When Is A Sex Worker A Victim?
posted by Dan Filler
In a recent story out of Richmond, a woman – Barbara Tanner, a 52 year old – who operated an escort service was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison. The interesting hook, noted by Doug Berman, is that the court treated each of the women who worked for her as a “victim” for sentencing purposes. This hoisted her sentencing guideline range from 24-30 months to 41-51 months. As a matter of guideline interpretation, perhaps this makes sense. Section 2G1.1 defines a victim as:
a person transported, persuaded, induced, enticed, or coerced to engage in, or travel for the purpose of engaging in, a commercial sex act or prohibited sexual conduct, whether or not the person consented to the commercial sex act or prohibited sexual conduct. Accordingly, “victim” may include an undercover law enforcement officer.
Perhaps this is just a matter of nomenclature, but is this a fair definition of “victim”? While some sex workers are surely victims, others have chosen this work – admittedly under many of the stresses that propel other individuals towards sub-optimal life choices. Is a sex worker necessarily any greater victim than a coal miner or a worker in a meat processing plant? Would a sex worker who was working on her own, rather than for a madame, be able to claim victimhood as well? If not, why is he or she converted to victim status upon taking a position with Ms. Tanner’s agency? (And what would the IUSW – International Union of Sex Workers – say about this?)
The guidelines commission is within bounds when it makes Ms. Tanner’s sentence depend on the size of her operation. But does it make sense to frame the sentence on the number of people “victimized”? To the degree that those who promote commercial prostitution create unwilling sex workers, they are doing serious harm. And maybe we consider larger prostitution schemes more dangerous because they have the potential to increase coerced prostitution. But my sense is that, with such a broad definition of “victim”, the sentencing commission is mostly dressing up morality legislation in public safety clothing.
If you want to send Ms. Tanner to the pokey for sin, go for it, but don’t assume that all of her employees were necessarily victims. Maybe they were just sinners as well.
May 1, 2006 at 11:24 am
Posted in: Criminal Law
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Responses (5)
3L - May 1, 2006 at 12:06 pm
Do you consider someone working for less than minimum wage a victim?
I don’t disagree with your analysis, but I’m surprised to see it here rather than at Volokh or another libertarian blog
Wendy - July 2, 2006 at 10:24 am
I don’t think we’re victims of sex work, unless we we’re phyiscally, held against our will forced to do, but most of us CHOSE to do sex work. Whatever the reason might be (poverty, to support a drug habit, lack of education, desire to have a higher paying job, whatever), we chose it. I’m not ashamed of being a sex worker, what I’m ashamed for are the people that assume I’m too stupid to make a choice and am therefore a victim.
JAY BILLS - August 21, 2006 at 11:43 pm
LOOK, I AM GOING TO EXPLAIN THE REAL PROBLEM. IF THEY WOULD JUST TOTALLY LEGALIZE AND ORGANIZE SEX WORK THERE WOULD BE NO MISUNDERSTANDING LIKE THIS ONE. NO ONE WOULD BE VICTIMIZED BECAUSE THE SEX WORKERS WOULD HAVE A UNION AND BENEFITS. WHEN IS OUR LAW MAKERS GOING TO WAKE UP AND GIVE THE WORLD’S OLDEST PROFESSION ORGANIZATION AND PROTECTION. SEX WORK IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE LEGALIZE IT ALREADY! STOP STEROTYPING A SEX WORKER AND JUST TREAT THEM AS ANOTHER WORKER. YOU MAY OR MAY AGREE WITH THEIR TYPE OF WORK BUT LET THEM CHOOSE THEIR OWN LINE OF WORK. LET THEM HAVE THE RIGHTS TO TELL MEN TO WEAR A CONDOM EVERY TIME. GIVE THEM GUARANTEED PAYMENT. KEEP THEM FROM GETTING RAPED AND BEATEN BY GIVING SEX WORKERS A ESTABLISHED SAFE PLACE OF EMPLOYMENT TO WORK IN. IT IS DONE FOR CIGARETTE AND LIQUOR EMPLOYEES THAT ARE NOT SO CALLED MORALLY CORRECT EITHER. THINK ABOUT. NO REALLY REALLY THINK ABOUT. I REALLY CAN’T BELIEVE THERE IS SO MUCH FUSS AND CRIMINALIZATION IN THIS WORLD OVER SEX WORK IT JUST DOESN’T MAKE SENSE LIKE THE WAY SOME PEOPLE ALWAYS WANT TO KNOW IF SOMEONE ELSE IS MASTARBATING. WHY WOULD THEY EVEN WANT TO KNOW THAT, IT ISN’T THEIR BODY BEING PLAYED WITH!
beki - August 23, 2006 at 2:17 am
Its really reassuring that there are people out there who acknowledge and support sex workers. The governemnt doesn’t want to support sex work and their agenda is inconsequential. The real problem is society’s view and attitudes on sex work. It as a whole doesn’t look too healthy. Ask an average American what they feel about it? There are people in America who think there is nothing wrong with it but they aren’t the ones raping women or supporting the war in Iraq. If children are raised seeing people being abused, killed and other types of violence that will impact his or her view of sexuality and therefore on sex work. If we examine this culture we see that sex is censored wheras violence is not. That plays a major role in sexuality. People that see sex work as criminal don’t understand that their views are scewed. People don’t acknowledge sex as a therapeutical activity and as an extension of humanity and expression. A sex worker may be a sex therapist rather than a “prostitute”. Rape is not sex. Beating someone isn’t sex. Gang raping someone isn’t sex. Sex work is about giving a therapeutic service in exchange for money. But men and women who give these services do it for different reasons. Sex work is ligitamate. What is illigitimate is coersion, a lack of desire for the proffession, abuse, lack of knowledge and an unappreciation for sexuality. We are being bombared with stigmas attached to sexuality so it does hold true to the sex trade.
Joe S - January 16, 2007 at 3:08 pm
haha. thats my aunt
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