“Abolitionist feminists see sex work as coercive and violent and sex workers as ‘prostituted victims’ in need of rescue. Abolitionist feminists are frequently socially and economically privileged citizens of the global north who use their economic and political clout to support and promote the ‘rescue industry’.
[…]
By portraying all sex work as violent and all sex workers as naive victims desperate for rescue, abolitionist feminists perpetuate patriarchal stereotypes and silence the very people they are supposedly trying to help. By refusing to support sex workers in their quest for legitimacy and recognition as workers, they are condemning sex workers to lives in the shadows.”
— Natasha Burge, in Selling Sex: How Abolitionist Feminists Hurt Sex Workers on cchronicle.com
Back in 2008 a censorship controversy erupted over Bill Henson’s photographs of nude teenage girls. Police raided the gallery and shut down the exhibition, the Prime Minister called the images “disgusting” and a lynch mob mentality generally prevailed. Eventually the images were classified “G” (suitable for children) by the censors… [click to continue continue reading]
