http://www.crossbordersydney.org/#poster6

WE ARE MIGRANT SEX WORKERS



Poster design: Scarlet Alliance Australian Sex Workers Association Migration Project and the Love Cats

There seems to be an ignorance and voyeuristic fascination with migrant sex workers that is perpetuated by a seemingly never ending stream of ill informed and poorly researched media stories. Dangerously, these stories peddle well worn stereotypes which then become public opinion, and are the drivers behind bad policies that overstep the fair and reasonable application of the law. When it comes to migrant sex workers, fair and reasonable goes out the window, and the voices of actual migrant sex workers are always absent. The Scarlet Alliance Australian Sex Workers Association Migration Project fights to represent the real situation for migrant sex workers to the media, government, organisations and public. We are staffed entirely by multilingual migrant sex workers. To ensure our work is truly representational of migrant sex workers, and is informed by a strong evidence base, we hold regular steering committee meetings with sex workers from Chinese, Korean and Thai language backgrounds to discuss and provide input into the issues that are affecting us. If you are a migrant sex worker and want to contact us or become involved with our steering committee, you can call us on (02) 96900551, see also scarletalliance.org.au.
Read on to find out the truth about migrant sex workers.

Migrant sex workers are well travelled, experienced, empowered and independent.
Research and anecdotal evidence from sex worker organisations demonstrates that migrant sex workers are often older than their non-migrant counterparts. Many migrant sex workers have lived experiences overseas prior to coming to Australia and many report having previously engaged in sex work abroad. The vast majority of migrant sex workers in Australia have independently travelled to Australia. Because of the limited visa options for sex workers travelling to Australia, especially travelling from low income countries, sex workers may choose to engage an agent to facilitate their travel. This need to engage a third party agent is exacerbated by the lack of translated resources and forms when applying for a visa to Australia. Use of a migration agent is common and does not constitute trafficking. There has been a conflation of the terminology of trafficking and migration for sex work. Trafficking has been used as an excuse to introduce excessive regulation of the sex industry and the migration of people for sex work. The reality is that sex workers choose to travel and work, just as people in other occupations choose to do.

We are strong and choose when, where and how we work.
We choose to sex work for a variety of reasons. This is no different to the decisions people make to engage in any job. If we are not satisfied with our workplaces, we can choose to work somewhere else. If we no longer want to sex work we can choose to leave our jobs. The only threat to our freedom to work how and when we want comes from the restrictive legal environments that are being threatened in the name of anti-trafficking responses. These laws, which are allegedly for our own protection, restrict our movement and our right to choose our occupation. For the vast majority of migrant sex workers who choose to work, these laws only function to harass us, and discriminate against our choices.

We have a strong network of friends and peers who we turn to as our main source of information and support.
Sex workers are most likely to turn to friends for information and support. Research and anecdotal evidence supports this fact. demonstrates the value of peer support and information sharingIn an environment where police and immigration regularly raid our workplaces and harass us - allegedly to “rescue” us from supposed acts of “trafficking”; and many states and territories in Australia still criminalise sex work- it is no surprise that migrant sex workers do not trust anyone who is not a sex worker when accessing support.

We have high rates of condom use and low rates of STIs and HIV.
The consistent findings of numerous research projects have found that migrant and CALD sex workers have high rates of condom use at work. There is no measurable difference between the condom use of migrant and non migrant sex workers. The findings of these research projects have been supported by the continued low rates of STIs amongst sex workers. In Australia we still have no recorded instances of HIV transmission between sex worker and client. Despite these findings media outlets still refer to the supposed “compliance of submissive Asian women to demands of unsafe sex”.

We earn a good income and have workplace satisfaction and a good level of knowledge of sexual health, services and our workplace rights.
In the recent Scarlet Alliance Migration Project survey of 592 sex workers around Australia, sex workers report high level of income, workplace satisfaction and knowledge of workplace rights. Sex workers have always been proactive in regards to our sexual health. Our bodies are our business and we look after them. The harm reduction strategies employed in relation to sexual health services in Australia, whereby sex workers can access services confidentially and anonymously, are also conducive to high uptake of sexual health services by sex workers in Australia. The investment in peer education for and by sex workers means that promotion of these services is widespread.

Don't judge us because of our occupation.
Sex workers face a disproportionate amount of stigma and discrimination. This case is even more so for migrant sex workers who face dual stigma of sex worker and migrant. Many of the issues that arise for sex workers are not about our job or our feelings towards our job; instead they are about other people’s attitudes to us and our work. This negative perception is pervasive throughout society and manifests in bad media and laws; it manifests in how we are treated in our day to day interactions with services, banks, police and the people around us. Sex work is work and it is our choice to work. Ask yourself what it is about our jobs that make you judge us. Question the deep seated whorephobia and racism in society that perpetuates this ignorance. We are strong, independent and economically empowered.

We don't need your pity- we need our rights.
Choosing to travel and sex work gives us freedom, your racism and stereotypes confine us.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rudeboy86

…WE ARE MIGRANT SEX WORKERS……

You claim to be a MIGRANT SEX WORKER here, Rudeboy, but what do you have on your tax form?
Is it a career? Have you migrated once or do you continually migrate? I'm confused.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark_

You claim to be a MIGRANT SEX WORKER here, Rudeboy, but what do you have on your tax form?
Is it a career? Have you migrated once or do you continually migrate? I'm confused.

I'm not a migrant sex worker. I was posting a release from Scarlet about migrant sex workers.

^ Oh OK.
Is 'MIGRANT SEX WORKER' a career? Do they migrate once or do they continually migrate?