4.
9
Catharine MacKinnon, Trafficking, Prostitution and Inequality (2011) 46 Harvard Civil Rights
Civil Liberties Review 271, 274.
5
laws that they believe will eliminate prostitution in all of its forms. As a
means to achieving the abolition of prostitution, radical feminists argue
that the male demand for prostitution needs to be eliminated.10 This rests
on a complete transformation of male attitudes toward women, whereby
masculinity is no longer intrinsically tied to sexual dominance over
women. 11 Partial criminalisation of the client is seen as the most effective
legal scheme for radical feminists, because the weight of legal
condemnation affects clients and fundamentally condemns prostitution as
a socially unacceptable activity for men to engage in.
1.2 Evaluating the Radical Feminism Approach

If the partial criminalisation approach to prostitution advocated by radical
feminism is to be a convincing one, it needs to be able to defend itself
against the criticisms that are levelled against it. In this case, there are
three: the failure to take into account the perspective of sex workers
themselves; the failure to acknowledge the agency of women; and finally,
the conflation of prostitution with sex trafficking.
1.2.1 Marginalising the Testimony of Sex Workers
The first critique of radical feminism, which also applies to the Swedish
model, is its failure to listen to the testimony of current sex workers. By a
number of vantage points, including the right to self-determination and
the promotion of a human-rights based approach, the testimony of current
sex workers should be fundamental to any discussion about prostitution.
However, radical feminists too often claim to speak on behalf of sex
workers, instead of listening with interest to what prostitutes have to say
for themselves.12 For example, whilst Catharine Mackinnon cites extreme
examples of the abusive conditions associated with prostitution in Kolkata
as representative of a patriarchal culture, there is no mention of the
wealth of testimony from sex workers that report positive experiences in
their work.13 Indeed, there a number of articulate and intelligent women
who have been marginalised by Mackinnon, whom choose to engage in
the sex industry and who form organisations with names that leave little
doubt as to their dissatisfaction with their treatment by radical feminists,
such as Cast Off Your Old Tired Ethics (COYOTE).
This indifference to the voice of current sex workers is similarly reflected
when assessing the Swedish model. For a model that is supposed to help
prostitutes and improve their lives, it shows them remarkably little
respect. As explanation, in the Swedish Governments review of the
Swedish model, the testimony of sex workers is often only accepted as
10
Ibid, 301.
Katie Beran, Revisiting the Prostitution Debate: Uniting Liberal and Radical Feminism in Pursuit
of olicy Reform (2012) 30 Law and Inequality 42.
12
13
MacKinnon, above n 9,281.
11
legitimate if it fits within the abolitionist ideology of the lawmakers. In

particular, the report assumes that those who have extricated
themselves from prostitution take a positive view of criminalisation, while
those who are still exploited in prostitution are critical of the ban.14 That
is the extent to which the voice of current sex workers is recognised in this
report. Further compounding this silence is the fact that the former sex
workers interviewed for the report all belong to an organisation called
Prostitutes Revenge in Society which has the exact same abolitionist
agenda as the advocates of the Swedish model.15 This complete disregard
for the testimony of people who claim to have chosen to engage in sex
work has complicated the radical feminist argument about agency, which
will be evaluated next.
1.2.2 Denying the Agency of Women
The failure to acknowledge the agency of women operating in sex work is
a further criticism of both radical feminism and the Swedish model.
Fundamentally, radical feminists reject claims by prostitutes that they are
exercising free choice and autonomy. Instead, such proclamations are
marginalised by radical feminists as a reflection of internalised sexism and
male privilege.16 As explanation, radical feminists argue that since it is not
possible to choose to engage in prostitution in a patriarchal society,
women in prostitution lack agency by definition. 17 The contrary
testimonies of sex workers, who believe that they have freely chosen sex
work, are explained away as a result of internalised gender inequality and
patriarchal norms causing the sex worker to take on a falseconsciousness.18 As Mishka Gora argues, this denial of a sex workers
agency is worthy of criticism because it makes her something less than
human,19 and to disregard her belief in her agency is to de-legitimise her
mind.20
Similarly, the Swedish model rejects the accounts of current sex workers
that suggest they have agency. Whilst the report acknowledges that
women currently in prostitution reject the models condescending and
paternalistic approach to their agency,21 these claims are dismissed by the
report as a product of the fact that these women are still in prostitution. 22
Again, this dismissal of agency is consistent with the radical feminist
perspective that no woman consents to prostitution in a patriarchal
society, and that those who do are either deluded or in some sort of
14
Socialstyrelsen (SoS: The National Board of Health and Welfare), The Ban Against the Purchase
of Sexual Services. An Evaluation 1998 - 2008.
<http://s3.amazonaws.com/zanran_storage/www.dublinpact.ie/ContentPages/2470369900.pdf>
15
16
Beran, above n 11, 37.
17
18
Mishka Gora, Australia and the Swedish Model of Prostitution <
http://davidcollard.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/australia-and-the-swedish-model-of-prostitution/>
19
Ibid.
20
Ibid.
21
22
Ibid.
false-consciousness.23 Thus, the denial of sex workers agency and the

