Collective for Sex Workers and Supporters in Taipei (COSWAS 1998 - )
Posted on | August 12, 2010 | No Comments
A report by COSWAS
The Taipei Association of Licensed Prostitutes (TALPs) was formed in 1998 when the then Taipei City Mayor and later President of Taiwan, CHEN Shui Bian of the Democratic Progressive Party, banned licensed prostitution within 48 hours. The licensed prostitutes in Taipei organized themselves and protested publicly for the first time in Taiwanese history against the ban. Their demand was to reinstate their livelihood and their right to work as sex workers. Their sudden public appearance as sex workers demanding for their right to work initially shocked the Taiwanese society but these women also quickly gained sympathy and support.
A group of young labour activists, predominantly women, helped to expand their campaign. They were successful in seeking wider support from various social movement organizations and individuals, including the LGBT communities, academics, lawyers, social workers, teachers and nurses etc. Through the joint actions of the licensed prostitutes and the activists; they were able to change the attitude of the mass media. The latter’s initial disdain, prejudices, stereotypes and scepticism about the sex industry and the sex workers has given way to a more objective, balanced, sympathetic and even supportive attitude. One example is the use of the word ‘ sex worker’ instead of ’prostitutes’ by the media.
TALPs’ campaigns were so successful despite opposition from certain feminist and women groups, as well as religious institutions, politicians and certain government officials that MAH Ying-jeoh of the Kuoming Tang (The Nationalist Party), who subsequently replaced CHEN as Taipei City Mayor, had to postpone the ban for two years.
The Collective for Sex Workers and Supporters (COSWAS) was formed in 1999 to continue the fight for the rights of all sex workers in Taiwan, making it the only sex workers’ rights organization set up by sex workers and for sex workers on the island. In order to expand its influence, COSWAS welcomes supporters and volunteers to work hand-in-hand with ex-licensed prostitutes, street sex workers, as well as women working in tea houses, massage parlours, karaoke bars, brothels and pole-dancing clubs etc.
COSWAS has been campaigning tirelessly against Article 80 of the Public Order Maintenance Act, which criminalizes sex workers. After more than twelve years of organizing, mobilizing and politicizing the issue, the Taiwanese judiciary has finally declared Article 80 to be unconstitutional because it contravenes the universal rights of all Taiwanese citizens. Therefore, this law that specifically criminalizes sex workers will be annulled by November 2011 at the latest. COSWAS will however, continue to fight for the rights and welfare of all sex workers by resisting the pressure by some women and feminist groups to criminalize clients and third parties whom these abolitionist groups consider to be ‘profiting’ from the ’sexual exploitation’ of women.
new xtalk classes
Posted on | July 16, 2010 | No Comments
x:talk - free English classes for migrant sex workers
now running two new classes
drop in and enrol at:
Sexual Health On Call (SHOC)
Finsbury Park
Mondays 4.30-6.30pm (year long course available)
Teacher: Ali
Seymour Street - Marble Arch
Thursdays 6pm-8pm
Teacher: Emma
next course starts: 29 JULY 2010 (12week course)
Contact Ava Caradonna for more information:
telephone: 079 1470 3372
email: xtalk.classes@googlemail.com
- safe and confidential space
- weekly classes held in both Haringey and Edgware Road
- learn to communicate better at work and with clients
- language skills for safety at work
- beginners and intermediate levels
x:talk is organised by and for workers in the sex industry.
x:talk is independent from government authorities.
x:talk is funded by donations, grants and fundraiser events.
x:talk teachers have experience working in the sex industry.
x:talk works with people of all genders who, by choice, circumstance, or coercion, engage in sexual activities for money, food, shelter, clothing, drugs, or other survival needs.
As workers in the sex industry we are often denied a voice, we are considered only passive victims, we are taught to be ashamed of our work, we are made invisible by discriminatory laws that illegalise our work and us, and we are spoken for and about but rarely are we allowed to speak for ourselves. As migrants even more so. Sometimes our voices are not heard even amongst each other because we don’t speak the same languages.
