For this project I researched sex work in the U.S and the topic of decriminalization alongside researching the federal acts Fight Online Sex Trafficking (FOSTA-SESTA) and the topic of sex trafficking in the U.S. I also did research into how other countries treat the topic and I planned on representing each country or group of countries in an art piece depicting their legislation and beliefs.
Thinking Skill - Synthesis
History: I wrote an idea for pieces of legislation that would act as a better anti-sex trafficking effort than FOSTA-SESTA. I wrote a letter that would be sent to ResistBot which brought up the topic of decriminalizing sex work, repealing FOSTA-SESTA, and working towards open borders. This was a synthesis of the research I gathered to help stop sex trafficking and to also help sex workers.
LA: For LA, I did a college research paper and took a look at studying abroad in Scandinavia. I researched three colleges: The University of Lapland, a college in the Arctic Circle of Lapland, Finland, The Tyler School of Art of Temple University, and The New York University.
Art: I researched the legislation of sex work in different countries and touched on the "Nordic Model" of Scandinavian countries, the criminalization of sex work in the U.S, the legalization of it in Germany, and the decriminalization of it in New Zealand. I planned on doing a series of digital pieces synthesizing how each country views sex work and reflecting their legislation.
Language Arts
College Research Paper
Allison Poland Mr. Ward Honors English III 10 January 2020
Colleges of Varying Degrees
It’s often hard to make big life decisions, and which college one decides to go to is no exception. With so many colleges everywhere, the decision seems so much bigger. Interestingly, a 2016 study showed that 37.9 per cent of students attended a college within 50 miles to their permanent home, with one-fifth of the students saying that they planned on living with their family for their first year of college (Campus Advantage). I narrowed down to three colleges that I want to go to: the University of Lapland, Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, and New York University. I decided on these three colleges because I’ve heard good things from each of their art programs, they all seem to have a welcoming campus, and they also all offer and study abroad programs.
STUDYING ABROAD IN SCANDINAVIA I’m interested in the Scandinavian culture, like that of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and although not technically a Scandinavian country, Finland, I think it would be interesting to either study abroad in one of the countries or even move, study for all four years, and get a job there. Scandinavia is home to some of the best colleges in Europe, and I personally am very interested in going there because I think it would be an interesting experience to immerse myself in their culture. Differing from the United States, all of the Scandinavian countries, with the exception of Norway, allow those from the European Union/EEU to study for free, but students outside of the EU must pay tuition. Even still, the tuition cost is often much lower in comparison to that of many colleges in the U.S. While Norway does offer free tuition, the cost to live in the country is among the highest in the world. A benefit to Scandinavian colleges is that many of them teach in English making it easier to study the things one’s interested in while slowly integrating into the culture and learning the language firsthand (“Study in Scandinavia: The Ultimate Guide.”). Weather in Scandinavia is much different than in the U.S with long, cold, dark winters and short, cooler Summers. Travel in cities is often done through mass transport like buses, trains, and boats. Outside of the modern urban setting of the cities, the geography of Scandinavia is varied largely with the Scandanavian mountains, the low, flat areas in Denmark, the archipelagos in Sweden and Norway, and moraines in Finland ("Scandinavia."). I think it would be very interesting to go to Scandinavia because I understand that it’ll likely be more costly to live there, but the weather doesn’t bother me, and I’d love to see the nature and better understand the culture there.
UNIVERSITY OF LAPLAND The University of Lapland is a Finnish multidisciplinary university in the city of Rovaniemi on the Arctic Circle which has its main area of expertise on Arctic affairs and tourism research. It’s a very community-based university with many studies in the art branch relating to the people living in the Arctic Circle which may be an interesting way to learn more about Finland when studying abroad (University of Lapland). Their arts and design centre offers many English taught art classes that I would be interested in taking, like their fine arts course, or graphic design course. They also have minors in interesting areas of studies such as gender studies and languages and culture (University of Lapland). My only concern is that the English curriculum may be too restricted and will not offer the scope of what I would want to study at the college. As a non-EU student, I will have to pay tuition; however, the costs are likely much lower than in the US. According to the college site, the tuition fees for non-EU students are 8 000 € or $8,898 per academic year which is very low in comparison to US college admissions, but this cost does not include room and board. The college site also says that for all students subject to tuition fees who are starting their studies from Autumn 2019 onwards will receive a scholarship of 4 800 € or $5,338.80 which leaves a remaining amount of 3 200 € or $3,559.20 to be covered. The school also offers a scholarship for 6 400 € or $7,118.40 along with a scholarship with a full 8 000 € coverage. These scholarships last for 2 years and will renew as long as the student receives 55 credits. It is also possible to receive a 100% waiver for the second year if the student receives 60 credits (University of Lapland). I will also have to cover the costs of living in Finland, and in order to get a residence permit, I must provide evidence of my finance and that I can afford it. In order to live in Finland, I must personally cover the costs of my health insurance, and I am allowed to work in Finland, but there are restrictions of only allowing an average of 25 hours of work per week during an academic term. There are no restrictions on work hours outside of an academic term (“Studying in Finland.”). While I do like where the college is placed and I like some of what it has to offer, I think the cost to move and live there and English provided curriculum just might be too restrictive for me. Even still, this was an interesting college to research and let me understand what it would take in order to study in a completely different country.
