One of the biggest demands from sex workers every year at #IDEVASW is for the full decriminalisation of sex work.
What does this mean, and why do sex workers want this?
A thread 🧵(strap in, it's a long one):
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Decriminalisation means removing all laws and penalties which are used to criminalise sex work.
Sex work becomes regulated through normal employment laws, like other forms of work, without specific regulation. (NUM)
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It is different from legalisation, where sex work is acceptable only under specific circumstances.
These regulations differ by location, but can include sex work being restricted to certain locations, workers registering with an authority, or compulsory health checks. (NUM)
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Workers in legalised systems can still be criminalised if they work outside the rules.
This punishes those who are the most marginalised (such as migrants), or sex working out of immediate need (such as to make a rent payment, or to escape abuse).
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There are only a handful of places in the world that currently have sex work decriminalised.
- Aotearoa/New Zealand, which decriminalised sex work in 2003
- New South Wales and Northern Territory in Australia
- Belgium, which decriminalised sex work in June this year
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Victoria (Australia) will introduce decriminalisation from December 2023, and South Africa has recently introduced a decriminalisation bill to parliament, following tireless work by @SweatTweets.
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In most of the UK, selling and buying sex is legal, but surrounding activities, such as soliciting, kerb-crawling, brothel keeping and third-party involvement are illegal.
In Northern Ireland, buying sex is also illegal. (NUM)
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So why do sex workers want decriminalisation?
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1. Decriminalisation means sex workers are no longer criminalised for their work.
Sex workers can work - and work in ways that are safer - without fear of criminal penalties and punishment. (NUM)
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These penalties not only harm sex workers in the short-term (such as through fines), but can lead to criminal records which make it harder to leave sex work. (NUM)
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If you are fined as a sex worker, how else are you going to pay that fine other than by continuing to sex work?
To avoid further detection and even more fines, you’re likely to work in more isolated and therefore more dangerous areas. (NUM)
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Decriminalisation prevents sex workers from being punished for working. Ideally, it also expunges all criminal records for sex work, making it easier for sex workers to leave sex work if and when they choose. (NUM)
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2. Decriminalisation gives sex workers more power over their work.
Under decriminalisation, sex workers are treated as workers, and have access to increased legal protection with this status. (NUM)
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They are therefore able to unionise, fight to improve their working conditions, and use existing laws to tackle discrimination and harm from bosses, clients, and others. (NUM)
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3. Decriminalisation allows sex workers to use their money as they need to survive.
Under decriminalisation, sex workers will be able to rent without fear of eviction from landlords. (NUM)
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They can use their money to support family members and people they care for without fear of both them and their loved ones experiencing criminal penalties, which may include having their earnings seized.
They can also access bank accounts and financial services. (NUM)
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They can also hire people to support their working practices and enhance their safety, such as drivers, security guards or receptionists, who are also decriminalised. (NUM)
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4. Decriminalisation gives more power to sex workers and less to police.
Where sex work is criminalised, police hold power over sex workers. This can manifest through arrests, physical and sexual violence, raids, dismissal of harm, and seizure of earnings/property. (NUM)
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Under decriminalisation, sex workers’ relationship with the police can improve, and sex workers are able to engage with the police on their own terms. (NUM)
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This also makes it easier for those who experience genuine harm and exploitation to achieve justice.
Sex workers can share suspected harms, including trafficking and exploitation, without fear of harming other workers or being criminalised themselves. (NUM)
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In Aotearoa/New Zealand, 57% of sex workers reported that attitudes from the police towards sex workers had improved since decriminalisation, and that it is now easier to report violence against them. (NUM)
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5. Decriminalisatiom improves sex workers’ health.
Under decriminalisation, sex workers are able to better access health services without fear of stigma or discrimination. (NUM)
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This approach is backed by the WHO, The Lancet and UNAIDS as core part of tackling health concerns such as HIV, as well as improving overall physical and mental health for sex workers. (NUM)
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A recent study across European countries demonstrated how criminalisation harmed sex workers’ mental health and prevented access to support.
Museum collaborations are a great opportunity for exchanging knowledge and best practice. We would like to share some of our learning from our residency at the Crab Museum. So who wants to hear about the mind control barnacle that feminises and impregnates its victims?
Sacculina carcini, also known as the crab hacker barnacle, is a parasitic barnacle which infects crabs - usually the green crab (although sometimes others).
The female barnacle larva finds a crab, and enters through the bristles on its legs. It's not fussy about the sex of the crab, it can infect either males or females.
It's been a while since we've shown you a weird fad in medieval Christian art, so here's one you might enjoy - Lactatio Bernardi: The Lactation of St Bernard.
Now it's important to note that St Bernard of Clairvaux isn't the one doing the lactating. He's the kneeling guy. That's the Virgin Mary right there doing the lactating, with baby Jesus on her lap.
Bernard of Clairvaux was a 12th century abbot and one of the founders of the Knights Templar. Here's a couple of depictions of him outside of the milky miracle.
The Cholmondeley Ladies (circa 1600-1610) is a painting raising many questions. Today we're not going to talk about the puzzle in pegging down the identities of the women - we will focus on a different, more mundane puzzle...
Image courtesy of Tate Britain.
The Cholmondeley Ladies painting is accompanied by an inscription, which says "Two Ladies of the Cholmondeley Family, Who were born the same day, Married the same day, And brought to Bed the same day."
Many scholars have explored the identities of these ladies, who are unknown, wondered who the unknown artist who painted it was. Even the donor who gave the painting to the Tate is anonymous.
A hundred years ago, there was a research centre, archive, clinic and museum space dedicated to sexuality whose work might seem ahead of its time, even now.
This is the story of Magnus Hirschfeld's Institute of Sexology #LGBTHistoryMonth
Founder of the Institute of Sexology Magnus Hirschfeld was a German Jewish gay man, a qualified doctor. Born in 1868, Hirschfeld's interest in using his skills to advocate for LGBT+ rights was sparked when he noticed many of his gay patients were dying by suicide.
In the late 19th century, Hirschfeld began researching sex and sexuality across cultures. He was especially interested in homosexuality in his early research.
Have you ever wondered what's going on in there during penis-in-vagina sex? Where do the pelvic organs go? What stretches where?
Scientists have. At length. And here's what they thought and how they finally found out.
One of the first scientists to take a guess at what's going on anatomically during PiV sex was Leonardo da Vinci himself, who drew this anatomically incorrect diagram in around 1493.
Image courtesy of the Royal Collection.
You'll notice most of the pelvic organs on the woman are missing in da Vinci's diagram. You also may notice a weird vein leading up to the breasts. That's the vein that brings period blood up to the breasts to turn into milk. This is not how anything works.
Okay muff-lovers, you'll probably know the answer to this one. How many holes are there in the vulva?
The answer may surprise you. Yes, even you.
The hole you'll definitely know about if you follow us is the vaginal entrance, which leads to the vagina. That one's easy.
Next up - and not everybody knows this one - is the entrance to the urethra. Pee doesn't come out of the vagina, it comes out of the urethra. The urethra is positioned above the vagina and below the clitoral glans.