The x:talk project is a sex worker-led workers co-operative which approaches language teaching as knowledge sharing between equals and regards the ability to communicate as a fundamental tool for sex workers to work in safer conditions, to organise and to socialise with each other.
We understand language to be a politically and socially charged instrument of power, which we aim to teach critically and thoughtfully according to the specificity of our classes. Our English classes are organised to create a space where sex work as work can be openly talked about and does not have to be concealed or hidden. Through providing such a space we aim to challenge the stigma and isolation attached to our profession while at the same time we guarantee confidentiality and respect for those involved.
In addition to providing free English classes to migrant sex workers, we support critical interventions around issues of migration, race, gender, sexuality and labour, we participate in feminist and anti-racist campaigns and we are active in the struggle for the rights of sex workers in London, the UK and globally.
Confidentiality:
We consider confidentiality to be crucial for everyone involved in the x:talk project – including for students, teachers, teaching assistants and allies. We understand confidentiality to mean not only that all personal information about people involved in the project remains private but also that information is on a need to know basis. If students feel in a position to share personal information we welcome the exchange – however no one in the classes should ever be required to answer questions about who they are or what they do. As is usual in the sex industry – students are welcome to use their working names if necessary.
Identity:
Our project comes from our experiences as workers in the sex industry. x:talk is sex worker-led not because we think that being a ‘sex worker’ is a fixed identity, but because those who have experienced the material conditions of the sex industry are in the best position to know how to change it. We do not wish to participate in a politics that creates individual ‘celebrity’ superstars. As a result we use the collective identity of Ava Caradonna (which roughly translates to ‘Eve the Good Woman’).
Ava Caradonna is a migrant, a sex worker, a student, a mother, a citizen, a transgender, a person of colour, a teacher, a lesbian and a militant- she allows us to speak from different positions as sex workers and as allies, without the stigma of using our ‘real’ names and allows us to speak to the different realities in the sex industry and beyond.
Respect for a diversity of experiences:
We are interested in organizing to radically transform the sex industry so that sex workers have more control over their lives and work. We are not interested in passing judgement on what type of work people do. We recognize that many women, men and trans people have a diverse range of experiences in the sex industry – good, bad and ugly. Our project is open to people who sells sex or sexual services – including workers in brothels, escort agencies, outdoors, flats, independents, bars, on the phone or internet, strippers, dancers, models, porn stars and glamour models. We respect people’s choices or circumstances about continuing to work in the sex industry or exiting the industry.
Combating the desire the help and save sex workers:
x:talk was born in a brothel in south London. The project grew out of the experiences of a prostitute called Ava who was working in a flat with many women from Thailand. They had paid £20,000 to come to the UK to work, they did not have their passports and they earned less money than Alice who was considered to be ‘European’. One reason they did not earn as much money as Alice was because they couldn’t negotiate with English speaking clients very easily. When Alice asked the women how she could help them – they expressed very clearly they did not want to be ‘helped’ but instead that they wanted to learn English. So began the first x:talk classes – in between clients and during the long hours of waiting. It was clear to Alice that we need to be able to speak together to be able to organise at work. x:talk is not about helping people, but about collective action and solidarity.
In order to gain the trust of the people we are working with and teaching we need to be clear about what the x:talk project can and cannot do – we teach English and offer a space for peer-to-peer networking, translation and information sharing. We are not lawyers, social workers, immigration agents or charity workers.
The Politics of Language
The content of the x:talk classes, the examples, language and words used are chosen with an understanding of the following:
- Language is a powerful tool in shaping the meaning of the way things are in the world.
- Language is a tool used to communicate, empower and also to oppress.
- If it matters what we say and how we say it, then it matters how we teach it.
Press Action
Posted on | July 2, 2010 | 1 Comment
London commuters were this morning surprised to find that their usual Metro paper was a bit thinner, yet more interesting and engaging, than usual.
Tens of thousands of copies of a spoof newspaper that looked very similar to the free daily were distributed at 20 busy tube stations around the capital during rush hour. Thousands more were distributed in other cities around the country.