TYLER SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE | TEMPLE UNIVERSITY The Tyler School of Art and Architecture is based at Temple University, a public research institution located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The arts program within Temple offers a wide range of academic degrees and is ranked number 15 in the nation from the U.S. News & World Report's Best Graduate Schools of fine arts schools. The tuition cost for the school is also rather low as the in-state tuition is $16,274 (Temple University). Because this college is located in Philadelphia, I will be able to stay rather close to my home, and also, by using my projected PSAT score of 1250 and my current GPA of 3.9, my rate of acceptance into the college becomes 84.32% which means that I will more likely than not, be able to get in (PrepScholar). Temple is known for having a strong art program and they offer some programs I’m interested in, like Graphic and Interactive Photography, Film and Media Arts, and Painting (Temple University). They also cover lots of subject matter so I can take classes in other interests and have more decisions if I want to go a different route. They do offer the Danish Institute for Study Abroad (DIS) which allows students to study abroad in Scandinavia in either Copenhagen, Denmark or Stockholm, Sweden. The program to study in Copenhagen, Denmark, where I’d most likely want to go to if I were to use this program offers multiple different academic studies which are of interest to me. These include Art & Visual Culture, Graphic Design, Computer Science, Justice & Human Rights, Philosophy, and Psychology. The academic studies that interest me offered by the college in Stockholm Sweden are Gender & Sexuality Studies, Literature, and Psychology (DIS). This college offers a lot in the way of curriculum and its closeness to my home means that I won’t need to travel too far to talk with my family. This point is a bit ironic because I did research on living and studying in a completely different country, but for me, I think the experience of going to another country outweighs my inability to go home very often, so I’d prefer to either study somewhere out of the country or somewhere in the U.S that’s closeby. My high chances (84.32%) of getting into Temple University also nets this college as a safety school which is useful information.
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY New York University is a large private university located in New York with degree-granting campuses in New York, Shanghai, and Abu Dhabi. NYU is a prominent and well-respected research university that has top-ranking academic programs (NYU). The college is highly competitive and with my projected SAT score of 1250 and my current GPA of 3.969, my acceptance rate is 18.76% which makes this a reach school meaning that I have a low chance of getting in, but I still have a shot (PrepScholar). NYU provides The Game Design Bachelor of Fine Art in the Tisch School of the Arts program. It’s a 4-year video game design course that covers the fundamentals of game design and goes over things like programming, animation, writing, and sound design of games and is a course I am very interested in taking. The program also details the history of video games and lets you focus in any area of the game design like a focus on art or one on programming. Students are required to receive a large number of credits from a combination of expository writing, humanities, and social or hard sciences. They are also required to take a production class in another department of Tisch to familiarize themselves with other styles of creativity. Again, to me, this sounds completely doable and is something that I’d be interested in doing (NYU). The college’s tuition costs are moderately high at $49,062, and the college is located in a more condensed urban area which is something I don’t prefer, but I’ll hold off my judgement until I actually visit the campus. The school also has a study abroad program, and while it doesn’t have one for Scandinavia, it has programs for many other places like Italy, France, and Australia (NYU). With higher costs and a lower chance of me getting accepted, it might be a bit more challenging for me to get into NYU, however the video game design course they offer looks very interesting to me, and I think it would be worthwhile to go for this college.
