Sex Workers Reclaiming the Night

I really enjoyed marching for Reclaim The Night.
A reasonably big sex worker and supporter contigent - and with two large banners, and several smaller signs - we managed to make the march look, to the casual observer, like a sex worker rights parade.Which makes perfect sense from the following article from the Sydney Morning Herald :

Sheik was 'out of line'
Elicia Murray
October 26, 2006 - 10:31AMo
Trad: Mufti comments misrepresented

At least one Muslim leader has branded the Australia's Mufti "out of line" for his comments blaming immodestly dressed women for sexual assault.The former secretary of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Shujat Mantoo, said the Sheik Taj Aldin Alhilali was probably out of line, but he defended the Muslim cleric's right to stay in Australia."There would be many people like [the sheik] who uphold those views, and there would be among mainstream Christians, but we don't simply deport them. We educate them," Mr Mantoo said.Sheik Alhilali's comments were delivered in a Ramadan sermon to 500 worshippers in Sydney last month, a newspaper report said.He blamed women who "sway suggestively" and who wore makeup and no hijab (Islamic scarf) for sexual attacks.

"If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat," he said."The uncovered meat is the problem."If she was in her room, in her home, in her hajib, no problem would have occurred."

Sheik Alhihali said that he only meant to refer to prostitutes as meat, and not any scantily clad woman without a hijab.

Mr Mantoo said the sheik was probably entrenched the Egyptian culture he was brought up in."Prostitutes ... enjoy the same rights as any other woman or man in this country and if he has said that he has to understand that there is equality before the law."He likened the cleric's views to those of some elderly judges, who were out of step with mainstream society's standards.Sheik Alhilali's comments have drawn strong criticism from some federal politicians and the federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward, who said he should be sacked and deported."It is incitement to a crime. Young Muslim men who now rape women can cite this in court, can quote this man ... their leader in court," she told the Nine Network.

"It's time we stopped just saying he should apologise. It is time the Islamic community did more then say they were horrified. I think it is time he left."

Treasurer Peter Costello branded the comments "totally unacceptable". Mr Costello called for Muslim leaders to condemn the comments, disassociate themselves from them, and pull their leader into line.Sheik Alhihali said that he only meant to refer to prostitutes as meat, and not any scantily clad woman without a hijab.Mr Mantoo said the sheik was probably entrenched the Egyptian culture he was brought up in."Prostitutes ... enjoy the same rights as any other woman or man in this country and if he has said that he has to understand that there is equality before the law."He likened the cleric's views to those of some elderly judges, who were out of step with mainstream society's standards.Sheik Alhilali's comments have drawn strong criticism from some federal politicians and the federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner Pru Goward, who said he should be sacked and deported."It is incitement to a crime. Young Muslim men who now rape women can cite this in court, can quote this man ... their leader in court," she told the Nine Network."It's time we stopped just saying he should apologise. It is time the Islamic community did more then say they were horrified. I think it is time he left."Treasurer Peter Costello branded the comments "totally unacceptable". Mr Costello called for Muslim leaders to condemn the comments, disassociate themselves from them, and pull their leader into line.

Some of us earlier in the day were outraged that the notion that if women sat quietly at home we would be safe from sexual violence still had currency. We were discussing marching in nothing but hijabs... but it would be an obscure and tricky way of communicating a message, and would risk getting interpreted as anti-Islamic. For me the fact that so many people still believe that the rape of sex workers is any less heinous that that of any other person makes me want to scream. Have we done such a bad job at educating society that rape is about power - that it is a form of violence - that although rape might look like sex, THE DIFFERENCE IS CONSENT - what determines if something is an assault is if it occurs without consent.

I believe that sex work is one of the most consensual forms of sexual contact. So many aspects of sex are taken for granted in a relationship - or even casual sex context - that just aren't in the commercial sex context. Kissing on the lips, cunnilingus, natural french (fellatio without a condom) are all negotiated - not just expected. As the commercial sex exchange is such a heavily negotiated exchange - where as an ideal, sex workers have the maximum amount of control over what occurs - why would non-consensual sexual contact be somehow more acceptable?

I believe that all rapes are in fact hate crimes. When your ability to have control over your own body and choices are disregarded by another - what else can you call it? Rape as a weapon of war, rape as a form of punishment, rape as a form of control: "If she was in her room, in her home, in her hajib, no problem would have occurred."