Read on Twitter
THREAD: Let's bust some myths
1) Sex workers in Australia work in a fully decriminalised environment.
2) Sex workers in Australia and globally were not affected by the US FOSTA-SESTA law
3) Sex workers in Australia do not experience banking discrimination.
1) Sex workers in Australia work in a fully decriminalised environment.
2) Sex workers in Australia and globally were not affected by the US FOSTA-SESTA law
3) Sex workers in Australia do not experience banking discrimination.
1) Sex workers in Australia work in a fully decriminalised environment - THIS IS UNTRUE
To simply things, we will look at 6 of Australia's states and two territories...
To simply things, we will look at 6 of Australia's states and two territories...
This is going to be a *vast oversimplification* so if you want to dig into more details please take a look @scarletalliance's law page: https://www.scarletalliance.org.au/laws/
NSW - Mostly decriminalised, but some criminalisation remains for street-based workers
SA - Criminalised
NSW - Mostly decriminalised, but some criminalisation remains for street-based workers
SA - Criminalised
VIC - Licensing model, private work has ridiculous restrictions
TAS - private work okay, brothels criminalised
WA - Some work "legal", but strict brothel laws mean that working in pairs is illegal
ACT - Street-base work criminalised, private workers have to work alone
TAS - private work okay, brothels criminalised
WA - Some work "legal", but strict brothel laws mean that working in pairs is illegal
ACT - Street-base work criminalised, private workers have to work alone
NT- I'm skipping this for now because with 2019 law changes, I'm not sure where things currently stand
QLD - A "licensing" model that criminalises sex workers working together with other workers for safety, hiring an assistance, working out of the same premises as another worker, and various advertising offenses including listing your services.
Sex workers in Australia have been working on decriminalisation campaigns across the country. Some accounts to follow:
@DecrimQLD @respectqld @sexindustrynetw @SidacC
@DecrimQLD @respectqld @sexindustrynetw @SidacC
The Decrim QLD page also does a great job at explaining the laws further: https://respectqld.org.au/decriminalise-sex-work/
As a consequence of the mishmash of sex work laws around the country and the fact that Australian sex workers network, travel, and move quite frequently, you'll find that Australian sex workers are quite well acquainted to and have worked under a variety of legal models.
Sex workers in NSW are quite privileged in our relations with the police, but plenty of us have still had bad experiences within the state, and most of us have worked in other states and wouldn't trust the police in other states because the laws aren't favorable.
A lot of us have experienced entrapment and police harassment, particularly in QLD and SA. And as is true everywhere, the more vulnerable and marginalised you are as a worker, the more likely you are to to have experienced police harassment.
2) Sex workers in Australia and globally were not affected by the US FOSTA-SESTA law - UNTRUE
May US workers have faced the brunt of this law? Possibly?
May US workers have faced the brunt of this law? Possibly?
But sex workers globally lost their advertising platforms in the lead up to the passage of FOSTA-SESTA when Backpage was shutdown, and as most social media platforms are US-based, we've been losing out there every step of the way too. We aren't protected by being overseas.
Overseas sex workers mostly get to watch in abject horror from afar as laws are passed that affect our livelihoods with very little ability to affect change to those laws as we don't have representatives in congress to contact.
3) Sex workers in Australia do not experience banking discrimination. - also NOT TRUE
Here are a few articles and resources:
https://www.crikey.com.au/2019/12/11/financial-discrimination-banks-adult-industries/
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-banks-are-reportedly-turning-away-sex-workers-in-a-campaign-of-corporate-slut-shaming-and-nab-could-be-the-worst-offender-2019-9
You can read them for yourselves
Here are a few articles and resources:
https://www.crikey.com.au/2019/12/11/financial-discrimination-banks-adult-industries/
https://www.businessinsider.com.au/the-banks-are-reportedly-turning-away-sex-workers-in-a-campaign-of-corporate-slut-shaming-and-nab-could-be-the-worst-offender-2019-9
You can read them for yourselves
@SWLRV has also put together a handy table: https://sexworklawreformvictoria.org.au/financial-institutions-which-ones-discriminate/
Additionally, sex workers in Australia have less of an ability to turn to online porn because most high-risk billing companies don't accept Australian companies, so it's harder to start our own independent sites AND...
... When relying on overseas porn platforms, our payouts are less reliable and we lose more in international transfer fees or we have to use predatory payout options, and we have higher payout limits, so we are less able to access that money, etc.