CONCLUSION Because of the vast amount of colleges and universities, it can be overwhelming to start researching and looking into them, so I’m glad I was given this project to help me narrow down which colleges I want to go to because it gave me the motivation to start my research. I was able to learn what it takes to move to and study in another country, understand how the University of Lapland works for non-EU students, learn what Temple University would be able to provide art-wise, and learn about the video game program and possibilities at NYU. Overall, I’m satisfied with where my research has led me, and I’m just happy to know that the colleges I selected have good programs in other topics I’m interested in if I plan later on to change my major.
Works Cited
Campus Advantage. “10 Fun Facts About Today's College Student.” Campus Advantage, 1 May 2018, campusadv.com/10-fun-facts-about-todays-college-student/. DIS, 2020, disabroad.org/. NYU, 2020, www.nyu.edu/. PrepScholar, 2020, www.prepscholar.com/. "Scandinavia." New World Encyclopedia, . 2 Nov 2019, 04:40 UTC. 8 Jan 2020, 15:21 <//www.newworldencyclopedia.org/p/index.php?title=Scandinavia&oldid=1026536>. “Study in Scandinavia: The Ultimate Guide.” Study.EU, Study.EU, 2020, www.study.eu/article/study-in-scandinavia-the-ultimate-guide. “Studying in Finland.” Maahanmuuttovirasto, 2020, migri.fi/en/studying-in-finland. Temple University, 13 Mar. 1970, www.temple.edu/. University of Lapland, 2020, www.ulapland.fi/EN.
Social Studies
About
Below is an essay that would be sent to ResistBot proposing ideas for a better method of fighting sex trafficking. The idea is to create federal acts which can be called the Acts to End Sex Trafficking (AEST). The main goal of these federal acts is to decriminalize sex work throughout the U.S, repeal FOSTA-SESTA, and abolish international borders with the goal of making migrants safer and also to work towards ending sex trafficking.
Text to ResistBot
Sex is a taboo subject to most and as such, sex work is often stigmatized, but past the stigmatization, sex work is just like any other job. It may be time to better understand sex worker’s line of work and understand their perspectives in order to see what can be done to make the work environment safer. If we are to help sex workers and also end sex trafficking, then the U.S should decriminalize sex work throughout the country, repeal the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and the Stop Enabling Sex-Trafficking Act (SESTA), and abolish international borders with the goal of making migrants safer and work towards ending sex trafficking. Sex work is an umbrella term for many different jobs like dancers, adult film stars, webcam performers, escorts, and full-service providers. Sex work is often conflated with human trafficking even though the two are very different, but this topic will be referred to later. Full-service sex work in the US is criminalized almost everywhere and in a few major cities, you can be arrested for the intent to commit prostitution if you are found carrying condoms. There seems to be a common notion that arresting someone is morally neutral and usually an equitable action, but in reality, arrests are often very humiliating, unpleasant and painful. In journalist and former sex worker Mellisa Grant’s book “Playing the Whore,” she notes that since the 70s and earlier, many sex workers cite police, not clients as the main source of violence in their job (Philosophy Tube). Major U.S cities also have statues which criminalize loitering for the intent of prostitution. Jessica Raven, a steering committee member of DecrimNY, an organization which advocates for sex workers in New York, refers to this statue as the “walking while trans” ban due to police often profiling trans women, especially trans women of colour as sex workers. “The walking while trans ban allows police to harass and arrest women of colour, especially those who are trans and profiled as sex workers, for occupying public spaces without any evidence that they’re engaging in a criminalized behaviour,” Raven said. Laws like these put a lot of power in the hands of the police and allow them to unjustly profile racial and sexual minorities (Philosophy Tube & Quinlan).
When something is legalized, it is allowed, but within controlled spaces, so for example, smoking is allowed but it has limits on where it can be done. Decriminalization, on the other hand, means that it’s just allowed. Decriminalization of sex work will allow sex workers to work without worrying about going to jail and lets them work largely independent without a strict infrastructure whereas the legalization of sex work would require specific venues or licensing and usually leads to a brothel system. Legalization can still, under the legislation, discriminate against sex workers who don’t have the money to pay for the licensing or fees and would force them to turn to brothels where someone would pay for their licensing, take a percentage of their profit, and also control the way they work. Decriminalization of sex work puts the power in the hands of the workers and can lead to a safer labour environment as a result. Decriminalization of sex work may also make it easier for victims of sex trafficking to come forward if they are not concerned that they might go to jail for a crime (Philosophy Tube). Sex work and sex trafficking are often conflated even though they are two very different subjects. A few acts passed in 2018 were created to try and stop sex trafficking however their effectiveness has come into question for multiple reasons.
