Isaac Fitzgerald has been a firefighter, worked on a boat, and was once given a sword by a king, thereby accomplishing three out of five of his childhood goals. Formerly of The Rumpus and McSweeney’s and most recently the founding editor of BuzzFeed Books, Isaac is now the co-host of BuzzFeed News’ Twitter Morning Show, #AMtoDM. He also appears frequently on
The Today Show to talk books, and is co-author of
Pen & Ink: Tattoos and the Stories Behind Them and
Knives & Ink: Chefs and the Stories Behind Their Tattoos (with Recipes) (winner of an IACP award), and the author of a YA novel and picture book forthcoming from Bloomsbury. He uses
Twitter.
7 responses
Well guys, this is a nice cause. But as a former prostitute (ten years experience in New York City) I can tell you that most crimes against hookers aren’t hate crimes.
They’re committed by pimps to break the hookers so they pimps can profit from them. I think more prostitutes are probably murdered by pimps or mafia backing their pimps than be serial killers, as an example.
What would help prostitutes in this country more than anything would be legislation similar to that in Scandinavia, where it is not a crime to be a prostitute, but it is a crime to be a John (a hooker’s client).
I believe this law reflects the highest level of civilization — a country recognizing that prostitutes are essentially enslaved by pimps, and that legalization only empowers the pimps, not the prostitutes.
Many artists claiming to be prostitutes in the USA really have no idea what it’s like. Maybe they’ve dabbled a little here and there. THey use the idea to promote themselves, perhaps they aren’t even aware they’re doing this — I think that’s often the case. But they perpetuate a mythology about the sex industry which reflects the fantasies of Johns rather than the experience of the prostitutes.
Most hookers in the USA are broken systematically by pimps, and prostitution is big business backed by organized crime and the mafia. My experience being “broken in” involved gang rape, captivity, and physical violence. My recovery from this mirrored that of victims of torture. Indeed, it was torture.
I would not have benefitted from the legalization of prostitution, that would just have empowered my pimps further.
I would have benefitted from not having to fear being arrested for being a hooker.
It would have helped me a great deal to have my ‘customers’ legally accountable for participation in my abuse and degradation. You can’t imagine what it’s like, when you see society acquiescing and fantasizing about the living death that is a hooker’s life.
I completely disagree with Ms. Sprinkle that many ‘sex workers’ are ‘out’ and ‘proud.’
We are being tortured, held against are will, and our lives are threatened every day. Most people who say they are sex workers are promoting themselves artistically while they discuss this. Most entered the ‘business’ at an age too advanced to fully participate, the way most prostitutes have. Mid twenties is just too late. Just as a horse is broken, a woman is broken and turned into a hooker. You get lots of knowledge over the years about people and their bodies, and after about age 23 the clients expect this. It’s a requirement, but no one who knows what it entails would ever want the job.
It’s very sweet for Ms. Sprinkle to have written an essay about “A Day to End Violence Against Prostitutes.” She gives the example of the Green River Killer, which is chilling.
But far more prostitutes die at the hands of their pimps than serial killers. The ‘sex industry’ is a violent organized crime machine. THose who are not traditionally attractive, those who enter it older, can never be anywhere but the outer peripheries.
Thank God for that, for their sake.
With love, and asking all artists identifying as ‘sex workers’ to remember the tortured terrorized teenage girls who are the real face of the sex industry.
XOXO
If you really care about prostitutes who are victims of sexual violence, DO NOT donate to the Sex Workers Outreach Project.
If you read their background, the SWOP’s founder Robyn Few (who was never a prostitute) was convicted of promoting prostitution. In other words, she was convicted for being a Madam. Someone who profits off of the enslavement of vulnerable women.
This is so typical. Most organizations which claim to be sex worker ‘advocates’ are actually run by pimps and madams to further their cause. These advocacy organization don’t work on behalf of prostitutes, they work on behalf of those who profit off of them. I am infuriated that the Rumpus is linking to a site suggesting I donate to this organization to help sex workers. I know it’s not deliberate — but you should acknowledge it.
As far as I can tell the Sex Workers Outreach Project is not formally organized as a Nonprofit Organization.
As someone whow as a hooker for ten years, I can tell you that Madams can be just as vicious as violent pimps — often more dangerous, because vulnerable young women in need of mothering are more inclined to trust them than they are men.
I would also like to mention that the Organization PONY (Prostitutes of New York) is an organization of pimps, Johns and Madams that no prostitute would ever join. Indeed, it is notorious among prostitutes in NYC for being an organization that works against our interests (one of the SWOP Board Members, Kirsten Aspengren, is a member of PONY
There are plenty of people working as advocates for prostitutes in the USA, and most convicted of promoting prostitution. So I don’t think there’s any excuse regarding SWOP’s keeping Robyn Few in a prominent position.