Under the headline “Gordon Brown to be deported to Scotland.” the front frontpage story claimed the former prime minister was facing imminent removal back to his “home country,” as the new coalition government introduced new immigration rules that imposed further restrictions on “non-English nationals.” Alongside the story, a manipulated picture showed Gordon Brown being arrested by two policemen at beer festival in Cambridge.
Wearing a white T-shirt bearing the Metro logo and a blue baseball cap, one of the 50 or so distributors, who preferred to keep anonymous, said: “By replacing the word ‘British’ with ‘English’ when talking about ‘British jobs’ and the ‘floods of illegal immigrants into Britain,’ we hope people will realise how racist and absurd this rhetoric of immigration controls is.”
In a witty attempt to highlight the racist and sexual violence experienced by immigration detainees at the hands of private ‘detainee escorts’, a fake advert claimed that G4S, the private security giant that runs a number of immigration detention centres in the UK and provides detainee escort services on behalf of the UK Border Agency, was looking for “strong men” to “escort women abroad.”
The rest of the spoof paper featured a 60-Second interview with a real-life ex-detainee, a ‘myth-buster’ about asylum and immigration, an ‘immigration newspeak’ glossary, racist quotes from mainstream press and a couple of more in-depth articles on immigration controls and protests against them.
Many of those who picked up the paper initially seemed confused as to why the Metro had “shrunk.” Realising it was a spoof, however, many commented that it was “very funny”, “clever”, “naughty” and “brilliant”. Some even returned back and asked for more copies. Others, however, threw it away and wanted the thicker “real thing.”
The Metro website has also been spoofed, with a layout similar to that of the paper’s official website but with the spoof paper’s content.
The ’spoofing operation’ was part of ‘two days of action against racist press’, called by a coalition of anti-racist and migrant rights groups under the name Press Action.
A spokesperson for the anonymous group of spoofers said, “We are sick of being lied to; we are sick of being lied about. These lies, repeated everyday by free papers, tabloids and other corporate mainstream media outlets, have almost become a reality, where the most vulnerable victims of this screwed-up political-economic system are blamed for it.”
Explaining why the group chose the Metro and not a ‘more obvious target’ when it comes to racist press, such as the Daily Mail or the Evening Standard, the anonymous spokesperson commented: “We wanted to highlight the fact that racism and anti-immigration bias is sometimes more subtle than the Daily Hate rants. Besides, the Metro seemed to provide a better vehicle due to its exploitation of the ‘public’ transport system, so we thought we’d reclaim that right for a day.”
A pdf of the spoof paper can be found at here and here
Or click for the spoof Metr0 website at http://www.metr0.co.uk
X-MSG: An investigation of social software and sexwork activism
Posted on | June 30, 2010 | No Comments
X-MSG takes an unconventional approach to mobile phone technology in order to develop methods that sustain social formations and networks within the sex industry while exposing and subverting the values underlying the design of communication technologies.
Our research is founded on practical experiments with open source mobile telephony software informed by local knowledge from the sex industry and the support projects set up around it. Working with x:talk, a sex worker-led workers co-operative, we are developing text messaging systems to be used and adapted by women who work within the industry.
The project brings together sex work activism with social telephony and software, aiming to assist the organisation and activism of sex workers while bringing new political dimensions to our critical media experiments.
To get a feel of how our system works during the expo, text @expo to 07734 360773.
Against homo-nationalism
Posted on | June 21, 2010 | 1 Comment
Judith Butler turns down civil courage award from Berlin pride: ‘I must distance myself from this racist complicity’
x:talk fully endorses the struggle of queers of colour against homo-nationalism, racist and Islamophobic campaigns against homophobia. In our work and our activism for the rights of migrant sex workers we strongly argue against the use of emancipatory discourses (e.g. LGBT rights or women’s rights) for the legitimisation of war, of the criminalisation of migrants and of deportations. Also, we recognise that in many instances mainstream, majority white western LGBT and feminist groups engage in reproducing practices and discourses that are racist, Islamophobic or awakening moral panic around migration and sex work, contributing to the criminalisation of both. We believe it is crucial to raise awareness over the effects of ‘well meaning’ political moves that in order to fight one oppression, reproduce or reinforce others. In this respect, we welcome the decision by Judith Butler to turn down the civil courage award from Berlin Pride on June 19th 2010.
