Tag Archives: cisheteropatriarchy

A Response to Men’s Accountability Conference’s Anti-Sex Work(er) Politics

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On March 3rd, 2018, #HowIWillChange: Men’s Accountability Conference, took place on the unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples – specifically the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) & Səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations in what is colonially known as Vancouver, Canada.

The online description of this conference stated that one of many issues that facilitators and presenters would “deep dive into” included “showing links between rape culture and our use of pornography, pr*stitution and massage parlours“.

As supporters of sex workers’ rights to safe working conditions as well as for the decriminalization of sex work, this is our response to the organizers of this event, which took place on International Sex Workers’ Rights Day. A flyer was created and distributed at the conference on March 3rd. The Men’s Accountability Conference has yet to publicly address and apologize for their promotion of sex work abolition. Below is the text from our flyer…

INTERNATIONAL SEX WORKERS’ RIGHTS DAY

this document is crafted & distributed on the unceded, occupied territory of the Coast Salish peoples, specifically Musqueam, Squamish, & Tsleil-Waututh nations.

this day’s history goes back to 2001, when over 25,000 sex workers gathered in India for a festival despite efforts from prohibitionist groups who tried to prevent it taking place by pressuring the government to revoke their permit. the event was organised by Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, a Calcutta based group that has over 50,000 sex worker members, and members of their communities. Sex worker groups across the world have subsequently celebrated 3rd March as an annual, international event, as International Sex Workers’ Rights Day.

considering the significance of today’s date and the central focus of this gathering to be around men’s accountability, it is alarming to witness this conference publicly state, through promotional material, its intention in discussing “[the] links between rape culture and our use of pornography, pr*stitution and massage parlours”, thereby promoting anti-sex work/sex work abolition ideology.

cisgender men, especially those who are white, abled, middle/upper class, straight (& straight-assumed), conventionally attractive and/or a combination of the above, who seek to work in solidarity with an intersectional, anti-oppressive feminist movement must stop conflating all sex work with trafficking and listen to sex workers when they demand decriminalization and declare that sex work is work.

SEX WORK IS WORK

Sex workers’ rights includes:

  • the right to non-discrimination – sex workers experience a high degree of stigma and discrimination & often choose not to disclose their sex work to even their closest friends & family members
  • the right to life, liberty and security of the person – sex workers have many barriers to accessing police protection & reporting violence, & reports from sex workers are not always investigated
  • the right to working conditions that are safe and healthy – the criminalization of sex buyers forces sex workers to work in isolation & secrecy, and consequently limits their ability to work safely
  • the right to freedom of expression & association – Canadian law forces sex workers to work alone & limits their ability to communicate with clients & effectively negotiate the terms of service
  • the right to freedom from inhumane and degrading treatment – sex workers have up to a 75% lifetime risk of physical or sexual violence (CPHA, 2014), and are 60 to 120 times more likely to die by homicide than non-sex workers (Stats Canada, 2007)

ending violence against women starts with ending violence against sex workers      all oppression is connected

[image description: the first image is of an illustration of a sex worker pointing with her left hand and holding a whip in her right hand. to the right of her, it says IN TEXT: ending violence against women starts with ending violence against sex workers. end text. at the bottom it says PACE-SOCIETY.ORG. the second image is of a black and white image of road signs that say RACISM, SEXISM, HETEROSEXISM, CLASSISM, COLONIALISM, ABLEISM. in the middle it says INTERSECTIONALITY. above and below the signs it says ALL OPPRESSION IS CONNECTED. end description.]

Upholding sex workers’ human rights is key to ending violence, exploitation and discrimination against sex workers and people who sell or trade sexual services.

SPEAK WITH SEX WORKERS NOT FOR THEM

(the text above describes the images of our flyers at the bottom of this post.)

some resources to learn more about the sex worker-led movement for decriminalization:

  1. “Criminalizing Sex-Work Has Not Saved Indigenous Women” by Naomi Sayers
  2. “Speak with sex workers, not for them” by Pivot Legal Society
  3. “How To Be An Ally to Sex Workers” by Sex Workers Outreach Project-Chicago (SWOP)
  4. “Sex work is work: renewed push to decriminalise profession in Victoria” by Neelima Choahan
  5. “Decriminalising sex work is the only way to protect women – and New Zealand has proved that it works” by Lynzi Armstrong
  6. “For Anti-Sex Work Writers, Sex Sells” by Noah Berlatsky

below are the flyers we created and distributed at #HowIWillChange: Men’s Accountability Conference.