refusal to listen to such testimony can be seen as reflective of the primary
concern of radical feminists, which arguably is to make normative
statements about prostitution rather than to protect the rights and wellbeing of sex workers.
1.2.3 Conflating Prostitution with Sex Trafficking
The final critique of radical feminism is its conflation of prostitution with
sex trafficking, which has also manifested itself in the Swedish model.
Human trafficking is a non-consensual process of trickery and exploitation
encompassing labour, sex and organs; nevertheless, it has come to be
conflated with prostitution as a result of the efforts of radical feminists. As
explanation, liberal feminists have criticised the writings of radical
feminists, such as Catharine Mackinnon, on the basis that she rejects any
substantive definition of coercion that distinguishes between prostitution
and sex trafficking.24
Mackinnon does make mention of third party involvement as a difference
between prostitution and sex trafficking as defined in the Palermo
Protocol. However, for her and other radical feminists, distinguishing
between forced and free prostitution is seen to be fallacious and
dangerous.25 This group of radical feminists have been instrumental in
advocating for a criminalisation of the purchase of sex to address both
trafficking and prostitution concomitantly. The Swedish model is the result
of their efforts and it was promoted as a measure to address both
prostitution and human trafficking, with the hope was that by abolishing
all prostitution, they would reduce sex trafficking within and through
Sweden.26
Essentially there are three problems engendered by the conflation of
prostitution with trafficking: firstly, it imagines prostitution as a form of
sexual slavery, on the basis that work without consent is slavery, and
consent to sex work is not possible. This undermines the gravity and
horror of the situation faced by people in real slavery .27 Furthermore, the
Swedish model focuses on criminalising the client, and in so doing does
not does not distinguish in its punishment of the client between cases
involving consenting sex workers and those involving trafficked women.28
Finally, the linkage of prostitution and human trafficking in anti-trafficking
and anti-sex work campaigns has distorted and inflated trafficking
estimates, which are already difficult to quantify.29
23
Ibid, 20.
Beran, abve n 11, 34.
25
MacKinnon, above n 9, 299.
26
27
Ibid, 6.
28
Jay Levy and Pye Jakobsson, Abolitionist feminism as patriarchal control: Swedish
understandings f prostitution and trafficking (2013) 37:333, 336.
29
Ibid, 335
24
As a result, it is quite apparent that there are legitimate arguments for,

