On Wednesday, April 11th President Trump signed a controversial new bill into law. This law, a combination of different proposals from the House and the Senate, amends the 1996 Communications Decency Act to hold online platforms liable for the content that users post. Though the potential implications of this law are broad (think free speech), many advocates are concerned about the effect FOSTA and SESTA might have on marginalized sex workers. Not only will this law make the act of sex work less safe, it also will prevent sex workers (particularly those from marginalized communities) from accessing services.
The law claims to be targeting websites, such as backpage.com, that enable sex trafficking and exploitation. The language of the law pertains to all material that might have to do with sex work, which could include resources and health information for sex workers. The criminalization of sex work and sex workers is on the rise. Advocates claim that state and federal governments are using the excuse of "exploitation" to be exploitative themselves. In an op-ed for Rolling Stone sex-worker and advocate Siouxsie Q explains how online spaces have increased safety among sex workers, "With the increase in Internet accessibility over the past two decades, more sex workers have had access to platforms that allow us to put valuable time, space and scrutiny between us and our clients. In a criminalized climate such as the United States where sex workers are more likely to be murdered on the job than police officers, 400 percent more likely to face violence than the average worker and largely unable to access the justice system when they are victimized – time, space and scrutiny are some of the only tools we have to stay alive." Q also identified increasingly strict laws against solicitation in her home state of California as coinciding with a rise in violence against sex workers. Q speaks specifically about an increase in rape coinciding with an increase in laws, but equally concerning might be an increase in imprisonment of sex workers.
In Captive Genders Dylan Rodriguez makes a point of highlighting the connection between policing and imprisonment, "My sense of this development is that this community of activists is finely attuned to the ways in which their bodies and identities are acutely vulnerable to the comprehensive, oppressive violence of the state... to their increasingly evident vulnerability, to gender-specific forms of "racial" and "class" criminalization, as is the case with the state's targeting of sex workers, black and brown "gang"-classified youth, and undocumented migrants." FOSTA and SESTA are actions of state violence in disguise. Law-makers are conflating sex work with sex trafficking. An advocate with Survivors Against SESTA, Lola, identified the effects that FOSTA has already had on trans communities in an interview with the Daily Beast, “HungAngels removing forums, for example, because it did not have the resources to handle any potential liability, is impacting the trans community... I’m already hearing stories of trans sex workers getting ready to go back on the stroll, where they may face more violence, harassment, and, especially, abusive policing.” Though this legislation is a violent act against all sex workers, it is especially dangerous for already vulnerable communities such as people of color and trans communities.
FOSTA and SESTA are seemingly intentional acts of violence, aimed to cut sex workers off from their resources. Advocacy groups such as Survivors Against SESTA have recommended that to combat these laws, that sex workers should work together to build strong local communities, on their website they write, "Create a safety net, not a tightrope." Though this practical advice is perhaps the best we can do at this moment, we can only hope that the federal government will stop chasing after marginalized people with large scissors.
The law claims to be targeting websites, such as backpage.com, that enable sex trafficking and exploitation. The language of the law pertains to all material that might have to do with sex work, which could include resources and health information for sex workers. The criminalization of sex work and sex workers is on the rise. Advocates claim that state and federal governments are using the excuse of "exploitation" to be exploitative themselves. In an op-ed for Rolling Stone sex-worker and advocate Siouxsie Q explains how online spaces have increased safety among sex workers, "With the increase in Internet accessibility over the past two decades, more sex workers have had access to platforms that allow us to put valuable time, space and scrutiny between us and our clients. In a criminalized climate such as the United States where sex workers are more likely to be murdered on the job than police officers, 400 percent more likely to face violence than the average worker and largely unable to access the justice system when they are victimized – time, space and scrutiny are some of the only tools we have to stay alive." Q also identified increasingly strict laws against solicitation in her home state of California as coinciding with a rise in violence against sex workers. Q speaks specifically about an increase in rape coinciding with an increase in laws, but equally concerning might be an increase in imprisonment of sex workers.
In Captive Genders Dylan Rodriguez makes a point of highlighting the connection between policing and imprisonment, "My sense of this development is that this community of activists is finely attuned to the ways in which their bodies and identities are acutely vulnerable to the comprehensive, oppressive violence of the state... to their increasingly evident vulnerability, to gender-specific forms of "racial" and "class" criminalization, as is the case with the state's targeting of sex workers, black and brown "gang"-classified youth, and undocumented migrants." FOSTA and SESTA are actions of state violence in disguise. Law-makers are conflating sex work with sex trafficking. An advocate with Survivors Against SESTA, Lola, identified the effects that FOSTA has already had on trans communities in an interview with the Daily Beast, “HungAngels removing forums, for example, because it did not have the resources to handle any potential liability, is impacting the trans community... I’m already hearing stories of trans sex workers getting ready to go back on the stroll, where they may face more violence, harassment, and, especially, abusive policing.” Though this legislation is a violent act against all sex workers, it is especially dangerous for already vulnerable communities such as people of color and trans communities.
FOSTA and SESTA are seemingly intentional acts of violence, aimed to cut sex workers off from their resources. Advocacy groups such as Survivors Against SESTA have recommended that to combat these laws, that sex workers should work together to build strong local communities, on their website they write, "Create a safety net, not a tightrope." Though this practical advice is perhaps the best we can do at this moment, we can only hope that the federal government will stop chasing after marginalized people with large scissors.
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