Read this.
"Abolishing Prostitution: The Swedish Solution
An Interview with Gunilla Ekberg
by the Rain and Thunder Collective
First published in Rain and Thunder: A Radical Feminist Journal of Discussion and
Activism, Issue 41, Winter Solstice 2008."
Read the whole article here:
http://action.web.ca/home/catw/attach/R%26T_Interview_with_Gunilla_Ekberg.pdf
From the article:
The other principle is that women in prostitution shouldn’t be criminalized - because
they are victims of male violence. Rather, it is the perpetrators — the pimps, traffickers,
and prostitution buyers — who should be criminalized. In Sweden, prostituted women
and children are seen as victims of male violence who do not risk legal or other penalties.
If you analyze choice you recognize that choice is only possible if you choose from equal alternatives. You have to distinguish between making a decision and having a genuine choice. We make decisions in all kinds of situations that are difficult because that’s part of everyday life. If I’m in a job I absolutely loathe, that pays badly, I may have to stay there. So I make a decision to stay there because I can’t get another job right now. That is not to have a real choice.
( Read more... )
"Abolishing Prostitution: The Swedish Solution
An Interview with Gunilla Ekberg
by the Rain and Thunder Collective
First published in Rain and Thunder: A Radical Feminist Journal of Discussion and
Activism, Issue 41, Winter Solstice 2008."
Read the whole article here:
http://action.web.ca/home/catw/attach/R%26T_Interview_with_Gunilla_Ekberg.pdf
From the article:
The other principle is that women in prostitution shouldn’t be criminalized - because
they are victims of male violence. Rather, it is the perpetrators — the pimps, traffickers,
and prostitution buyers — who should be criminalized. In Sweden, prostituted women
and children are seen as victims of male violence who do not risk legal or other penalties.
If you analyze choice you recognize that choice is only possible if you choose from equal alternatives. You have to distinguish between making a decision and having a genuine choice. We make decisions in all kinds of situations that are difficult because that’s part of everyday life. If I’m in a job I absolutely loathe, that pays badly, I may have to stay there. So I make a decision to stay there because I can’t get another job right now. That is not to have a real choice.
( Read more... )