but stronger arguments against, the implementation of the Swedish
model. From the vantage point of radical feminists, such as Catharine
Mackinnon, the criminalisation of male clients is necessary to counter
patriarchal power structures, whilst from the vantage of liberal feminists,
this approach unjustifiably fails to take into account the voice and agency
of sex workers, and conflates prostitution with trafficking.
Part 2: Evaluating the Liberal Feminism Approach
2.1 The Liberal Feminism Approach defined
Before addressing the critiques of liberal feminism, it is essential to
analyse this approach according to the same criteria used against radical
feminism, namely: language; origins and purpose.
Unlike radical feminism, liberal feminists differentiate in their use of
terminology between sex work, prostitution, and sex trafficking. As
explanation, liberal authors use the term sex worker when referring to a
person who consents to working in the sex industry and use trafficking
victim or sex slave when the person has not consented to working in
the sex industry.30 The use of this language reflects the bias of liberal
feminists towards a particular understanding of sex and prostitution;
essentially one that privileges the consent and agency of sex workers.
Crucially, this is an understanding that has been critiqued by radical
feminists and will be discussed further in the next section.
The origins of the liberal feminism perspective on sex work are significant
because they provide an insight into this approachs rationale for the
legalisation of prostitution. The liberal feminism position on sex work
emerged from sex workers' rights organisations in the 1980s. It has as its
ideological underpinning, the liberal ideals of "individualism, equality of
opportunity, and the free market, which these feminists argue should not
be disconnected from something as basic and natural as sexual life.31
Thus, the liberal feminism argument "implies that there is nothing wrong
with prostitution that is not also wrong with other forms of work."32
Fundamental to this implication is the belief that prostitutes have agency,
and therefore should be able to engage in their work without hindrance
from the law. Thus, the first rationale for legalisation is that the law should
play an empowering role for sex workers that choose to pursue it.
The second rationale for legalisation is an economic one. Liberal feminists
identify prostitution as the sale of sexual services motivated by economic
gain.33 From this vantage point, prostitution is analogous to any other
contract a party may enter into for a benefit, with each party trying to
strike the best deal.34 Again, the assumption that the woman is able to
consent in choosing prostitution is crucial to the argument that it is a valid
30
31
32
33
34
Turner,above n 5, 3
Ibid, 31.
Ibid.
contract. On that basis, the second rationale for legalisation is that the law
should treat prostitution as an ordinary business transaction, where the
state has the same interest in prostitution as it has in any other contract,
and may regulate it accordingly.35
To complete this analysis, it is instructive to address the purposive
intention of liberal feminism, which explains its support of legalisation.
Fundamentally, liberal feminists promote policies and laws that they
believe will legitimise sex work and destigmatise sex workers, whilst
promoting the working conditions of sex workers. To achieve these
reforms, liberal feminists argue that it is not the behaviour of male clients
that needs to be changed; change needs to be made to bad laws that
criminalise prostitution and engender negative social opinions of sex
workers and sex work.36 If there is any inherent harm in being a prostitute,
such harms are a result of societal prejudice and the non-legal status of
prostitution. Thus, liberal feminists advocate for legalisation because it
serves to legitimise prostitution as a profession and works to combat the
stigmas and stereotypes about the sex industry that permeate society. 37
2.2 Evaluating the Liberal Feminism Approach
If the legalisation approach of prostitution advocated by liberal feminists is
to be convincing, it needs to be able to defend itself against the criticisms
that are levelled against it by radical feminists. In this case, there are two:
firstly, radical feminists challenge the liberal feminist notion of freedom of
choice, arguing that women are coerced into becoming prostitutes rather
than freely choosing it; and furthermore, that liberal feminism wrongly
discounts the patriarchal social reality that structures sexual relations
between men and women.
2.2.1 Assumption of Freedom of Choice
Fundamentally, radical feminists challenge the liberal feminist notion of
freedom of choice, arguing that women are coerced into becoming
prostitutes rather than freely choosing it. This is a significant criticism of
the liberal feminist perspective, because as explained above, the
presumption of agency is crucial to the liberal feminists rationale that
prostitution should be legalised. As explanation of the criticism, radical
feminists argue that women in prostitution are compelled by their social
circumstances into prostitution, and therefore believe that the
involvement of women in prostitution is always non-consensual.38 As
MacKinnon puts it, "If prostitution is a free choice, why are the women
with the fewest choices most often found doing it?39 Radical feminists
also cite studies to corroborate this sentiment, including one that has
35
36
37
38
39
Ibid.
Karni Kissil and Maureen Davey, The Prostitution Debate in Feminism(2010) Routledge, 7.
MacKinnon, above n 9, 274.
Catharine Mackinnon, Womens Lives, Mens Laws (Routledge:1993)
found that eighty-five to ninety-five percent of prostitutes want to leave

the industry, but do not see leaving as an option.40
Notwithstanding the force of MacKinnons argument, a number of
qualifiers to her criticism can be made. Firstly, it is important to note that
whilst liberal feminists argue for the possibility of agency in prostitution,
they are not dismissing the fact that for those women in sex work who do
experience force, fraud, or coercion, consent is fundamentally negated. 41
Moreover, the criticism by radical feminism is itself based on the
tautological assertion that consent is never possible in prostitution. Such
an assertion raises its own problems, the most significant of those being
that it ignores the testimony of sex workers who claim that they indeed do
have the ability to consent. This form of testimony from many sex workers
is much more reconcilable with the liberal feminism approach, which
views sex work as an occupational choice among other gendered and
discriminated forms of work available for women.42
The second failure of the radical feminism criticism is its implication that,
for those sex workers who lack other options in their choice of work,
consent to prostitution is negated.43 This reasoning is fundamentally
flawed when one considers that the choice between exploitative labour
and poverty is a choice that billions of people, men and women, sex
workers and factory workers, must make. The refusal of radical feminists
to believe in the consent of sex workers fails to understand the motivation
of such women who, whilst they would rather not be prostitute,
nevertheless prefer prostitution to poverty. As Mishka Gora puts it, Few
sex workers are attracted by exit strategies or diversion programmes.
They hate being low-paid, disparaged, disrespected cleaners, nannies and
maidsThey dont want to be poorer again.44 This is again reconcilable
with liberal feminism, which agrees that women are constrained by
poverty and job discrimination, but that sex work is simply an
occupational choice among other gendered and discriminated forms of
work available for women.45
2.2.2 Ignoring Patriarchy
The second major criticism of the liberal feminism approach by radical
feminists is its failure to acknowledge that prostitution reflects the broader
problem of male domination over women in society. This is an important
criticism because, as stated above, liberal feminists argue that it is not the
behaviour of male clients that needs to be changed, but rather bad laws
that stigmatise and restrict the agency of sex workers.46 Moreover, liberal
feminism does not critique or analyse the structural conditions that
40
Mackinnon, above n 9,
42
Kissil and Davey, above n 36, 6.
43
44
Mishka Gora, Australia and the Swedish Model of Prostitution <
http://davidcollard.wordpress.com/2014/04/02/australia-and-the-swedish-model-of-prostitution/>
45
Kissel and Davey, above n 36, 6.
46
Kissel and Davey, above n 36, 7.
41
produce gender inequality in the context of prostitution, and its purpose is