a text document titled International Sex Workers' Rights Day

a text document entitled Sex Work is Work

When Toxic Radical “Feminism” and (Christian) Fundamentalism Converge

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we ask of everyone to take the time to watch this committee debate on Bill C-16 (which aims to protect trans and gender nonconforming people from discrimination in Canada) – in parts or in full.
 
let the record show the world the dangerous belief system, attitude and behaviour of out-of-touch cis supremacists like Hilla Kerner (Vancouver Rape Relief), Meaghan Murphy (“Feminist”Current), and Paul Dirks (New West Community Church) and their gross ignorance in regards to sex, gender, gender identity, and gender expression.
 
who else would show up to debate the existence of and violence faced by trans women and gender nonconforming people other than the people most likely to be charged once this legislation is passed?
 
these handful of bigots, who have exhumed resources to stand in the way of forward movement for feminism, are a reflection of the greater population of canada, and the western world. it is no accident that Trans Exclusionary Radical “Feminists” (TERFs) are sitting and working alongside a Christian pastor as the recognition of multiple gender identities, gender expressions and sexual orientations by a number of Indigenous nations across canada has historically been violently erased and minimized through Residential Schools administered by Christian churches.
 
(incidentally, Bill S-3, which seeks to amend the Indian Act regarding gender discrimination, is also currently before the Senate: https://twitter.com/kwetoday/status/863249467646070784)
 
our local communities must do better to hold each other accountable and protect trans and gender nonconforming people. trans folks are also disabled, people of colour, women of colour, youth, elders, poor, low-income, homeless, addicts, sex workers, students, children, black, indigenous, undocumented, working class, fat, nonbinary, neurodivergent, mad, sick, etc. harm to trans people is harm to all – that harm is multiplied and intensified when trans folks are a combination of any and all of the above (and beyond).
 
Support Bill C16 by:
  • calling and writing to the Senators (http://sds.utoronto.ca/news/support-bill-c-16/)
  • publicly expressing support for Bill C-16 in all your social media platforms (#C16, #SupportBillC16, #TurftheTERFs, #NoTERFsNoSWERFs)
  • demanding the development of trans-inclusive policies within your workplace and the organizations whose services you directly access
  • supporting the boycott of businesses and organizations that discriminate trans people (http://bctf.ca/publications/BCTFnews.aspx?id=44438&printPage=true#6)
  • seeking resources, information, and hirstory on sex, gender, gender identity, and gender expression
  • engaging more family members, friends, lovers, strangers, and coworkers in conversations around Bill C-16, sex, gender, gender identity and gender expression
  • investigating what sex, gender, gender identity, and gender expression mean personally for you
thank you.

Women’s March on Washington – Vancouver: CALL TO ACTIONS

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this flyer is intended for distribution at the Women’s March on Washington solidarity march in vancouver, canada and beyond the march itself. we urge you to print copies, translate them into other languages, and distribute them far and wide.

this was created to express solidarity and point to the efforts for mass organizing rooted in intersectional, anti-oppressive feminism for the Women’s March on Washington in Washington, USA / on (from our knowledge) the occupied territory of Piscataway people.

we put this forward to join in on critical conversations around the gaps missed in their Guiding Vision & Definitions of Principles. most importantly, we do so to call our community to action in integrating anti-oppression, anti-kyriarchy, and intersectionality into ALL ASPECTS OF SOCIAL JUSTICE WORK.

the time is NOW for us to:

  • develop policies within groups and organizations which prioritize the safety, inclusion, and leadership of individuals and communities who face the most forms of violence and who are with the least social agency and resources (i.e. conflict resolution processes, safer space guidelines, decision making processes, annual anti-oppression training, etc.)
  • create spaces and invest in resources for youth, girls, women, disabled folks, poor folks, seniors, elders, and marginalized folks in general to build our own capacity and leadership within groups, organizations and communities. (i.e. training, rotation of roles, mentorship, peer support, etc.)
  • build visions for our work to prioritize indigenous sovereignty and autonomy and which create and support alternative economies to capitalism. eradicating oppression is counter-intuitive without us recognizing that colonization, capitalism, and imperialism are at its root.
  • demand social justice spaces and beyond to prioritize disability & economic justice; inquire about accessibility policies at events and within organizations; organize accessible events or don’t organize at all!
  • challenge those in our personal lives with oppressive beliefs, practices and ideologies; intervene and interrupt at the dinner table, at work, at home, on the street and within ourselves!

