Rethinking prostitution and 'consent'

There is a significant international and feminist debate at present about prostitution and consent. However, most authors have argued that consent to prostitution is impossible. For radical feminists this is because prostitution is always a coercive sexual practice. Others simply suggest that economic coercion makes the sexual consent of sex workers highly problematic if not impossible. In my own view, it is usually more appropriate to talk about prostitution in the realm of work rather than sexuality. In the realm of work there is a general lack of freedom and choice for most workers, that is it is a realm of 'normal' economic coercion. So why would we want to treat sex work as a special case and insist on the particular relevance of the language of choice and consent in this area? However, there are some important reasons to reconsider this position. In particular, when sex workers get raped (by their clients, employers, pimps or others) it is important that their claims can be made visible in the criminal justice system. If the consent and non-consent of sex workers is deemed irrelevant or impossible, then they are going to be even less able than other women to pursue complaints of rape. As part of a general examination of consent and non-consent in prostitution, this paper will investigate several British and Australian legal cases where sex workers have pursued complaints of rape