Below the press release by SUSPECT on the unfolding of the event and the press coverage it received:
Press Release by SUSPECT on the events of the 19th June, 2010
As Berlin Queer and Trans Activists of Colour and Allies we welcome Judith Butler’s decision to turn down the Zivilcourage Prize awarded by Berlin Pride. We are delighted that a renowned theorist has used her celebrity status to honour queer of colour critiques against racism, war, borders, police violence and apartheid. We especially value her bravery in openly critiquing and scandalising the organisers’ closeness to homonationalist organisations. Her courageous speech is a testimony to her openness for new ideas, and her readiness to engage with our long activist and academic work, which all too often happens under conditions of isolation, precariousness, appropriation and instrumentalisation.
Sadly this is happening once again, for the people of colour organisations who according to Butler should have deserved the award more than her are not mentioned once in the press reports to date. Butler offered the prize to GLADT (www.gladt.de), LesMigraS (www.lesmigras.de), SUSPECT and ReachOut (www.reachoutberlin.de), yet the one political space mentioned in the reports is the Transgenial Christopher Street Day, a white-dominated alternative Pride event. Instead of racism, the press focuses on a simple critique of commercialisation. This even though Butler herself was quite clear: ‘I must distance myself from complicity with racism, including anti-Muslim racism.’ She notes that not just homosexuals, but also ‘bi, trans and queer people can be used by those who want to wage war.’
The CSD, via Renate Künast of the Green Party (who appeared to have difficulties pronouncing the award winner’s name and grasping basic aspects of her writings) introduced Butler as a determined critic. Five minutes later, the same critical determination caused the faces of presenters to drop. Rather than engage with the speech in any way, Jan Salloch und Ole Lehmann could think of nothing better than blanketly refuse any charge of racism and attack the ca. 50 queers of colour and allies who had come out in Butler’s support: ‘You can scream all you like. You are not the majority. That’s enough.’ The finale was an imperialist fantasy matched by the backdrop of the Brandenburger Tor: ‘Pride will just continue in its programme… No matter what… Worldwide and here in Berlin… This is how it’s always been and will always be.’
In the past years, racism has indeed been the red thread of international Pride events, from Toronto to Berlin, as well as of the wider gay landscape (see queer of colour theorists’ Jasbir Puar’s and Amit Rai’s early critique of this in their 2002 article ‘Monster Terrorist Fag’). In 2008, the Berlin Pride motto was ‘Hass du was dagegen?’, which might translate as ‘You got’ a problem or wha’?’. Homophobia and Transphobia are redefined as the problems of youth of colour who apparently don’t speak proper German, whose Germanness is always questioned, and who simply don’t belong. 2008 is also the year that the hate crimes discourse enters more significantly into German sexual politics. Its rapid assimilation was aided by the fact that the hatefully criminal homophobe was already known: migrants, who are already criminalised, and are incarcerated and even deported with ever growing ease. This moral panic is made respectable by dubious media practices and so-called scientific studies: Where every case of violence that can be connected to a gay, bi or trans person (no matter if the apparent perpetrator is white or of Colour, and no matter if the basis is homophobia, transphobia or a traffic altercation) is circulated as the latest proof of what we all know already – that queers, especially white men it seems, are worst off of all, and that ‘the homophobic migrants’ are the main cause for this. This increasingly accepted truth is by no small measure the fruit of the work of homonationalist organizations like the Lesbian and Gay Federation Germany and the gay helpline Maneo, whose close collaboration with Pride ultimately caused Butler to reject the award. This work largely consists in media campaigns that repeatedly represent migrants as ‘archaic’, ‘patriarchal’, ‘homophobic’, violent, and unassimilable. Nevertheless, one of these organizations now ironically receives public funding in order to ‘protect’ people of colour from racism. The ‘Rainbow Protection Circle against Racism and Homophobia’ in the gaybourhood Schöneberg was spontaneously greeted by the district mayor with an increase in police patrols. As anti-racists, we sadly know what more police (LGBT or not) mean in an area where many people of colour also live – especially at times of ‘war on terror’ and ‘security, order and cleanliness.’