The two federal laws, the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and the Stop Enabling Sex-Trafficking Act (SESTA) were created in order to prevent both online and offline human trafficking, with many supporters of these acts often citing them as a victory towards ending human trafficking. However, FOSTA-SESTA has had unintended negative impacts on sex workers and internet freedom with data showing that the acts have had effects opposite than what was intended (Romano). FOSTA-SESTA does a slight rework of Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act. Also known as simply Section 230, it’s an important law that allows internet freedom and makes it so that platforms and ISPs are not held responsible for anything their users create. FOSTA-SESTA makes the exception that website publishers would be held accountable if it’s found that third parties are posting prostitution ads in the attempt to make policing online prostitution rings easier, but this proved to have the opposite effect. Due to the vague wording, many internet sites responded by banning or censoring certain areas of their platforms not because of actual promotion of ads for prostitution, but because policing the possibility that they might be was too difficult. All of this bodes poorly for retaining free speech on the internet and encourages policing of certain sex talk (Romano). FOSTA-SESTA also makes it more dangerous for sex workers to do their job because many used to use sites that allowed them to sell sex work to vet their clients and to do so in a transparent and safe scenario. By removing this method of communication, it forces sex workers onto the streets which is much more dangerous and means that they cannot share information between each other as readily as before (Romano & Some More News). Because sites that sold sex work with increased amounts of transparency are shutting down, it pushes the nonconsensual victims of sex trafficking into less visible parts of the web or in dark places in the real world resulting in a harder time of policing such things (Romano & Some More News). FOSTA-SESTA has a good goal, but the way the acts were written and what they impact ends up having bad effects on internet freedom, sex workers, and victims of sex trafficking. FOSTA-SESTA should be repealed, and while a big notion, open borders could help migrants and reduce sex trafficking.
For those who wish to migrate to the U.S, it is very difficult to receive visas for legal migration. Family-based immigration is highly restrictive, many who are fleeing from their countries do cannot receive humanitarian protection due to strict definitions of a refugee, and unauthorized immigrants are not eligible for obtaining legal status while within the U.S and even for those who have visas available, they are barred from “adjusting their status” to get a green card. As such, many must resort to the more dangerous methods to cross the U.S borders (“Why Don't Immigrants Apply for Citizenship?”). For migrants who do use these methods, they often have to work in order to pay off the people who brought them over and some do sex work, but this mutual agreement can be easily exploited (Garsd). Many victims come across legally with a temporary work visa but were exploited and trafficked due to loopholes in the guest-worker system (“Polaris Statement on a Border Wall and Human Trafficking.”). Work towards open borders would allow migrants to safely migrate to the U.S and make it much harder for them to be trafficked and exploited.
Sex work and sex trafficking are often conflated as the same issue, and as such, legislation on one topic tends to impact the other as well. If sex trafficking is to be decreased, the current legislation needs to stop mixing up sex work and sex trafficking by decriminalizing consensual sex work which will allow victims of sex trafficking to come forward without the possibility of legal repercussions. FOSTA-SESTA should also be repealed so that sex workers may be safer in their line of work and make it easier for people to see and prevent sex trafficking. Open borders as well, while indeed a big change, would prevent the exploitation of migrants into being trafficked.
Works Cited
Garsd, Jasmine. “Should Sex Work Be Decriminalized? Some Activists Say It's Time.” NPR, NPR, 22 Mar. 2019, www.npr.org/2019/03/22/705354179/should-sex-work-be-decriminalized-some-activists- say-its-time. Philosophy Tube. Sex Work. YouTube, YouTube, 17 May 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DZfUzxZ2VU. “Polaris Statement on a Border Wall and Human Trafficking.” Polaris, Polaris, 6 Feb. 2019, polarisproject.org/news/press-releases/polaris-statement-border-wall-and-human-trafficking. Quinlan, Casey. “More than 100 Sex Workers and Allies Lobby to Repeal New York's 'Walking While Trans' Ban.” ThinkProgress, ThinkProgress, 8 May 2019, thinkprogress.org/sex-workers-rally- capitol-ask-new-york-lawmakers-to-pass-legislation-to-keep-them-safe-9e8213a484c7/. Romano, Aja. “A New Law Intended to Curb Sex Trafficking Threatens the Future of the Internet as We Know It.” Vox, Vox, 2 July 2018, www.vox.com/culture/2018/4/13/17172762/fosta-sesta- backpage-230-internet-freedom. Some More News, director. The Anti-Sex Trafficking Law That Made Sex-Trafficking Worse. YouTube, YouTube, 21 May 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=y533teuhmL8. “Why Don't Immigrants Apply for Citizenship?” American Immigration Council, 25 Nov. 2019, www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/why-don%E2%80%99t-they-just-get-line.
