ABSTRACT
The non-migrant ‘migrant’ As detailed in Chapter 2, the figure of the ‘migrant sex worker’ often summons ideas about the links between migration and women’s sexuality and vulnerability in anti-trafficking, sex work and immigration discourses. Human trafficking is still strongly associated with sex work, despite empirical evidence that trafficking in the sex work sector is not as prevalent as suggested by the media or
anti-prostitution organisations (e.g. Segrave, Milivojevic & Pickering, 2009; Mai, 2012; Agustín, 2007; GAATW, 2007). Assumptions about foreign women crossing Australian and Canadian borders for sex work may be over-estimated and over-hyped but this has not prevented it from being a useful narrative to marshal political will and financial resources for law enforcement initiatives, and anti-trafficking and anti-prostitution organisations. Significant resources have been channelled into anti-trafficking efforts globally, and these efforts have often resulted in invasive and punitive measures against sex workers (Brock, Gillies, Oliver & Sutdhibhasilp, 2000; RATS-W & Empower Foundation, 2012; Ditmore, 2009; Busza, 2005; GAATW, 2007; O’Doherty, 2011; Suthibhasilp, Petroff & Nipp, 2000). In particular, assumptions about the perceived passivity and victimisation of Asian workers persist in Western countries such as Australia and Canada (e.g. Bungay, Halpin, Halpin, Johnston & Patrick, 2012; Szechtman, 2012). Immigrant or migrant sex workers (or those assumed to be) may often find themselves relegated to one of two simplistic categories in anti-trafficking discourses, representing either the passivity and weakness of racialised sex workers as trafficking victims and/or the foreign threat of criminality as ‘illegal’ migrants engaging in oft-criminalised work (as detailed in Chapter 2). The social construction of the ‘migrant sex worker’ category is revealed by examining workers’ legal residency status or the terms under which they can reside and work in Canada or Australia. The data demonstrates that women who may often be assumed to be migrant sex workers by anti-traffickers, immigration officials and law enforcement (i.e. non-White women who speak English with non-Western accents) are often actually citizens or permanent residents. Despite public or policy assumptions that the majority of non-White sex workers are either trafficked or not legally allowed to be working in Canada and Australia, Figures 5.1 and 5.2 reveal that the majority of interviewees were immigrants
who had obtained citizenship or permanent residency in Canada and Australia. Those who are not naturalised citizens or permanent residents include individuals with temporary visas (e.g. international students) and Canadian-born citizens. The women who chose to be interviewed represent a diverse range of backgrounds, experiences and motivations. One methodological limitation that should be acknowledged is the greater likelihood of women with secure residency status to agree to an interview, although great consideration was taken to assure women that disclosures of precarious migrant status would remain confidential (see Chapter 4 for more details). Efforts were also made to contact as many businesses and women as possible (see Chapter 4 for more details on recruitment). Although the 65 women who were interviewed may not constitute a representative (i.e. random) sample of immigrant, migrant and racialised women in sex work in Melbourne and Vancouver, their experiences, statuses and social locations constitute an important yet under-recognised part of the sex industry; that is, the everyday realities of racialised naturalised citizens and permanent residents, compared to the highly politicised figure of the ‘migrant sex worker’. Given the strong association between ethnicity and migrant status in both countries, information on interviewees’ ethnic identities are presented in Table 5.1. Although ‘Othered’ ethnicities are often associated with trafficking in antitrafficking discourses, it was striking to note that the only interviewee who reported having been trafficked to the United States (roughly two decades ago) was a Canadian-born, White woman who is often ascribed various ethnic identities by clients. ‘Alicia’ initially did not identify her experience as trafficking but as ‘a con’, and said she was not aware of the elements that constitute trafficking. After a brief discussion of the definition of trafficking-transportation and
recruitment, through the means of deception or coercion, for the purposes of exploitation-she paused and affirmed that she had experienced this when she recounted travelling to the United States with friends she had met through sex work in Canada:
But now that you explain it . . . yeah, ’cause I was led to believe I was just going simply for a week [to the US] to see a concert . . . and the next day, literally, [my friend] was gone. Only then, the two guys were there. And then, ’cause I said I kept playing stupid as far as, like, ‘what are you talking about, I have no idea’. . . . I knew I didn’t like working the stroll [street] . . . that started happening right close to the end of the week that I had been there. I was like ‘I’m not here to work’ . . . so I went to [the pimp] and said ‘you know, I’ve gotta go home, like, you know, my grandma’s really worried [about me]’. [He said] ‘Oh yeah, well you’ll have a chance to see your family in, like, two years’. [snaps fingers] Click! That was like, ok I’m outta here, I gotta get outta here.