It is this tendency of white gay politics, to replace a politics of solidarity, coalitions and radical transformation with one of criminalization, militarization and border enforcement, which Butler scandalizes, also in response to the critiques and writings of queers of colour. Unlike most white queers, she has stuck out her own neck for this. For us, this was a very courageous decision indeed.
signed, SUSPECT, 20 June, 2010.
SUSPECT is a new group of queer and trans migrants, Black people, people of colour and allies. Our aim is to monitor the effects of hate crimes debates and to build communities which are free from violence in all its interpersonal and institutional forms.
In German
In Russian
In Italian
In Spanish
Sex workers organising and fighting back
Posted on | June 12, 2010 | No Comments
A joint Workers’ Liberty / Labour Representation Committee fringe
meeting at Unison National Conference
Opposing motion 117, which support the “Swedish model” on prostitution
Speaker from the International Union of Sex Workers/GMB sex workers’ branch. Chaired by Alison Brown, recently elected to Unison Health Service Group Executive (pc)
6pm, Wednesday 16 June
Premiere Inn Hotel, Westbourne Road, Bournemout
Experience: I ran a brothel in a country village
Posted on | June 10, 2010 | No Comments
This article originally appeared in the Guardian on 5 June 2010
Claire Finch: read other related posts here
Most people would think where I live is the last place you’d expect to find a brothel or massage parlour: a pretty bungalow in a quiet cul-de-sac of a sleepy Bedfordshire village. But I’ve run one from my home for the last 12 years, offering massage and sexual services.
I’ve always been a very open person and I don’t like keeping secrets. When I moved in 10 years ago, I invited people in the village for a barbecue. The farmer gave me a lamb to roast and I told everyone that I worked from home with a group of six older women selling sex, and that they may see two or three men coming to visit each day. Nobody seemed to mind. In fact, my older neighbours were delighted – they said that most of the younger people in the street went out to work and it would be nice to have someone around during the day.
I wouldn’t describe myself as a prostitute, more of a courtesan. I married young, at 17, and trained as a masseuse and aromatherapist. Fifteen years later, I got divorced and needed to earn money to pay the mortgage. I went for an interview as a masseuse and was asked to provide topless massages with hand relief, known as happy endings. I didn’t particularly want to do it, but I needed the money, and I’ve pretty much been doing it ever since.
Right from the start, I felt accepted here. I guess it would have been a different story if I’d been whipping customers naked in the back garden, but I’ve always been very discreet. The only thing the neighbours are likely to see are a few cows or sheep wandering in from the farmer’s field that backs on to my garden. My 85-year-old next-door neighbour jokes with me all the time. When my driveway was being repaved, she let customers park on hers, saying, “Send them to me and I’ll give them a rub down.”
I treat my neighbours with respect, and they treat me the same way. I’ve never had a customer from the village, but quite a few come from surrounding areas. It’s not unusual to bump into them in Sainsbury’s and if I see them first, I try to whisk my trolley into another aisle to save them any embarrassment. We’re always hearing about the tawdry side of prostitution, but rarely the more mundane aspects. Most of the time, I’m thinking, “Right, I’ve seen a few clients, now I can go and pay the gas bill.”
People have a lot of misconceptions about brothels. I screen people over the phone and it’s appointment only. There are no drugs, under-age girls or trafficked women here. We have all sorts of customers: businessmen, a priest, police, people with disabilities and a lot of older men, especially widowers. Sex is only a small part of the service. Often they’re lonely and want a bit of company, so we sit down and have a nice cup of tea.
One widower tells me about his wife’s death every time he visits; it’s a bit like being a carer with a twist. The customers treat me like part of their family; they bring photos of their dogs, their grandchildren and their hanging baskets for me to look at. They trust me, and that’s a very important part of my work.
