Compromised Positions: Prostitution, Public Health, and Gender Politics in Revolutionary Mexico City

"This book begins in 1910 at the beginning of the Mexican Revolution, in which the dictator Porfirio Diaz was deposed, and the analysis stretches up to the 1940s. Bliss looks at this as a period in which the revolution was built, during which a plethora of ideas were in circulation regarding what it meant to be a citizen in modern Mexico. She puts prostitution at the centre of this history of revolution. Yes, it does, of course. As with some of the other books that I’ve talked about, there was the sense that it was incompatible with ideas about modern society. The idea that prostitution was an unwelcome and outdated phenomenon that needed to be eradicated was something that you see during the Russian revolutions of 1917 too. Bliss traces the contradictions between these utopian visions about destroying all the remnants of the old regime, and more paternalistic ideas about the need to ‘redeem’ Mexicans who had become tarnished by the debauchery and corrupt dictatorship in order to build a new, modern Mexico. She examines how these utopian visions often clashed with more long-standing ideas about gender and class and why this campaign to redeem and reinvigorate Mexican society was ultimately unsuccessful. Unsurprisingly, prostitution was not eradicated in revolutionary Mexico because of the usual suspects: political elites and wider society not listening to women engaged in prostitution, or coming to the debate with their own deep-rooted perspectives on morality, class, and gender and, ultimately, not really doing much to tackle things like the potent stigmatisation of women engaged in commercial sex, or poverty. I’m so glad that you asked me that as there’s a lot that I can say based upon researching prostitution in historical perspective and listening to contemporary discussions about sex work. For me, the historical record is crystal clear. Criminalisation, no matter who it targets, does not work. People across the political spectrum often profess a desire to abolish prostitution, ensure that prostitution is not the only option for some people in society, and to prevent violence against individuals who sell sex, but criminalisation has consistently hindered any meaningful progress towards any of these goals. I think the most important lesson to be learned from studying the history of prostitution is just how crucially important it is to listen to the people who actually do this job. Sex workers know what the best methods are for ensuring their safety and human rights far better than policymakers with no lived experience. There’s been an abundance of research on the legal frameworks that would prevent violence against sex workers and ensure that they are able to access healthcare services and legal protection. This research overwhelmingly points to decriminalisation, so removing any criminal statutes related to prostitution. Decriminalisation is widely supported by sex worker-led organisations across the world, as well as Amnesty International, the World Health Organisation, and countless other public health, human rights, and legal organisations. “Criminalisation, no matter who it targets, does not work” The decriminalisation of sex work has led to successful outcomes in New Zealand, for example, which became the first country to fully decriminalise sex work in 2003. Since decriminalisation, the commercial sex industry has become much safer and less exploitative and the relationship between sex workers and the police has greatly improved. Overall, the historical record shows us that any criminalising initiatives, be it by penalising the sale of sex or those who pay for sex, have a detrimental impact upon the safety and human rights of sex workers, who can be some of the most economically and socially vulnerable members of society. In countries like Germany and the Netherlands, sex work is heavily regulated by the government. In these contexts, the state imposes restrictions upon how the sex industry can operate and sex workers are required to adhere to these rules or face criminalisation. For example, in Germany sex workers have to be registered and hold a sex worker ID card. You can only get this ID card if you have a valid work permit and after undergoing compulsory counselling, as well as STI and pregnancy tests. Prostitution remains heavily stigmatised despite legalisation, so sex workers risk being ‘outed’ through inclusion on a state database. Those who do not obtain an ID card—either because they choose not to or are unable to as they are migrants or asylum seekers without work permits—risk prosecution and even deportation. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . There are lots of different legal models employed across the world, but sex worker-led organisations pretty much unanimously come out in favour of decriminalisation. However, given the wealth of misinformation about prostitution out there, supporting decriminalisation is not often an attractive position for a politician to take. Often people want to hear about how elected politicians are tough on crime and keen to solve societal problems through the criminal law, but if we actually read histories of prostitution, we see that criminal law doesn’t deliver the stated objectives of lawmakers the vast majority of the time. Yes, absolutely, it removes any sort of police oversight. And that would also mean as well, as it has in New Zealand, reducing reliance on third parties, exploitative migration agents, and pimps. Mediators aren’t as necessary in a society where sex work is fully decriminalised. Yes, and they can access medical services without fear of being reported to the police. They can have workers’ rights. A very radical thing, it seems, as sex workers have been struggling for these kinds of rights and protections for hundreds of years."