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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

blaming the victims

The current economic crisis is driving more women and teenagers into prostitu-
tion. The sexual exploitation of children is increasing. The production and distri-
bution of pornographic materials depicting the brutalization and degradation of

Women is becoming a huge industry.

The Frazer Commission is in the process of hearing submissions to aid in it’s
Re umendations to government on these subjects. The following are exerpts from
he brief presented by the Communist Party of Canada to the commission:

_ Too often pornography and prostitu-
tion are interpreted as the expressons of

natural’? sexual needs which exist
Somehow independently of the social re-
lations of inequality which characterize
Canadian capitalist society.

This is not the case, both must be seen
as forms of degradation of human sexual-
ity which results from class and gender
Inequality. Effective government
policies must start from a recognition of
Prostitution and pornography as the pro-
ducts of the oppression and exploitation
of women in class society.

immorality of Capitalism

A morality derived from the capitalist
€conomic market is often invoked to ex-
Cuse prostitution and pornography. Ac-
Cording to this logic, prostitutes freely
Choose their “‘profession’’ and voluntar-
ily enter into a contract with a client to
€xchange sexual services for money.

Pornography is described as an indus-
try like any other industry. People are
employed (as performers, photo-
graphers, distributors etc.) to produce a
Produce which is placed on the market
for sale. The large market demand for the
Product is said to demonstrate the social
Importance of this type of production,
Justifying the huge profits earned by in-
Vestors.

The line of reasoning does reflect a
Certain truth about capitalist society.
Pornography, and prostitution are based
On the reduction of human sexuality to a
Commodity to be exchanged for money

_0n the market. They are a logical ex-

tension of the reduction of human labor
POwer to a commodity which is
Characteristic of capitalist society.

For people who glorify capitalist social
values, the market model implies that the
Individuals who work as prostitutes or
Perform in pornography do so voluntar-
ily and freely. Responsibility for any
Negative consequences, is said to rest
with these individuals.

This is a totally false presentation of
the Situation. Women, teenagers and
children are forced into prostitution by
€conomic necessity and, often, by the
Sexual brutalization to which many of
them were subjected early in life. They
are the victims, not the instigators or the

Neficiaries, of a vicious trade.

Besides masking the coercion (eco-
nomic, physical and psychological)
which forces individuals into prostitu-
tion, the model of the capitalist market
diverts attention away from the real be-
heficiaries of this exploitation. Porn-
Ography and often prostitution are the
source of huge profits for large corporate
interests, many run by organized crime.

Oppression of Women

The characterization of prostitution as
“the oldest profession’’ is: both histori-
cally inaccurate and defeatist. The ap-
pearance of prostitution coincided with
the development of class society and
with the oppression of women. Prostitu-
tion and pornography are the products of
specific historical conditions and ‘will
only be totally eliminated when these

conditions are abolished. That they can
be abolished is demonstrated today by
the experience of socialist countries.

Prostitution and pornography arose
historically and persist today as the re-
sult of the control of women’s repro-
ductive capacity and sexuality which
exist in class society. Prostitution, which
always implies the exchange of sex for
money, developed alongside of slavery
and the sexual exploitation of women
slaves by their owners in the early
periods of ‘‘civilization’’.

As Frederick Engels pointed out one
hundred years ago in The Origin of the
Family, Private Property and the State, it
followed the restrictions placed on
women of the ruling class to ensure the
transfer of property between generations
to legitimate male heirs. The double

policies of Canadian governments which
seek to solve the economic crisis by
creating mass unemployment and by
driving down the standard of living of
working people.

The Current Economic Crisis

The increase in the number of women
and young people being forced into pros-
titution must be halted with policies to
meet the economic crisis. An immediate
program for jobs, incomes and economic
growth is needed which will create
employment by increasing real con-
sumer spending while meeting people’s
needs. Within the framework of such a
program, special measures directed at
the problems of women and young
people are required.

With respect to the legal questions
around prostitution being currently de-
bated, the Communist Party urges the
rejection of all proposals which penalize
the victims of prostitution instead of the
profiteers. Our specific proposals are:

e the elimination of the existing sol-
iciting laws and the practice of declaring
the private dwelling of a prostitute a
‘bawdy house’’. This would help end
abuse of a prostitute by those who offer

Pornography and prostitution are based on the
reduction of human sexuality to a commodity to be
exchanged for money on the market. They are a
logical extension of the reduction of human labor
power to a commodity which is characteristic of

- capitalist society ... The characterization of
prostitution as “the oldest profession” is both
historically inaccurate and defeatist.

standard of sexual behavior for men and
women was codified into law and passe
on to future generations. :

The basis of male dominance is there-
fore economic: the economic depen-
dence of women on men. The “‘ex-
change’’ involved in prostitution sym-
bolizes this connection between eco-
nomic dependence, sexuality and power.
In exchange for money which a man has
and the woman does not have, the man is
able to purchase the.use of her body.