Art
Final Piece
About
While I had planned on making four separate pieces, I was only able to create one. The pieces were to be representative of the views and legislation on sex work in various countries. The countries I chose would be the countries of Scandinavia, Germany, New Zealand, and America.
Research
Here is the research into how different countries are dealing with sex work on their legislation of the topic and it’s effectiveness.
Scandinavian Countries (The Nordic Model - punish the buyer, not the seller)
A legislative response to prostitution, known as the Nordic model due to its prevalence in Scandanavian countries, has been widely debated across Europe and internationally. It’s often hailed by some as the best method to tackle sex trafficking and is also believed to support gender equality with some nations enacting similar legislation. However, a critical examination of the utilisation of the Nordic model shows that Nordic countries’ law by law enforcers is not being implemented as the legislation states.
The existence of the Nordic model is claimed to be a response to prostitution made after Norway, Finland, Iceland, and Sweden created legislation criminalizing the purchase of sex. The way Nordic countries approach prostitution is often cited as a “neo-abolitionist” policy. This approach sees prostitution as a result of the oppression of women caused by men and so the legal policy is to punish the clients, often presumed to be male.
The actual existence of a “Nordic-model” is something that should be viewed with scepticism as there seems to be no strict definition of what it is, and while there are laws making it a criminal offence to purchase sex, they aren’t necessarily implemented which voids the claim that there’s an actual model being used in practice.
Research has shown that there are a number of negative consequences with the adaptation of the Swedish model along with negative impacts from neighbouring Nordic countries. One of the negative effects of the Swedish model includes the increase in vulnerability of people who sell sex and those who are trafficked for sex, with some saying that the Swedish government is ignoring the negative problems with the law.
People selling sex work on the streets of Sweden have been shown to be taking less time negotiating with their clients resulting in the sex worker being at a disadvantage in assessing the risks their client may potentially have.
Studies in Sweden and in the UK have shown that police enforcement can drive the industry underground putting both sex workers and their clients at higher risk as they try to avoid police prosecution.
While a Nordic model does exist in law, it lacks implementation.
Full-service sex work in the US is criminalized almost everywhere and in a few major cities, you can be arrested for the intent to commit prostitution if you are found carrying condoms. These major cities also have statues which criminalize loitering for the intent of prostitution. Jessica Raven, a steering committee member of DecrimNY, an organization which advocates for sex workers in New York, refers to this statue as the “walking while trans” ban due to police often profiling trans women, especially trans women of colour as sex workers. “The walking while trans ban allows police to harass and arrest women of colour, especially those who are trans and profiled as sex workers, for occupying public spaces without any evidence that they’re engaging in a criminalized behaviour,” Raven said. Laws like these put a lot of power in the hands of the police and allow them to unjustly profile minorities (1 & 1.4).
There is a debate over the decriminalization of sex work, and as such, it’s important to understand the difference between legalisation and decriminalization. When something is legalised, it is allowed, but within controlled spaces, for example, smoking is allowed but has limits on where. Decriminalization, on the other hand, means that it’s just allowed (1).
Sex work is also often conflated with human trafficking although the two are very different topics, and many who conflate the two issues are people or organizations who oppose sex work decriminalization under the purpose of ending human trafficking (1.3).
There is much misunderstanding and stigmatization of sex workers and many anti-prostitution activists are non-sex working women or ex-sex working women (1.3).
Due to the secretive nature of sex work in the U.S, it’s difficult to find reliable numbers on the sex trade, but one thing that is for certain is that it’s a multi-billion-dollar industry. According to a government-sponsored report from 2007 which took a look at sex work in multiple major cities, it was found that Atlanta alone brought in around $290 million a year (1.2).
There are many myths surrounding New Zealand’s sex industry like unsubstantiated claims such as the sex industry expanding with pimps strengthed in the new law, or an increased amount of sex trafficking (N1).