They’ve also been so supportive over the years. My life was turned upside down two years ago when the police raided my bungalow and charged me with brothel-keeping. The case came to court in April and I was absolutely terrified. Legally, one woman can sell sex, but not two or more working together. It’s crazy that you could have a row of 20 houses with one woman in each selling sex, but if you have two in one house, you’re breaking the law. I told the truth at court – technically, it could be thought I had broken the law, but the jury used their common sense and cleared me of brothel-keeping. I was elated. Now I’m campaigning with the English Collective of Prostitutes to get the law changed so that a small group of women can work together for safety reasons.
I’ve had an amazing response since I won the case. So many of my neighbours have been in touch to say how pleased they are for me. An 83-year-old called to say he was sorry he didn’t live closer. One of the most important things this work has taught me is not to make snap judgments about people. You can never tell what anyone is really like from what they do, and I think the people who live around me know that too.
• As told by Claire Finch to Diane Taylor
three excellent articles: on trafficking and prostitution
Posted on | May 20, 2010 | No Comments
sometimes it is just good remember the texts and arguments that were formative in creating the political space of x:talk…
here are three such text written by Ms Jo Doezema - a sex worker rights activists / academic
2) Ouch! Western feminists’ ‘wounded attachment’ to the ‘third world prostitute’
3) Who gets to choose? Coercion, consent and the UN Trafficking Protocol
x:talk ethics
Posted on | May 17, 2010 | No Comments
we are proud to publish an important collective document - ‘x:talk ethics’
please take the time to read it and if you have any comments or questions please drop us an email or post a comment below
in struggle,
ava caradonna
x:talk ethics
As workers in the sex industry we are often denied a voice, we are considered only passive victims, we are taught to be ashamed of our work, we are made invisible by discriminatory laws that illegalise our work and us, and we are spoken for and about but rarely are we allowed to speak for ourselves. As migrants even more so. Sometimes our voices are not heard even amongst each other because we don’t speak the same languages.
The x:talk project is a sex worker-led workers co-operative which approaches language teaching as knowledge sharing between equals and regards the ability to communicate as a fundamental tool for sex workers to work in safer conditions, to organise and to socialise with each other.
We understand language to be a politically and socially charged instrument of power, which we aim to teach critically and thoughtfully according to the specificity of our classes. Our English classes are organized to create a space where sex work as work can be openly talked about and does not have to be concealed or hidden. Through providing such a space we aim to challenge the stigma and isolation attached to our profession while at the same time we guarantee confidentiality and respect for those involved.
In addition to providing free English classes to migrant sex workers, we support critical interventions around issues of migration, race, gender, sexuality and labour, we participate in feminist and anti-racist campaigns and we are active in the struggle for the rights of sex workers in London, the UK and globally.
Confidentiality:
We consider confidentiality to be crucial for everyone involved in the x:talk project – including for students, teachers, teaching assistants and allies. We understand confidentiality to mean not only that all personal information about people involved in the project remains private but also that information is on a need to know basis. If students feel in a position to share personal information we welcome the exchange – however no one in the classes should ever be required to answer questions about who they are or what they do. As is usual in the sex industry – students are welcome to use their working names if necessary.
Identity:
Our project comes from our experiences as workers in the sex industry. x:talk is sex worker-led not because we think that being a ‘sex worker’ is a fixed identity, but because those who have experienced the material conditions of the sex industry are in the best position to know how to change it.
We do not wish to participate in a politics that creates individual ‘celebrity’ superstars. As a result we use the collective identity of Ava Caradonna (which roughly translates to ‘Eve the Good Woman’).
Ava Caradonna is a migrant, a sex worker, a student, a mother, a citizen, a transgender, a person of colour, a teacher, a lesbian and a militant- she allows us to speak from different positions as sex workers and as allies, without the stigma of using our ‘real’ names and allows us to speak to the different realities in the sex industry and beyond.
Respect for a diversity of experiences:
We are interested in organizing to radically transform the sex industry so that sex workers have more control over their lives and work. We are not interested in passing judgement on what type of work people do. We recognize that many women, men and trans people have a diverse range of experiences in the sex industry – good, bad and ugly. Our project is open to people who sells sex or sexual services – including workers in brothels, escort agencies, outdoors, flats, independents, bars, on the phone or internet, strippers, dancers, models, porn stars and glamour models. We respect people’s choices or circumstances about continuing to work in the sex industry or exiting the industry.
