Academics Advocate for Regulating Sex Work Through a Social Justice Lens

Original article: Académico propone regular el trabajo sexual desde una perspectiva de justicia social

Published in Humanities & Social Sciences Communications from the esteemed Nature Portfolio, the article «Towards Multidimensional Justice for Sex Workers: Redistribution, Recognition, and Participation» by Professor Pablo Aguayo-Westwood from the University of Chile’s Law School proposes to evaluate the regulation of sex work through a framework of social justice.

«My aim is not to defend a position dogmatically, but to illustrate that there are various stances on this matter. In a prior article co-authored with María José Calderón titled ‘What’s Wrong with Prostitution?’, we demonstrated that there are at least four different positions regarding this issue, and it is essential to identify the virtues and drawbacks of each,» explained the researcher.

The academic notes that his perspective has evolved over time, particularly due to direct contact with sex worker organizations, unions, and research work by other scholars collaborating with these unions.

In this context, Pablo Aguayo-Westwood highlights that a suitable analytical framework for this issue is the justice theory of American philosopher Nancy Fraser, which proposes a three-dimensional model of economic redistribution, social recognition, and political participation, providing a multidimensional perspective on one of the most contentious topics in contemporary legal and political discussions: sex work.

«It’s not about promoting sex work, which is the usual criticism. I don’t believe anyone wants to promote it. What we seek, in the long term, is for it to cease to exist. However, the best immediate response is not to prohibit or punish it, as that leads to double victimization of sex workers, who are already victims of initial conditions of material and economic inequality,» warns the academic.

«I don’t have a definitive answer,» he adds. «The article does not provide a singular solution, but rather expresses the challenges of each position and tries to reveal that one of these positions, in the immediate term, seems preferable to the others,» he concludes.

Regarding the situation in Chile, he notes that the discussion has been stalled in Parliament for over 11 years, with a tendency towards sanctioning this type of work.

«There exists a strange convergence in opinion shared by both progressive feminists and conservative far-right positions. This was also evident in the discussion about surrogacy, which is supported by both the Communist Party and the Republican Party,» the professor from the University of Chile stated.

Social Inequality

Some argue that sex work would not exist if those engaging in it had economic stability.

However, Aguayo-Westwood counters that «the counterargument, which is very interesting and appears in the book ‘Prostitution / Sex Work’ by Diana Maffía, argues that while it is true that material social conditions make these decisions difficult, this applies to the entire working class, not just sex workers. For instance, women cleaning elderly diapers or those engaged in domestic service often lack decision-making autonomy as well.»

«This is not an argument against sex work; it is an argument against any job where particularly women do not have agency in their decision to work. The best example, which I present in my classes, concerns live-in domestic workers, which represents a form of 21st-century slavery,» he emphasized.

«No one could seriously claim that a woman freely chooses to dedicate her life to working for another family from Monday to Saturday all day. While it is true that material conditions hinder viewing these decisions as fully free, that argument does not apply solely to sex work. It could also be relevant to many other jobs performed by working-class individuals, such as garbage collectors or caregivers for the elderly,» noted the professor.

Based on the above, the expert states that «sex workers themselves question why there is such particular interest in portraying them as lacking choice, whereas this same scrutiny is not extended to other occupations performed under similar conditions.»

«When sex work is prohibited, the precarious conditions under which it is practiced are worse than when it is permitted. Under prohibition, workers cannot, for example, have a bank account, access the market, or prove they have the resources to rent an apartment to perform their work,» lists the researcher.

«Thus, in general, when work is prohibited, organized crime and pimps operate much more aggressively than when it is allowed and legalized. Once legalized, those workers can unionize, gain access to social security in developed countries, healthcare, and credit,» emphasized Aguayo-Westwood.

Feminist Perspectives

Regarding feminist perspectives on this issue, the academic from the Department of Legal Sciences reveals that «my goal has also been to show that within feminism there are diverse positions.»

«There is no single feminism; there are various feminisms, and within this variety, there are differing opinions on the debate. The most traditional are the abolitionist positions, while at the other end are those that defend the autonomy of sex workers and their ability to organize among themselves to advocate for their rights without others speaking on their behalf,» he proposed.

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