After years of work from New Zealand’s sex work organisation New Zealand Prostitutes Collective, New Zealand passed the Prostitution Reform Act in 2003 which decriminalized sex work and they are considered as having some of the most progressive laws on sex work in the world. The purpose of the law was to minimise harm by removing the criminalisation of sex work and also provided sex workers with new rights (N1).
Differing from other regimes like in Germany or in the Netherlands, the decriminalization of sex work puts power in the hands of the workers rather than in the hands of the state which allows sex workers to have more control over their work (N1).
The decriminalization approach recognizes that sex workers know the best when it comes to their working conditions, but requires there to be a transparent environment where sex workers can freely report their experiences without putting themselves or their clients at risk for criminal punishment (N1).
As a requirement for the change in the law, research would be done in the following years in order to evaluate its effect. The study was completed by researchers at the University of Otago’s School of Medicine and showed many benefits. More than 60 per cent of the 772 sex workers who participated had reported that they felt more able to refuse certain clients and 95 per cent said they felt they had rights after the decriminalization of sex work (N1).
Research has also shown that the decriminalization of sex work in New Zealand lets sex workers decide what services they will provide, which clients they will service, and also lets them negotiate safer sex practices. They also have a legal position so that in a case of exploitation, they are allowed to take their case to the Human Rights Tribunal or other legal processes, as seen in a 2014 case where a sex worker had pursued and won a case against a brothel owner who had sexually harrassed her (S1 & N1).
As for sex trafficking, there is no evidence that it’s an issue within sex work and there is no evidence that points to an increase in it after the decriminalization of sex work. Overall, the decriminalisation of sex work in New Zealand has had a big positive influence on sex workers’ rights and safety (N1).
In Germany, and other countries like Greece and the Netherlands, sex work is completely legalized and regulated. The purpose of legalization and regulation is to make sex work safer and let sex workers have access to important health and government services, but most times, it turns prostitution into a big industry with hotel-sized brothels, brothel chains, and a cash cow of tax venue (G1).
Where decriminalization of sex work allows sex workers to work without worrying about jailtime and lets them work largely independent without a strict infrastructure, the legalization of sex work would mean the requirement of specific venues or licensing which tends to lead to a brothel system (G1).
Legalization can still criminalize under legislation, the sex workers who don’t have the money to pay for the licensing or fees and would force them to turn to brothels where someone who can pay for their licensing would be able to take a percentage of their profit and has the power to control the way they work (G1).
I had first planned out a character design for the person I would depict in each piece, and then I planned out how each piece would look and what I would use to represent what. I was only able to get one piece done, and that was the Scandinavian piece representing the Nordic Model.
Scandinavia | The Nordic Model:
Flowers: Nightshade - used as a symbolism of Scandinavia’s understanding of women’s rights in sex work, but also representative of how the Nordic legislation is somewhat deceptive as it still legally punishes sex workers through very roundabout means.
Oranges and purples in the art - purples and stuff in the background and flowers of the piece, oranger tones on the person herself (again representing Scandinavia’s positive, warmer attitudes towards women rights)
Blurriness around the piece - this represents the unclear notion of the “Nordic Model” because while it is said to exist, a “Nordic model” in practice throughout Scandinavia is not actually real.
America | Criminalized:
Flower: Use of magnolias to represent sex worker’s perseverance in the U.S and how for some, it’s their only choice of work that they must brave. The piece will also use vines to represent sex worker’s inability to work freely
Darker tones in the piece to represent how sex workers must use more covert methods to do their work
Colour scheme is dark green, white, and grey
New Zealand | Decriminalized:
Flower: Yellow roses - this flower represents the freedom the sex workers have due to the decriminalization of sex work. The decriminalization of sex work
The theme of unity in the arches (don’t know what specifically, but for the background of the piece, show unity because the sex workers in New Zealand work together to make things safe for everyone involved.
Germany | Legalized:
Flowers: Roses - the flower is used as symbolism for the clear legal status of sex work, and while that presents itself as a good thing (and it is much more progressive than criminalization), it still has its issues. Because legalization usually leads to a brothel system, this can be harmful to sex workers who cannot afford their licensing, and force them to work under the control of a pimp (this is represented by the thorns of the rose).
Colors are red and blue - red represents the “red-light” areas of Germany where sex workers can practice legally and the blue represents
The character holds the rose but gets injured by the thorns
This piece was pretty fun to make and it was also somewhat challenging because I don't usually do side profiles and the particular angle for the hand. I think the hardest part was either drawing the flowers or the face. I'm happy with the finished result.
