Students for sale: Tools for resistance

Are you disturbed by the mainstreaming of pornography and recent trends that have seen students and even schoolchildren being sold the idea that prostitution is a normal job and a good way of making loads of money? "Sex work is real work" they say. But is this really true? Who benefits from this ideology? Who pays the price? 

What does being paid to have sex with men you don't fancy really feel like? Where does that leave the understanding of sexual consent?  

What does it mean for men, if "sex work is real work"? Is buying "sex" really no different from getting your hair cut?

Why do so many women get trapped in the sex industry and find it hard to get out?

Come along to hear a feminist take on these issues and how we can resist.

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS

CHELSEA GEDDES: Chelsea is a prostitution survivor with 20 years' experience in the fully decriminalised sex trade in New Zealand. She managed to escape after a prolonged struggle about a year ago. She is a passionate writer and long-time activist against the sex trade.

CAJSA: After escaping an abusive relationship as a teenager, Cajsa started to abuse drugs and turned to prostitution to finance her habit. She has now been clean for four years and fights for women's rights and is a member of #intedinhora, an organisation of people who have experienced prostitution in Sweden.

TSITSI MATEKAIRE: Tsitsi is the Global Lead, End Sexual Exploitation at Equality Now. She is a legal expert on women's rights, sex trafficking, sexual exploitation, access to justice, women's political participation and violence against women and girls. She came to the UK from Zimbabwe as a Chevening Scholar.

FIONA BROADFOOT: Fiona was groomed into prostitution by her 'boyfriend' when she was 15 and only managed to escape when she was 26, after hearing that her cousin, who had also been exploited in prostitution, had been murdered by a punter. Since then, Fiona has been a passionate activist against the sex trade and is the founder of Build a Girl, a social enterprise working with girls at risk of or experiencing sexual exploitation.

ROBERT JENSEN: Robert Jensen is an Emeritus Professor in the School of Journalism and Media at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of many books, including 'The End of Patriarchy: Radical Feminism for Men' and 'Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity'.

KATHLEEN RICHARDSON: Kathleen is Professor of Ethics and Culture of Robots and AI at De Montfort University, and the founder of the Campaign Against Sex Robots, which warns of the dangers of normalising relationships with machines and reinforcing female dehumanisation.

MICHAEL CONROY: Michael is the founder of Men At Work. After working in Secondary education for 16 years, he now trains educators and youth workers in facilitating constructive dialogues with male students on themes around sexism, misogyny, objectification, risk-taking behaviours, peer pressure and personal autonomy.

LULU: Lulu is a care-experienced adoptee in her mid-twenties. She is critical of the liberal feminist culture that she has grown up in and is particularly concerned about this culture's impact upon some of the most marginalised young women and girls in our society.

SHABBANA KIYANI: Shabbana has been involved in the campaign against the sex trade for several years. She has worked in education for 28 years in a number of roles from classroom to leadership. Shabbana will chair the event.

Others Details

Category: Community | Education