On the one hand, there are pro-sex workers (pro-tds), those who campaign for the decriminalization of prostitution and the offer of support to the women (largely in the majority) and to the men who practice it. On the other hand, the abolitionists, who support the idea that the real defense of women involves the abolition of prostitution and the refusal to normalize it as well as the offer, in the meantime, of support to those who work in the sex industry and support towards leaving for those who so wish.
Two irreconcilable poles, two political positions at the origin of an ideological confrontation which tears feminists apart. Through a play called Women’s peace and the test Make body, both published by Atelier 10, the playwright, director and actress Véronique Côté and her fellow researcher, activist and columnist, Martine B. Côté, invite us to reflect on a subject closer to us than we might think.
We rehash that prostitution is “the oldest profession in the world, that it has existed since the dawn of time and will always exist”, observes Martine B. Côté, who is currently devoting a master’s degree to it. “But you have to try to feel, in your body, what it means to prostitute yourself. Imagine it is a gesture repeated five, six, seven times a day for weeks, years. Sex without desire is something, anyway. Like all harmful practices, prostitution has a beginning and could end. To achieve this, there is a patriarchy to abolish and a social net to rebuild. “
What about women who do not have this experience as a negative one? Véronique Côté: “I do not question their word; I believe them completely. Their speech is valid, but not representative of the experience of the vast majority of people who have found themselves in this situation. “Martine B. Côté recalls the facts:” People for whom prostitution has left few traces are part of a small minority (1% to 5%). For the majority, it had and has serious consequences, on physical and physiological health, in particular, and leaves many women grappling with post-traumatic syndromes and great financial precariousness. “
It was Michel Nadeau, artistic director of the Bordée theater in Quebec, where the play will be presented, who suggested to Véronique Côté to look into this delicate subject. Over the course of research and discussions with Martine B. Côté, who worked for three years at the Concertation des luttes contre les exploitation sexual, the author was overwhelmed by what she discovered.
Like all harmful practices, prostitution has a beginning and could end. To achieve this, there is a patriarchy to abolish and a social net to rebuild.
Beliefs and Facts
Two legal models currently exist on the planet: the Nordic model, which considers the client to be guilty and not the person offering his sexual services, and the model of decriminalization of prostitution, in which we try to normalize the practice. Véronique Côté: “Even if decriminalization may seem attractive, when you look at the real effects it has had in Spain, Germany and New Zealand, it’s catastrophic. When I took the measure of this failure, it was a turning point in my thinking. “
In Germany, the decriminalization of prostitution has led to an explosion in demand. The working conditions of prostitutes have not improved, and the after-effects suffered by the overwhelming majority of them remain. As the Germans do not supply on demand, the trafficking of Romanian and Bulgarian women has increased.
“The data we have access to teach us that the results of decriminalization go completely against what this idea was supposed to promise,” notes the playwright-essayist. Between a third and half of people start underage, so this is not done between consenting adults, contrary to what is claimed. As long as it doesn’t work, why do we continue to present this option as a miracle solution? “
The weight of words
Calling oneself an “abolitionist” comes with a certain discomfort and pushes into the conservative camp. “People have taken shortcuts to present this idea, hence some unhappy amalgamations and a hint of puritanism,” specifies Véronique Côté. Abolitionists are against the sex industry, but never, in any case, against the people who work there. In addition, both camps have their unwanted allies, since in the pro-tds camp there are the incels (involuntary singles). “
Inspired by the Swedish law called “Peace for Women”, Bill C-36 was adopted in 2014 under the Conservative government of Stephen Harper “with a view to protecting the community from the dangers of prostitution”, indicates Martine B . Side. “We, it is from a fiercely feminist vision that we want it to stop. As long as this industry exists, equality between men and women will not be achieved. To move towards the abolition of prostitution, two conditions are necessary: reducing demand by making the purchase of sexual services illegal and financially helping women to get out of it. “
France is ahead of Canada when it comes to applying the Swedish model, she continues. “Quebec seems to want to move forward: a report was tabled about a year ago, following the Special Commission on the Sexual Exploitation of Minors. “
In the room Women’s peace, the subject of prostitution is brought up very skilfully by the playwright. We meet a small constellation of turned-on friends with whom we quickly identify, including a university professor who supports the idea that prostitution can be a source of emancipation andempowerment. Véronique Côté does not sign a thesis piece, rather a moving work.
Written by an angry citizen in complete control of her subject, Women’s peace relays the words of other women in a sororal act that uplifts us all. The author touches the heart before the intellect and succeeds in a risky bet: to make us think about a painful, even forbidding subject. The simultaneous publication of the essay and the play gives access to the “materials” with which Véronique Côté constructed the story and leads the reflection even further. Active and transformative theater, a superb tour de force.