Annotated Bibliography
Berg, Nate. “Drive-thru Brothels: Why Cities Are Building 'Sexual Infrastructure'.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 2 Sept. 2019, www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/sep/02/drive-thru- brothels-why-cities-are-building-sexual-infrastructure. This source took a look at places like Berlin, Germany and New Zealand and compared how different countries work with sex workers to make things safer for the parties involved. It’s interesting to see how a country like Germany with legalised prostitution handles sex work differently or the same as in a country with decriminalized sex work like New Zealand. It’s also an interesting read because the way Europe handles sex work is much different than in the U.S or in Scandinavian countries. This source was used mainly for the art portion so I could better understand the differences and similarities between legalization and decriminalization of sex work. Business Insider. “Prostitution Is Legal in Countries across Europe, but It's Nothing like What You Think.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 13 Mar. 2019, www.businessinsider.com/prostitution-is-legal-in-countries-across-europe-photos-2019-3. Garsd, Jasmine. “Should Sex Work Be Decriminalized? Some Activists Say It's Time.” NPR, NPR, 22 Mar. 2019, www.npr.org/2019/03/22/705354179/should-sex-work-be-decriminalized-some-activists- say-its-time. Kingston, S., Thomas, T. No model in practice: a ‘Nordic model’ to respond to prostitution?. Crime Law Soc Change 71, 423–439 (2019) doi:10.1007/s10611-018-9795-6 This article delves into the topic of the supposed “Nordic model” (also known as the Swedish model) which describes the response to prostitution made from various Scandinavian countries. The general idea of the Nordic model is that prostitution is a result of misogyny and that the clients, who are presumed to be male, are punished. This article analyzes the effectivity of the model, the challenges that occur when adopting the policy and also explores how the enforcement of this legislation somewhat differs from what the law says. Philosophy Tube. Sex Work. YouTube, YouTube, 17 May 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DZfUzxZ2VU. This video made by Philosophy Tube thoroughly discusses the topic of sex work by talking to sex workers to understand their point of view. It also takes a look at how different countries take on the topic through legislation, and discusses the positions of anti-sex workers and the conflation of sex work and sex trafficking. I used this video as a starting source of information as it let me research certain aspects of sex work more even deeper and also brought to light interesting perspectives and information on the topic which I may have previously not known. Also the video is properly cited and the citations provided are good sources with a few I decided to look further into and use for my own project. Quinlan, Casey. “More than 100 Sex Workers and Allies Lobby to Repeal New York's 'Walking While Trans' Ban.” ThinkProgress, ThinkProgress, 8 May 2019, thinkprogress.org/sex-workers-rally- capitol-ask-new-york-lawmakers-to-pass-legislation-to-keep-them-safe-9e8213a484c7/. This source, while narrower in its topic, was to me, a very interesting read. This article discussed sex worker and sex work activists’ efforts towards decriminalizing sex work in New York, also known as DecrimNY. It showed some statues in New York’s state legislation that was harmful to minorities like trans women, specifically trans women of colour and gave the stories and opinions from the people affected. Ralston, Meredith. “Sex Workers in the United States Need Decriminalization, Not Stigma.” The Globe Post, The Globe Post, 23 Apr. 2019, theglobepost.com/2019/04/23/decriminalizing-sex- work/. Ramsawakh, Mari. “We Need to Stop Confusing Sex Work with Human Trafficking.” Medium, Nuance Media, 30 Aug. 2018, medium.com/shareyournuance/we-need-to-stop-confusing-sex-work-with- human-trafficking-6ba7897fd3cd. Romano, Aja. “A New Law Intended to Curb Sex Trafficking Threatens the Future of the Internet as We Know It.” Vox, Vox, 2 July 2018, www.vox.com/culture/2018/4/13/17172762/fosta-sesta- backpage-230-internet-freedom. Some More News, director. The Anti-Sex Trafficking Law That Made Sex-Trafficking Worse . YouTube, YouTube, 21 May 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=y533teuhmL8. This YouTube video from the channel Some More News presented the federal acts Fight Online Sex Trafficking and Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers (FOSTA-SESTA) and explained what they were about, what they affected, and what issues they caused. This was one of my starting points for further research into FOSTA-SESTA and provided a number of sources that I used and read more about.