Event: Playing the whore – the work of sex work

Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex Work

Discussion: Melissa Gira Grant & Niki Adams, English Collective of Prostitutes

Chair: Selma James

March 31, 2014, 6.00pm – 8.00pm University of London Union. Malet Suite – 2nd floor, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HY ⋅

Selma James chairs a discussion between Melissa Gira Grant and Niki Adams, English Collective of Prostitutes

Join us for this free event at ULU! Please note that it is first come, first serve, so if you want to be guaranteed a seat you should arrive in good time. The event starts at 6pm.

The sex industry is an endless source of prurient drama for the mainstream media. Reporting tends to focus on the most extreme cases of trafficking and abuse. Outside of that, the current trend for writing about and describing actual experiences of sex work fuels a culture obsessed with the behaviour of sex workers. Rarely do these fearful dispatches come from sex workers themselves, and they never seem to deviate from the position that sex workers must be rescued from their condition, and the industry simply abolished.

In her new book Playing the Whore:the Work of Sex Work Melissa Gira Grant argues that current debate around sex work, including most feminist discussion, is pointless and unhelpful. She believes that we need to shift the focus onto the producers of anti-sex work discourse: police, feminists, politicians and anti-prostitution campaigners. Sex workers’ demands, too long relegated to the margins, take center stage in this book: sex work is work, and sex workers’ rights are human rights.

Melissa will be joined by Selma James and the English Collective of Prostitutes.

This event is free and not ticketed, but please arrive in good time if you want to guarantee a seat.