The images in pornography are primar-
ily based on the domination of women by
men, a domination which’is increasingly
depicted as requiring not only economic
superiority but brutal physical coercion
for its maintenance.

One of the features of capitalist “‘pro-
gress’’ is that the sexuality of teenagers
and children, is being turned into a com-
modity for sale on the sex market, to
meet new demands being created by
capitalist entrepreneurs.

The existence of a supply of teenagers
and children to meet this newly created
market demand is the result of a deep
crisis in the family which is being accen-
tuated by the current economic crisis.

There is growing evidence that high
unemployment is linked to an increase in
violence in families and that more and
more families are finding it impossible to
support all their members. The soaring
unemployment among young people, the
lack of proper training programs and the
inadequate supply of low income hous-
ing are forcing more and more young
people into the culture of the streets,
which includes drugs and prostitution.

This situation is an indictment of the
capitalist economic system and of the

‘*protection’’ from the police and would
allow her to charge those guilty of
assaulting her.

e stiff penalties against all those who
live off the avails of prostitution.

e severe criminal penalties against
any one who purchases the sexual ser-
vices of children under 16: The responsi-
bility in these instances should rest en-
tirely with the adult; the “‘consent’’ of
the young person should not be relevant
to the prosecution.

e the total rejection of all suggestions
that prostitution be legalized. We find
particularly unacceptable the proposals
that a section of the female population be
licensed and ghettoized for the pleasure
of a minority of the male population.

Pornography: Ban It

Pornography has been defined as ‘‘a
presentation, whether live, simulated,
verbal, pictorial, filmed or videotaped, or
otherwise represented, of sexual be-
havior in which one or more participants
are coerced overtly or implicitly into par-
ticipation; or are injured or abused phys-
ically or psychologically; or in which an
imbalance of power is obvious, or im-
plied by virtue of the immature age of any
participant or by contextual aspects of
the presentation, and in which such be-
havior can be taken to be advocated or
endorsed’’.*

This definition usefully distinguishes
between pornography, in which coercion
is an essential element, and erotica. Such
a distinction should be a premise of all
government policy which should in-
clude:

e Cancellation of the licences of any of
the electronic media regulated by the
CRTC which show pornography.

Prostitution and pornography:

e Stiff criminal penalties against all
those who profit from. pornography.
Pornography is based on the degradation
of human sexuality; it legitimizes and
may even be a factor in causing sexual
violence against women. Pornography is
no more an artistic creation than racist or
anti-semitic hate literature. It must be
completely banned.

e The increase of funds to women film
makers and video producers: The recent
proliferation of violent media treatment
of women highlights the importance of
women having the resources to present
an alternate view of their relationship to
men and to society in general.

e The commitment of funds to sex
education classes in the school system: it
is necessary that children are introduced
to scientific knowledge of human sexual-
ity so that they are not prey to reaction-
ary pornographic material later in life.
School cirriculum should include ed-
ucation about sexual abuse. Resources
must be made available to aid children
and their families in such situations.

Necessity of Women’s Equality

So far, our proposals have centered on
immediate reforms. But the complete
elimination of pornography and prostitu-
tion requires the full equality of women
with men. We would like to emphasize
here two elements of this equality:

The first is the reproductive rights of
women, rights which are particularly re-
levant to the subject of the sexual ex-
ploitation of women. We demand for
freedom of choice in abortion and call for
the removal of abortion from the criminal
code. We also insist that real choice re-
quires that the conditions exist for
women to have children when they wish.

The second, and the most fundamen-
tal, element of women’s equality is the
complete economic independence of
women. Such independence requires the
end to a division of labor between the
sexes in which women are assigned the
major responsibility for housework and
the lowest paid jobs in the workplace.

Women must have equal access to skil-
led jobs and to scientific and technical
training. They also require an extensive
network of social services, including
universal quality child care, to make
their equal participation in the workplace
and in social life a reality.

The Communist Party of Canada fully
supports the efforts of women to achieve
economic independence through
unionization and through legal reforms
such as equal pay for work of equal value
and mandatory affirmative action pro-

grams.

We believe that, while significant re-
forms can be won through united action
under capitalism, the complete equality
of women requires the abolition of class
as well as gender inequality. Com-
munists are committed to bringing about
socialism in which the collective re-
sources of the society can be directed at
eliminating all forms of inequality. We
see the complete equality of women with
men as one of the central goals of social-
ism.

*Helen Longino, ‘‘Pornography, Op-
pression and Freedom’, in Take Back
the Night, edited by Laura Lederer, 1980.
The full text of the Communist Party brief
is available in the March issue of Com-
munist Viewpoint.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE, MARCH 7, 1984 e 5