#WORLD #WORLDWIDE #INTERNATIONAL #ANARCHISM (en) Grupo Moiras: "Prostitution cannot be a job: it is letting others use your body" (ca, de, it, pt)[machine translation]

 The anarcho-feminist affinity group analyzed in the Anarcho-syndicalist Union of

A Coruña the commodification of women's bodies and the historical positions of
the CNT and Mujeres Libres on the prostitution system ---- GRUPO MOIRAS / A
CORUÑA ---- Can prostitution be a job, and therefore be unionized? Does
prostitution fit in anarcho-syndicalism? Is abolitionism 'whorephobic'? What was
the historical position of the anarchists towards prostitution, and also that of
the Catholic Church and the bourgeoisie? Where and when did the idea that
prostitution is a job like any other come from?
These and other questions about prostitution arose during the talk "Prostitution
and Anarchism", which the Grupo Anarcofeminista Moiras offered in A Coruña,
invited by the Unión Anarcosindicalista, which also served to present the book
'Why anarcho-syndicalism cannot unionize prostitution' , which we have recently
edited.

The talk began with a presentation of the group, created a year ago by
libertarian women from different parts of the Iberian Peninsula to confront the
declassification and lack of training in anarchist ideas that is causing the
introduction of reformism and ideas of social democracy that we sells feelings of
freedom while exploiting us. In the talk we analyze the position of relevant
anarchists, such as Emma Goldman, who rejected prostitution as a social evil, and
the historical positions of Mujeres Libres and CNT. Anarchist women used to write
and work towards what they called 'free love', this was even introduced at the IV
Congress of the CNT in Zaragoza in 1936, including it in libertarian communism,
these principles, tactics and goals currently in force in the CNT AIT. As for the
libertarian abolitionism carried out by MMLL in the midst of the civil war,
through prostitution releases in which psychological and training services were
offered to those women who required it. They were with the prostituted women,
they were with the 'whores'.

A survival strategy for oppressed groups, not a job

In the talk we also analyze whether prostitution can, by its very essence, be
considered a job. Work is the effort a person makes using her physical or mental
capabilities. Prostitution is not a job as it involves letting others use one's body.

It also affects a special sphere of human life, sexuality. Prostitution is the
purchase of sexual freedom in exchange for money.

These two characteristics of prostitution make it really impossible to regulate
it as just another job: the basic rules of labor law cannot be applied to it,
such as those of Occupational Risks that are applied in all professions that
involve biological fluids. Nobody would admit a woman in prostitution dressed in
goggles, gown and gloves, for example. Basic employment standards cannot be
applied to her, since unemployed women cannot be forced, by law, to sell their
sexual freedom. It cannot be integrated into a regulated system of professional
training, in which girls and adolescents are taught to please johns of different
ages, since it would be considered sexual abuse of minors and incompatible with
education in equality. It's not a job,

The International Labor Organization promotes it and the EU includes it in the GDP

The International Labor Organization proposed in 1998 to recognize the sex
industry, after the explosion of the business with globalization. That year he
published a report on his impact on Southeast Asia, in which he advocates
recognizing the "sex industry." He was awarded at the Frankfurt Book Fair in
Germany, a country that in 2002 regulated prostitution as a job. In 2014 the EU
decided to include it in the GDP of the Member States. The INE estimates that it
contributes 0.35% of the national GDP, that is, 4,210 million euros in 2022.

Regulationism, prohibitionism, abolitionism

There are three positions before prostitution

regulationism. It is the oldest, since prostitution has been tolerated and
regulated since ancient times, and each era has found justifications for its
existence. In Spain it was regulated for at least two centuries until at the end
of the 17th century, under the reign of Philip IV, it was prohibited, only to be
regulated again in the mid-19th century. The first regulation of prostitution in
that century was proclaimed in Zaragoza in 1845, and two years later it was made
in Madrid. It remained regulated until 1956. This position considers an activity
necessary for social functioning and establishes its limits (places, health
checks, etc).

-Prohibitionism. It is a more modern position, linked to the puritanism of the
Anglo-Saxon countries. It is the one that prevails in the US except in Nevada,
and in authoritarian countries such as China. It punishes the woman in
prostitution and the whoremonger, for violating morality.

-Abolitionism. It was born with feminism in the 19th century, at the hands of
Josephine Butler. The Spanish anarchists promoted this position in the
Revolution, creating 'Liberatories of Prostitution' to give vital alternatives to
women who were in brothels.

We appreciate the courage of the comrades of the Anarcho-Syndicalist Union of A
Coruña for raising this debate in a safe and respectful space, when on so many
occasions, even within the libertarian movement itself, voices critical of the
prostitution system are censored, despite the fact that it is a position ethics
fully consistent with anarchist values.

https://elmilicianocnt-aitchiclana.blogspot.com/2022/03/grupo-moiras-la-prostitucion-no-puede.html
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca