In recent months, the Women’s March came under fire for some of its leaders’ associations with the Nation of Islam’s Louis Farrakhan, upsetting some rank and file members of the movement. Now full-throated support from the Women’s March for “sex work” and Backpage.com, the website the New York Times says has been “repeatedly accused of enabling prostitution and sex trafficking of minors,” may further test how well or how poorly the Women’s March reflects the belief and priorities of those it claims to represent.
Last week, federal authorities announced the seizure and shutdown of Backpage.com, ostensibly a classified ad website, but one that has long been linked to illicit sexual activities, including underage prostitution and trafficking. In its response, the Women’s March (via Twitter) does not even dispute this characterization of Backpage.com, but rather calls “sex work” a “critical… women’s rights” issue and decries the website’s shutdown as “an absolute crisis for sex workers who rely on the site to safely get in touch with clients.”
The series of tweets by the Women’s March ignores any concerns about Backpage.com or “sex work” in general, instead issuing a call to “listen to the voices of those most impacted,” apparently choosing to focus on the vocational concerns of “sex workers” rather than the victims of the industry:
In the coming days, we will be sharing more about sex workers rights to uplift this critical issue. We’re all still learning and as always, we have to listen to the voices of those most impacted. #SexWorkIsWork
— Women’s March (@womensmarch) April 7, 2018
Please read this important thread. #DecrimNow #SESTA #FOSTA https://t.co/cvhlvrNDLj
— Women’s March (@womensmarch) April 7, 2018
Some have credited Backpage.com for its willingness to cooperate with authorities in the past, and the site’s utilities in tracking down traffickers and even helping to locate runaways or children otherwise exploited. The Women’s March, in contrast, is using the seizure of the website to champion the cause of women, arguing that #SexWorkIsWork and exhorting the public to “Listen to Black sex workers ! We support everyone’s ability to work!”
If the Women’s March truly supports all women, then the group may need to pivot to a broader and more honest assessment of the sex industry and its dangers rather than simply treating it as an economic issue. At a United Nations conference in Beijing in 2015, Hillary Clinton famously told the assembly, “women’s rights are human rights.” It remains to be seen if “sex workers rights are women’s rights” can become a rallying cry for 2018.