PRINT THE FLYERS HERE: https://theantioppressionnetwork.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/womens-march-call-to-action.pdf

the text for the flyers below:

a flyer titled THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL

weed-out-the-swterfs

THE PERSONAL IS POLITICAL
LE PRIVE EST POLITIQUE

this document is crafted & distributed on the unceded, occupied territory of the Coast Salish people, specifically Musqueam, Squamish, & Tsleil-Waututh Nations.

this is a local, colony-wide, & global CALL TO ACTION to address oppressive forces which directly affect our lives. we must combat, resist, and transform all forms of oppression in personal, organizational, & institutional levels of human society, at home and abroad.

we firmly uphold that the most sustainable pathways for justice involve acknowledging, embracing, & unpacking the complexities of ALL our struggles. we challenge all those in the collective fight for social justice to find creative & meaningful ways to weave anti-oppression & intersectionality into our existing work in all aspects of our lives.

this means naming: colonialism, imperialism, capitalism, white supremacy, cis hetero patriarchy, ableism, ageism, anti-blackness, classism, sexism, sizeism, & more…

CALL TO ACTION: STOP TERFS & SWERFS

TERF = trans exclusionary radical feminism or feminist
SWERF = sex worker exclusionary radical feminism/t

for far too long, TERFs/SWERFs hijack feminist movements to spread hate and oppression within. this is a
call for the community to take a more active role in challenging and eradicating oppressive narratives within the fight for gender liberation and beyond. it is imperative to notperpetuate & endorse stigma, hatred, violence, & hostility towards trans people, trans women (in particular), & sex workers within ALL movements.

their efforts have subjected people in our own community to emotional, physical, & psychological abuse and we have failed in protecting those most suceptible to violence & displacement. WE CAN & MUST DO BETTER.

PRINT THE FLYERS HERE: https://theantioppressionnetwork.files.wordpress.com/2017/01/womens-march-call-to-action.pdf

**NOTICE TO ALL INVOLVED IN COMMUNITY ORGANIZING/SOCIAL JUSTICE/RESISTANCE WORK**

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TW & CW: trans antagonism, TERF, SWERF

TERF = trans exclusionary radical feminism/feminist
SWERF = sex worker exclusionary radical feminism/feminist

hello there,

we are responding to the TERF/SWERF activity that transpired over the weekend at the 2016 Victoria Anarchist Bookfair for your information.

we are at a point in time where we are seeing a resurgence of TERFs/SWERFs networking and organizing particularly here on the West Coast (victoria/vancouver – though not exclusively.) local community organizers who identify as trans/transgender/gender nonconforming have been and continue to be targeted online by TERFs/SWERFs both local and not local to the region.

four months ago, May 2016, TERF(s) hiding behind an online handle from Victoria tweeted photos of Tami, misgendering her and accusing her of not being indigenous and also posted it on tumblr. when this was brought to our attention, we discovered the person had also been posting photos of a local community organizer in Victoria, who also identifies as trans, spreading lies and inciting hate. we have identified at least one of these people to be Zoe Blunt, who spearheads Wild Coast Caravan to Unis’tot’en camp and organizes with Deep Green Resistance, a well known eco-fascist group who have been publicly boycotted by a number of local community organizers. for details: https://www.facebook.com/buivanessa/media_set?set=a.10153701530308230.1073741833.503683229&type=3
*
and our local call out regarding TERF/SWERF’s in victoria area: https://www.facebook.com/TheAntiONetwork/photos/a.368631213212023.86686.214262228648923/918563874885418/

recently, in the summer, another online handle emerged on twitter and facebook in response to Thirdspace (formerly known as the University of Victoria’s Women’s Centre) for their inclusion of trans and gender nonconforming people at the centre. the individuals responsible for the twitter handle have been producing pamphlets filled with anti-trans, gender essentialist, biological determinist rhetoric and distributing them throughout the campus of the University of Victoria. one of them showed up to the collective meeting of Thirdspace and live-tweeted the meeting. this person has been identified as Alexis / Rad Lexi / Ana Hesse (fake facebook name).

weeks later, during the music shows leading up to the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair they also live-tweeted at an event and posted disparaging remarks about the trans artists and organized to show up at the Anarchist Bookfair on September 10th, 2016. Alexis has admitted to being responsible for at least one of the tweets. they continue to attack the aforementioned local community organizer via facebook, posting photos of her without her consent and spewing anti-trans women rhetoric.

this is about sharing information so the community knows what’s happening and the sorted details. there are a lot of people with various levels of experience and social agency who either are on the front lines of this issue, are allies of various forms or are very complicit and silent.

