The information here is copied from the web pages of International Prostitutes Collective
Why we are campaigning to abolish the prostitution laws -
Abolition would:
End the criminalization of prostitute
women – we are being punished for refusing poverty and/or
financial dependence on individual men. Black and other low-income
women who, because of racism and other discrimination have fewer
financial alternatives, bear the brunt of criminalization.
End legal, economic and civil
discrimination against prostitute women and our families, and remove
the stigma attached to prostitution which can result in women being
deported, being separated from our children, denied health care,
housing, jobs, school education for our children, etc.
Make it possible for sex workers to
be recognized as workers, with human, legal, economic and civil
rights, including the right to police protection, employment and
health benefits, pensions, to form co-operatives and trade unions,
etc.
Redirect police time and resources
now being used to arrest sex workers (and sometimes clients), to
dealing with rape, racist attacks and other violent crimes.
Increase safety for all women -- rape
and other violent crimes could no longer be dismissed on the grounds
that the woman was "asking for it" because she was
"loose" or a prostitute.
Make it easier for prostitute women
to report pimps and other violent men for assault, rape, kidnapping,
extortion, etc. -- women would not have to come out as prostitutes
and risk being arrested.
Recognize the experience and skills
prostitute women have, and make them available to the rest of
society.
Break down the division between
prostitute women and the rest of the community, enabling sex workers
and other residents in red-light areas to work together on the basis
of common rights, needs and aspirations.
Demystify prostitution, break down
the division between "good girls" and "bad
girls", and make visible the sex work other women do gratifying
men's egos and sexual demands, and make it easier for all women to
refuse this work or charge more when we agree to do it.
Undermine the need for red-light
areas as sex workers would not be prevented by law from advertising
and working together indoors.
Separate consenting sex between
adults, which should have nothing to do with the law, from offences
of nuisance, which should be dealt with on the basis of what the
nuisance is rather than who the person is.
Discourage police illegality and
racism -- women and men sex workers are often arrested when they are
not working and convicted on police evidence alone. Black sex
workers are often singled out for arrest.
Stop governments profiteering from
prostitution through fines.
Undermine profiteering by employers,
landlords and others who take advantage of the illegal or
semi-illegal status of sex workers.
Prevent the introduction of legalized
brothels which prioritize employers’ profits at the expense of sex
workers’ rights, institutionalize women in prostitution and
institutionalize pimping by the State in the form of high taxes for
services and benefits most sex workers do not get.
Prevent the introduction of
"zones" based on "tolerance" rather than rights
-- they endanger sex workers by further segregating us from the rest
of the community.
Allow women to move in and out of
prostitution as our financial situation requires, instead of being
trapped in prostitution by a criminal record and the need to earn
money to pay the fines.
Allow prostitute women greater
control over our working conditions by increasing our power to
decide what services we will provide, where, for how long and for
how much.
Allow prostitute women to dispose of
their income as we choose without the worry that husbands,
boyfriends or even sons may be arrested for living off our immoral
earnings, particularly if we or our loved ones are Black.
End the police and courts’ policy
of using possession of condoms as evidence to arrest and convict
prostitute women and men for prostitution offences.
Allow sex workers to come out, speak publicly and challenge media stereotypes.