Sex work activism and intersectionality

Abstract

The sex workers’ rights movement face many obstacles to achieve a stronger and more solid front. In particular, the ‘whore stigma’ creates a lot of problems in the organization of sex workers, such as lack of visibility and solidarity. The stigma functions here at three different levels: externally, as a structural stigma, internally, within the sex workers’ rights movement, and on personal level in interaction with other people. The common experience of this stigma is both a barrier to organization and a springboard to unite and to enact change. Despite their different realities, most sex workers have experienced discrimination or violence in their lives due to the stigma. For unpacking the stigma and the obstacles it creates for mobilization, the concept of intersectionality is key. In order to transcend traditional single-axis approaches of power and inequality, the sex workers’ rights movements face the challenge to integrate an intersectional perspective to address the intersecting patterns of subordination they encounter.