OPINION

As a sex worker, I made my own schedule, I had a say in my wages, and it felt affirming and empowering to be desired enough to be paid for sex.

Alex Corona | Opinion contributor

Sex work is often described as the oldest profession in the world, but in today's world it is more of an umbrella term that encompasses many forms of transactional relationships between consenting adults.

Nowadays, we have cam girls, high-priced escorts, exotic dancers and street-based sex workers amongst dozens of other forms of sex work.

People from all over the world participate in the facilitation and consumption of sex work. But in marginalized communities such as black and brown people, transgender people, and other groups who are denied access to the same resources, education and employment afforded to white people, for some, sex work is the only form of survival. I, myself, found sex work because my employment opportunities were limited as a transgender Latina woman.

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I had a degree and a strong work history, but I was discriminated against to the point that I was doing sex work for survival. And for the most part, I enjoyed it. I made my own schedule, I had a say in my wages, and it felt affirming and empowering to be desired enough to be paid for sex.

Throughout history, people have exchanged the commodity of sex for money to survive against poverty, to empower themselves against miserable life circumstances, and to challenge societal norms. That's why my organization and I are fighting for decriminalization around the world to lessen violence against sex workers and to change the conversation about what sex work is and why it, and us, are valuable to the world.

Respectability politics, stigmatization, misogyny, and criminalization, cause sex workers to face exorbitant violence and dehumanization.

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Much of the time I spent with clients was just talking. Whether it was screening out the creeps, or accompanying a lonely business traveler for drinks and dinner, these people just wanted someone to be with them. Of course, oftentimes there was sex involved, but it was always consensual. And sex is fun! It should not be seen as shameful or dangerous or in this case, illegal. Sex workers and the people who hire them should not be criminalized, especially in an unfair American criminal justice system that is founded on disproportionate punishments for historically marginalized communities.

Don't confuse sex work with sex trafficking

It is important to note that sex work is not sexual assault and it is not sex trafficking. Sexual assault and sex trafficking are and should continue to be illegal and prosecuted. But opponents of the decriminalization of sex work often conflate sex work with assault, violence and trafficking to stigmatize those who participate in it.

Sex workers face even more difficulty because of new anti-trafficking legislation Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act and Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (SESTA/FOSTA) even for sex workers who are not victims of trafficking. This law also hurts trafficking victims as it drives them further underground and are harder to reach for services.

During my time as a sex worker, no one forced me to do anything, but the financial and employment circumstances I faced sure did. If society was actually fair for marginalized people, many sex workers would not have to do sex work to survive. We could be utilized for our minds and talents. But to address the conditions and humanity of sex workers is to challenge how the world treats its most marginalized groups.

Decriminalization empowers people like me to move up in a system set up against us without added pressures of high risk situations, lifelong repercussions of incarceration, and violence. That should be the focus of this conversation, not what happens in the bedrooms (and back seats) of consenting adults.

Decriminalization of sex work is just the first step in creating a more just world. Even if all sex work were decriminalized tomorrow, large swaths of the sex working population would still face over-policing. People of color, African-Americans especially, are routinely targeted by law enforcement for harassment and face disproportionate rates of arrest and violence at the hands of police. Similarly, transgender individuals are regularly profiled as sex workers or other members of the street economy, and thus treated as criminals from the start. In the U.S. we criminalize individuals living with HIV, and that is frequently compounded if those individuals are engaging in sex work, regardless of the precautions they may be taking.

We must move beyond this culture of incarceration and policing, and into one that treats sex work as another means for people to work their way out of undesirable situations.