Excuse me, I meant “There are plenty of people working as advocates for prostitutes in the USA and most are NOT convicted of promoting prostitution” above.
Forgive me, above I said Robyn Few was never actually a prostitute. I misread her bio. Supposedly she became a prostitute in 1996, at the age of 38. Ha ha ha! I can’t even begin to tell you how ridiculous this sounds to someone who was a hooker for ten years, from age 20 to 30. It’s my believe she was a Madam, was using SWOP to find women to work for her. 38 is just way too old to become a Prostitute — and then all of a sudden she’s an advocate? It doesn’t make sense people.
This is a huge problem for the hookers that need help. Organizations that are supposed to be about helping tortured, traumatized prostitutes end up being shelters for the very people exploiting the prostitutes. It’s very hard for a prostitute to trust anyone to begin wtih. Let’s say she gets up enough guts to look for help. She goes to SWOP, and there is Robyn the Madam trying to recuit her. It’s a disaster. Where there are Madams there is organized crime and danger. Always.
RUMPUS, ARE YOU AWARE THAT YOU’RE LINKING TO THE DONATION PORTAL OF AN ORGANIZATION THAT’S NOT A REGSITERED NONPROFIT. THIS ORGANIZATION SUPPOSEDLY HELPS PROSTITUTES BUT IT IS RUN BY A WOMAN CONVICTED OF EXPLOITING PROSTITUTES. MOST PROSTITUTES WOULD IMMEDIATELY FEAR AND DISTRUST SUCH AN ORGANIZATION. I DON’T THINK THIS IS WHAT YOU INTENDED.
I realize many Rumpus readers care deeply about prostitutes who are victims of violence.
I’d like to suggest that those of you who want to do more consider donating to Restore NYC, which is an organization devoted to rescuing the victims of Human Trafficking.
Restore NYC was recently featured in a Nick Kristof column in the New York Times. You may remember it:
http://www.news-record.com/content/2010/11/29/article/nicholas_kristof_a_woman_a_prostitute_a_slave
Here is their donation portal, which includes information about the great and important work they are doing.
http://www.restorenyc.org/donate.php
Bedelia,
You and I share similar backgrounds in the sex industry. I too was held captive, was raped, was tortured for years. I wish that hadn’t happened to either one of us. Or to anyone. But to equate a majority of prostitution to the sexual slavery and torture that we suffered does disservice to both the sex worker who is an adult and consenting and to those like you and I who were sex slaves. The two aren’t the same. I too, used to see solutions to sexual slavery from a similar perspective as you. But I broke with that movement because it does far more harm than good. Activists like Donna M Hughes and Melissa Farley who oppose decriminalization of prostitution and in the case of Donna M. Hughes actually was a vocal leader of legal changes in Rhode Island that make prostitutes the target of arrests only make life harder and less safe for prostitutes. Their activism is as harmful and dangerous to both sex slaves and consenting adult sex workers as the actions of the captors you talk about.
I don’t know who advocated to you that you should launch a diatribe against SWOP but you are totally off base on multiple fronts. SWOP is an anti violence project made up of current and previous sex workers and sex slaves seeking to end violence against all of us. Your hostile view of Robyn Few is malicious in it’s message and ignorance. Obviously you have never met Robyn Few as you are more than a few degrees off in all of your statements about her. SWOP doesn’t pimp anybody. Robyn Few is one of the most gentle souls I have ever met in my life.
You are presenting your points like you are an expert on SWOP, Robyn and PONY. But your points aren’t even in the ballpark. They are entirely wrong. You aren’t aware of their leadership, of their work, or of their motivations. You are either totally misguided or just throwing garbage for the sake of being malicious.
For the record. SWOP East was for a long time SWOP USA’s fiscal sponsor. All donations were entirely legal because SWOP East was/is a legal 501c3 non profit. For more of the record. I have long been the Executive Director of SWOP East and remain so even thought the org has changed names.I am a former sex slave with a history of abuse in the sex industry that can rival anyone’s. I would not approve donations going through my org to an org as you have misrepresented SWOP as.
While my assumption is that you are trying to do the right thing because you don’t want others to suffer as you did. Whoever presented the idea of posts of this nature about SWOP and PONY is fronting you for their own political gain and given how far from reality your perceptions of SWOP, PONY and of Robyn Few are, they are making you into someone who dilutes the credibility of your own activism through the fiery presentation of total false statements. As someone who has walked a somewhat similar path to you whoever convinced you that the posts on this board were a good thing for you or doing anything constructive is just exploiting the pain you have suffered.
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