Former Prostituted Woman to Speak on UN Panel

By Wendy Wright | December 11, 2012

Within the CEDAW Committee’s hall of shame, telling China to decriminalize prostitution holds a prize spot. In a promising turn of events, UN Women, the two-year old agency tasked with handling all-things-women at the UN, will highlight a woman who escaped from prostitution.

The “Survivors Forum” is a panel discussion hosted by UN Women this Thursday (Dec. 13) at the UN headquarters in New York. The panelists are women who survived violence and have influenced policy and legislation to end violence against women.

One of the panelists is Autumn Burris, the founder of Standing Against Global Exploitation (SAGE) and a survivor of prostitution, sexual assault, rape and domestic violence.

SAGE provides practical help for women caught in prostitution and raises awareness of the trauma of sexual exploitation and trafficking. It also runs a “John School” with San Francisco District Attorney’s Office and Police Department. Incorporating the testimonies of survivors of prostitution, the training is for men arrested for soliciting women to examine the effects of their actions.

A legal intern for SAGE stated, “my experience at SAGE only strengthened my determination to expose prostitution and the sex industry as institutionalized exploitation.”

Sexual rights activists at the UN have included “sex work” (i.e. selling sex acts) in their demands for acceptance. Lesbian leaders have been careful to include prostitution and stripping (they prefer the term “sex work” or “sex trade”) if for no other reason than to expand their ranks. Among their most effective opponents are those who have escaped, or those who expose, the degradation of the sex industry.

UN Women is still a new entity establishing itself. This panel could bring into the open a festering conflict among women/sexual rights advocates.

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