– this is the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair’s response: https://www.facebook.com/TheAntiONetwork/photos/a.368631213212023.86686.214262228648923/1181719461903190/

– this is Wulfgang Zapf’s response to the events: https://www.facebook.com/beyonisbeyon/posts/1167738526619653

Please share
Reflections on the Anarchist Bookfair

I want to acknowledge and hold up every queer, trans and non-binary person who held it down at the 2016 anarchist bookfair against the violence enacted by a transphobic hate group.

When violence was happening we spoke. When people in positions of power and responsibility refused to act or offer meaningful solidarity we shared with our friends who then rose their voices to fill the space and be visible and vulnerable as Trans in a space where before we were not seen.

We did the work to show up prepared the next day and held space for one another. We waded through the words of violence littering the internet and found out who the TERFS were, prepared and shared this information to keep ourselves safe. We did the work of talking to other tablers so to be transparent about this threat of violence against ourselves and our friends, lovers, and families.

We took control of the room when TERF organizers were identified and we did not back down from confrontation. We risked our safety for the safety of each other. We physically put our bodies between those who want us dead and our friends and family. Because we know what happens to the people we love when we are silent and inactive.

And then we did the emotional labour of education cis onlookers, who sat and watched us remove the TERFs. We did this while still physically vibrating with the fear and power of confronting the ones filled with hate.

We also lovingly did the emotional labour for each other. We watched each other’s tables, we checked in, and listened and held each other and brought our friends to the trees and sunshine when they needed it. We brought one another food and tea and coffee. We gave everything we had and there is much to be proud of in the ways we protected ourselves and confronted violence. And I am grateful. And I see each an every one of us queers, trans peeps and non-binary humans who are still doing this work right now and each day you are not invisible to me.

We did all of this while everyone around us submerged themselves in silence and inaction. We weathered the sympathetic looks from cis people afraid to act or even speak or even check in. We swallowed our anger as we did the work of holding space when no organizer would even speak to us or ask if we needed anything… if we were okay. We continue to support one another in the silence and fear and guilt of the cis people who still blanket the event. Do we need support from the book fair collective? No, we held it down without a single one of them doing a damn thing.

The erasure that continues by the bookfair collective’s statement through the theft of our words that we spoke in that room with our vulnerable spontaneity is disgusting and we can banish it from our hearts with the knowledge that their stolen words fell from the lips and out of the hearts of the trans and queer and non-binary people who filled the repulsive silence and hand wringing with their vibrant powerful voices. Because we were there and active and witnesses and know how shit played out.

So let all those cis anarchists continue in their futility and relieve their guilt through saying ‘the right things’ after the fact.

It is us who are powerful and I will love and protect the queer and trans loves of my heart with my own trans non-binary ferocity until the end.

Wulfgang Zapf

with the support and love and feedback of my fam as always

So in conclusion.
We, the anti oppression network, are working to organize with the victoria/lekwungen/wsanec territories trans/queer and general community, along with other interested community members, a “community dialogue on TERFs/SWERFs and the need for intersectionality/anti oppression and decolonization”.

This notice is an opportunity for community organizers and those doing resistance work to dismantle the oppressive status quo, dysfunction and oppressions within our own communities. This challenging and unfortunate set of circumstances are an opportunity for communities across so-called Canada and Turtle Island to grow and learn from (not just ignore because its convenient.) In a time where trans people are still facing various forms and degrees of violence and a rise in extremism, fundamentalism, and white supremacy, it is imperative that we come together to address the particular issues of TERFs and SWERFs in our organizing spaces and take on the responsibility that belongs to ALL. trans antagonism, trans misogyny, anti-sex work, and the colonial patriarchal understandings of gender, gender identity, and gender expression HAS NO PLACE IN SOCIAL JUSTICE WORK OR OUR COLLECTIVE LIBERATION.

information on TERFs: http://transadvocate.com/you-might-be-a-terf-if_n_10226.htm
http://transadvocate.com/is-sadism-popular-with-terfs-a-chat-with-an-ex-gendercrit_n_18568.htm

contact info: https://theantioppressionnetwork.wordpress.com/contact-us/