Sister survivor Rebecca Mott has a powerful new post about International Women’s Day up on her blog. She says she can’t celebrate International Women’s Day until trafficking/prostitution becomes a central issue in the women’s movement, not a sidebar. She can’t celebrate until survivors are allowed to lead the anti-trafficking movement. Many of us survivors feel the same. Here’s an excerpt of her ice clear post:
I cannot celebrate as prostitution and violence inside porn becomes just an appendix to the feminist revolution – or our lives and truths are just viewed as a terrible example, but ignored for it’s too big to deal with.
I cannot celebrate when always voices of amazing exited women are side-lined in the campaign for abolition – our voices are made statistics, made part of some academic book, used as quotes – we are spoken over, spoken through, and spoken around.
I cannot celebrate until the abolitionist movement put the voices and writings of exited women in a leadership role – we are not your token prostitute, we will not be treated like pets.
I cannot celebrate as every day I feel in my gut what is happening in hotels, in flats, on the streets – that so many walk pass and say is normal.
…..
I cannot celebrate when all round images of the prostitutes are just the happy hooker or the dead victim – there is no reality to these images, and they drown out any truths spoken.
I will celebrate IWD – when all prostituted women and girls have complete freedom, are give a voice, and are made fully human.
I cannot celebrate until then.
Read more of this post at Rebecca’s blog.
Related articles
- Trapped Indoors: Survivor Interview (stellamarrundercovercallgirl.wordpress.com)
- Methods of the Pimp-Mind (survivorsconnect.wordpress.com)
- Who’s a Prostitution Expert? (stellamarrundercovercallgirl.wordpress.com)
- A Small Window: Survivor Rebecca Mott (survivorsconnect.wordpress.com)
- Who’s a Prostitution Expert? (secretlifeofamanhattancallgirl.wordpress.com)
- Looking for Unicorns: The Happy Hooker and the Good Punter/John (stellamarrundercovercallgirl.wordpress.com)
- Important Survivor Interview (survivorsconnect.wordpress.com)
Great point – our bodies are not a sidebar and control over our bodies must be our own control. There is no issue more important to any of us.
Why do people not understand that prostituted women and girls are abused women and girls? They require and deserve the same support abused females are given, little though it is. They don’t deserve blame, they don’t deserve to be shouted down, their stories have all the value that anyone else’s does. They are going through absolute hell… and there isn’t always the choice to leave and just walk away. Not when you’re convinced of how much power a pimp has.
I was sexually abused very young. I was extremely lucky in that my life outside of abuse was loving enough that I saw hope and a future, because there were certainly darker moments when ‘the life” beckoned to me. I know that prostitutes are my sisters (even though they might wonder about that) and their lack of power either diminishes my own or must propel me to speak on their behalf.
Stella, your blog is raw, and powerful, and deeply, deeply true. I salute you. I will follow you. Your story enriches mine as I hope mine enriches yours. Peace.