Is the Women’s March on Washington becoming more conservative?
First, the organizers release their “unity principles,” which were heralded as “unapologetically progressive” by Slate’s Christina Cauterucci. But then people started to scratch their heads when they found an anti-choice, faux feminist organization — New Wave Feminists — listed among approved sponsors of the event.
Amid the backlash, the March affirmed that their platform is pro-choice and New Wave Feminists will not serve as a sponsor:
But now I notice something quite peculiar. It seems that the Women’s March on Washington has made a step back in its platform — support for sex workers’ rights has been completely erased.
In the original platform, they write this under their “Guiding Vision and Definition of Principles” (emphasis mine):
We believe that all workers – including domestic and farm workers - must have the right to organize and fight for a living minimum wage, and that unions and other labor associations are critical to a healthy and thriving economy for all. Undocumented and migrant workers must be included in our labor protections, and we stand in solidarity with sex workers’ rights movements.
But if you go to the site now, you’ll see no mention of supporting sex workers’ rights and an adjustment in language. The newest platform document reads:
We believe that all workers – including domestic and farm workers - must have the right to organize and fight for a living minimum wage, and that unions and other labor associations are critical to a healthy and thriving economy for all. Undocumented and migrant workers must be included in our labor protections, and we stand in solidarity with all those exploited for sex and labor.
I want to clarify, supporting sex worker’s rights is not the same as being “exploited for sex and labor.” While exploitation is a real, serious issue that needs to be addressed, this word change is a step back and does not cover consensual adult sex work, which Amnesty International defines as “sex work that does not involve coercion, exploitation, or abuse.”
In the announcement of Amnesty’s new position on decriminalizing consensual adult sex work, their Policy Advisor further explains:
We have at all times committed to address trafficking. Trafficking is an abhorrent abuse of human rights and must be criminalized as a matter of international law. We do not consider a trafficked women who is forced to sell sex to be a ‘sex worker’. She is a trafficked woman and deserves protection as such.
Any foray into the lives of sex workers reveals so many crucial human rights issues that urgently need addressing. How can we reduce the threat of violence to sex workers? What can be done to ensure their access to medical care and help prevent HIV? And how can discrimination and social marginalization that put sex workers at increased risk of abuse be stopped? These questions about health, safety and equality under the law, are more important than any moral objection to the nature of sex work.
By removing all mentions of sex workers, the Women’s March is literally making sex workers invisible and stepping away from asserting the human rights of sex workers, which are consistently violated.
I reached out to the Women’s March for comment and will update when/if I get an answer.
Wednesday, Jan 18, 2017 · 7:44:15 PM +00:00
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wagatwe
UPDATE: Still no word back from the Women’s March. However, it seems that the organizers noticed folks saw the change. They quietly updated the platform again.
They re-added the phrase about sex workers’ rights, but kept the exploitation language (in new packaging). The final sentence in that paragraph now reads “We recognize that exploitation for sex and labor in all forms is a violation of human rights.”