SCREWED: How the sex industry harms women

“What would you do if your son was at home

Crying all alone on the bedroom floor

‘Cause he’s hungry?

And the only way to feed him is to

Sleep with a man for a little bit of money” [City High]

“Sex work is real work, a service not much different to waitressing or care work”, they say.

No. Being paid to have sex with multiple strangers a day is in fact very different from serving coffee, emptying bedpans, and even dealing with a cruel boss. It comes with many risks and dangers.

Who or what is going to protect you when you’re alone with a punter behind closed doors? A punter who may want to act out on you, brutal practices he’s learnt from porn.

How would that impact you – today and down the line? And how does society’s acceptance of prostitution as ‘just a normal job’ affect how men view women? And how does that impact all women?

At this event, we will hear:

• From women with lived experience about how the sex industry works and its lifelong impacts.
• How easily young women are lured into the sex industry.
• How the sex industry is using the latest technologies, like robots and AI, to increase its reach and profits – and where this is leading.

But most importantly, how can we put a stop to all of this and campaign for effective support and exit strategies?

Programme

Kellie Ziemba: A view from the inside and close beside. As someone with lived experience of the sex industry and as a leader of an organisation that supports, advocates for, and empowers women subject to or at risk of sexual exploitation, Kellie will discuss why women involved in prostitution need support and effective services and what this needs to involve.

Jenna: Hidden dangers. Drawing on her own experience of the sex trade, Jenna will talk about the dangers of ‘commercial sex’ websites like Adultwork and the myriad other harms of the sex industry that are often overlooked.

The incest to prostitution pipeline. A reading of writing by a young woman about her journey into prostitution and experience within it.

Heli St Luce: Holistic solutions. Heli will introduce the Nordic Model approach to prostitution and explain how it compares with the fully decriminalised approach that is promoted by those who see prostitution as a normal job.

Short break

Kathleen Richardson: From ‘sex’ robots to AI ‘girlfriends’ – how pornography is destroying intimacy. According to Andrea Dworkin, the word pornography has its origins in two Greek words: graphos (writing) and porne (sexual slavery). Pornography therefore means both sexual abuse and its transmission. It makes little difference whether it’s transmitted via pottery, writing or computer screens, but since the arrival of the internet, ever more violent porn has become available 24/7 to all. The twin industries of porn and online technology are leading to the loss of social communication skills and the conflation of sex and violence. New antisocial pornographic technologies are arising – from ‘sex’ robots to AI ‘girlfriends’ – and further contributing to the loss of love, mutual intimacy and connection. These are the themes that Kathleen will be discussing in this talk.

Q&A/discussion

Closing announcements followed by All the Fun Girls sung by Heli St Luce.

Venue details

This public event will take place in a central Birmingham venue. We will email ticket holders with the details of the venue on the morning of the event. If you can’t see the email, please check your spam folders.

The venue is wheelchair accessible and there is an accessible toilet. If you need any special assistance, please don’t hesitate to email us at info@nordicmodelnow.org.

We have no plans to live stream this event.

We have booked space in a nearby pub so we can continue the conversation in a more relaxed environment afterwards. This will be announced at the end of the event.

Ticket prices

Standard tickets are £5, concessionary tickets are £3, solidarity tickets are £10, and super solidarity tickets are £20.

Please select the ticket price that best matches your financial circumstances. If you want to come but cannot afford a concessionary ticket, please email info@nordicmodelnow.org and we will endeavour to provide you with a free ticket.

Children and teenagers

We apologise that we are not running a creche at this event. While babes in arms are welcome (please take them outside the hall if they cry), this event is not suitable for children.

However, we encourage older teenagers to attend, but advise discretion with younger teenagers and require parental supervision for teenagers under 16.

Practical stuff

Food and drink: There will be a short break during the event. In order to keep costs to the absolute minimum, we will not be providing any refreshments. We therefore recommend bringing a small bottle of water in case you are thirsty during the event.

As mentioned above, we have book space in a nearby pub so we can continue the conversation in a more relaxed environment afterwards.

Questions

There will be time for questions during the event, but you are welcome to email in advance any questions you would like the panel to consider. Please put ‘Birmingham Event Question’ in the subject line and email it to info@nordicmodelnow.org. Time constraints mean we will be limited in how many questions we can address.

This is a mixed event

This event will include women talking about some of the worst forms of male violence. We ask everyone, but particularly men, to be mindful of this and how both speakers and members of the audience may find this triggering because it resonates with their own experiences of male violence. We ask everyone to be open and respectful.

Speakers

Emily Husain: Emily is a civil barrister and feminist who has volunteered with women’s organisations and groups addressing violence against women for several years. Emily has a particular interest in the domestic and international legislative framework surrounding prostitution and she joined NMN in 2023. Emily will chair the event.

Heli St Luce: Heli designs and facilitates workshops and writes. She works with pseudonyms to encompass her varied areas of operation. As Maxi McNaughty she is a therapist, healer, ceremony and ritual guide. As Ms Ina Propriate she performs. The constant is the use and sharing of her powerful and moving voice which inspires and gives her work a unique quality.

Jenna: Jenna was drawn into the sex industry as a young adult and was involved in it until about six years ago. She is now a passionate activist against the prostitution system.

Kathleen Richardson: Kathleen is Professor of ethics and Culture of Robots and AI at De Montfort University, Leicester. She is the author of ‘An Anthropology of Robots and AI: Annihilation Anxiety and Machines’ (2015), ‘Challenging Sociality: An Anthropology of Autism, Attachment and Robots’ (2018). Recently she co-edited the book: ‘The Sexual Politics of Sex Dolls and Sex Robots’ (2023).

Kellie Ziemba: Kellie has lived experience of sexual exploitation, both inside and outside of the sex industry and is passionate about the needs and rights of women and girls. Her professional career has spanned the fields of youth work, education, child and family services and criminal justice. Previously a strategic lead for a large rape crisis centre, she now leads an organisation that supports, advocates for, and empowers women subject to, or at risk of, sexual exploitation, including women involved in street-based prostitution.