Combating the desire the help and save sex workers:
x:talk was born in a brothel in south London. The project grew out of the experiences of a prostitute called Alice who was working in a flat with many women from Thailand. They had paid £20,000 to come to the UK to work, they did not have their passports and they earned less money than Alice who was considered to be ‘European’. One reason they did not earn as much money as Alice was because they couldn’t negotiate with English speaking clients very easily. When Alice asked the women how she could help them – they expressed very clearly they did not want to be ‘helped’ but instead that they wanted to learn English. So began the first x:talk classes – in between clients and during the long hours of waiting. It was clear to Alice that we need to be able to speak together to be able to organise at work. x:talk is not about helping people, but about collective action and solidarity.
In order to gain the trust of the people we are working with and teaching we need to be clear about what the x:talk project can and cannot do – we teach English and offer a space for peer-to-peer networking, translation and information sharing. We are not lawyers, social workers, immigration agents or charity workers.
The Politics of Language
The content of the x:talk classes, the examples, language and words used are chosen with an understanding of the following:
- Language is a powerful tool in shaping the meaning of the way things are in the world.
- Language is a tool used to communicate, empower and also to oppress.
- If it matters what we say and how we say it, then it matters how we teach it.
guidelines for x:talk classes
Posted on | May 17, 2010 | No Comments
1) Teaching to a variety of people from a variety of language backgrounds, x:talk uses the method of full-immersion, i.e. our teachers will only use English in class. However, given the multi-level nature of our classes, we encourage the participation of assistants with second or third language knowledge to assist specific students if and when needed (and to the jurisdiction of the teacher).
2) Our teachers are invited to loosely follow the 12 weeks x:talk curriculum, and also encouraged to contribute their own material and lesson plans. Most importantly, however, they are expected to be receptive of the students needs.
3) In the first two or three classes (or when new students are present), teachers should avoid asking direct questions like ‘where do you work’. Teachers should first of all make clear that students are not required to give ‘real’ details about themselves, even if asked for a pedagogic purpose. If and when this is too difficult to communicate, it is advisable that teachers make use of role-play and fictional characters to be assigned interchangeably to different students.
4) In order to maintain x:talk as a space of knowledge-sharing between equals, it is important that the teachers are, or have been sex workers, and that they constantly position themselves as such while teaching—rather than only as ‘the teacher’ by profession.
5) x:talk wants to share knowledge and create a space for sex workers to organise and socialise, and it does not aim to preach or pass on judgements on the different choices within sex work. Hence, teachers are invited to always brainstorm with students when teaching language related to sex work (e.g. how to say which services we do not offer, and why)
6) In their teaching material teachers should avoid, as much as possible, a normative use of language, i.e. a language which would reproduce hierarchies or oppressions. We are aware of the impossibility of neutrality, and we do not have the magic formula to wholly avoid oppressive language. However, we have learnt from our politics and experience where to locate certain hierarchies and oppressions in language, and the following guidelines provide a framework in which our project seeks to encompass.
Racist language
examples or images in the teaching material must not include:
-racist insults or stereotypes
-prejudices against certain nationalities (e.g. girls from X-land are driving down prices in the industry)
- exoticise certain nationalities (e.g. girls from X-land are more beautiful than from Y-land)
-negative judgements on specific physical appearances (e.g. weight, hair type etc.)
Sexist language
examples or images in the teaching material must not include:
-sexist insults or stereotypes
-gender stereotypes (e.g. all female sex workers like shopping)
Anti-migrant language
examples or images in the teaching material must not include:
-implicit or explicit alignments with the racist and criminalising migration policies of the state (e.g. you have to do what the government tells you to)
Homophobic or transphobic language
examples or images in the teaching material must not include:
-homophobic or transphobic insults
-judgements on more valuable relationships than others (e.g. only using straight examples)
-negative judgements on genderqueer or trans person (e.g. she is a man)