not to change gender structures throughout society, rather, its goals are
to reform the inequities of bad laws.47
For radical feminists, it is a fundamental flaw not to see the existence and
prevalence of prostitution as a symptom of the broader inequality that
exists in a patriarchal society. These feminists argue that the very idea of
buying sex is inextricably linked to a system of male power that
represents the absolute embodiment of patriarchal male privilege 48
Moreover, prostitution promotes male domination by commodifying
female bodies for male use, making clear women's status as property.49
Legalisation therefore is seen as a confirmation of these oppressive
gender norms by condoning the patriarchal right of men to purchase a
womans sexuality.
Notwithstanding this convincing criticism, there are two bases on which
liberal feminism has defended its omission of patriarchal privilege. Firstly,
liberal feminists argue that the constraint of choices that many women
experience in their journey to becoming a sex worker is not simply a
reflection of a patriarchal society. Whilst many liberal feminists concede
that women generally choose prostitution when faced with no better
career alternatives, 50 a prostitute's limited financial alternatives is not
symptomatic of womens subordination by men, but rather the oppressive
force of social conditions that offer some individuals no better option.
From this vantage point, sex work is simply an occupational choice among
other gendered and discriminated forms of work available for women
based on economic necessity.
The second defence of liberal feminism with respect to its omission of
patriarchy can be characterised as one of rupture. 51 Essentially, it consists
of turning the onus onto the Swedish model and accusing this approach of
promoting patriarchy. As explanation, Jay Levy and Pye Jakobsson argue
that advocates of the Swedish model have applied radical feminist
abolitionism selectively and circumstantially to justify the displacement
and control of women perceived to be deviant and disruptive to normative
hegemonic masculinity.52 This is a convincing argument considering the
way that the Swedish model has been prosecuted: it has been applied
selectively to target outdoor prostitution, to moralise and cleanse the
public space, whilst ignoring indoor prostitution. 53 Moreover, it is standard
practice to deport migrant sex workers with the official reason: She has
not maintained/supported herself in an honest manner/way written on
her deportation order. As Levy and Jakobsonn argue, this branding of
migrant sex workers as dishonest is not consistent with a radical feminist
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
Ibid
Ibid
Ibid
Turner, abve n 5, 6.
This is a reference to Jacques Vergs, defence lawyer.
Levy and Jakobsson, above n 28, 334.
Ibid, 336.
approach. Rather, it can be better characterised as the culmination of

efforts by politicians, policymakers, and law enforcement, not traditionally
allies of feminists, to control and disempower sex workers.
Having addressed the critiques put forward by radical feminists against
liberal feminisms advocacy of legalisation, it is apparent that liberal
feminists can make a number of convincing rebuttals to these perceived
weaknesses, whilst highlighting a level of reconciliation with the actual
experience of many sex workers that radical feminism cannot achieve.
3.0 Conclusion
It can therefore be seen that the utility of implementing the Swedish
model in Queensland is outweighed by both the criticisms attached to its
advocacy by radical feminists, as well as liberal feminists strong defence
of the status quo of legalisation. For radical feminists, the Swedish
approach is attractive when observing the prostitution from the vantage
point of an outsider looking in, with the overarching spectre of a
patriarchal society in mind. However, for many current sex workers, this
vantage point is one that ignores their voice, marginalises their agency,
and distorts their line of work with human trafficking. The liberal feminism
approach, despite its myopic ignorance of the patriarchal society, is far
more reconcilable with the actual experience of many sex workers
because it privileges the economic and social empowerment of sex
workers through its advocacy of the legalisation of sex work,
destigmatisation of sex workers and improvement of working conditions.
For radical feminists that continue to support the implementation of the
Swedish model, any change from the status quo of legalisation in
Queensland will most likely need to be based on rhetoric which
acknowledges the voice and agency of current sex workers.

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Calvin Wilkinson 41760802