This is a transcript of Rebecca Mott’s talk at the ‘Experience of Prostitution’ webinar on 27 September 2020.

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Thanks for turning up for this event.

I was prostituted from the age of 14 until my early 20s. I will speak to what it is to be prostituted; to the conditions for the prostituted and the breaking down of their humanity.

To understand prostitution, we need to see deeper than the generalised language of it being a bad thing. Instead, I will speak about the mental and physical trauma of the prostituted.

The sex trade lobby wants and needs us to remain vague about what it is to be prostituted. It is in the interests of the profiteers for men to have constant access to consume the prostituted – but most events done to the prostituted remain unspeakable and hidden in plain sight.

I will open with the common violence done to the prostituted. I did indoor prostitution of many varieties – so I will use my experiences of male violence as an example of what is normal in all forms of prostitution.

Also, for around 20 years, I have been in contact with many exited women from several backgrounds and countries. Their multiple experiences and truths go into everything that I call my work.

There is a statement used by many punters:

“What I do to a whore, I would never do to real women.”

Hear that statement. Hear it with your soul; not with the detachment of simple analysing. Understand what is meant by this statement. Feel it, and carry it deep inside yourself.

Then maybe you’re on the road to knowing why I am an abolitionist and not a reformer.

Do understand why exited women demand full justice, a route back to their humanity, and that their anger and grief is heard without censorship or any other ways to control their truth telling.

We see with a clear eye what punters mean when they say that they would not do it to real women – but it is fine to do it to the prostituted.

Know we are speaking of mental, physical and sexual torturing. As with any other form of torturing, it is done to destroy the humanity of the prostituted. It is done to make the prostituted consumable sexual goods, stripped of all their human rights. This is partly done by the scale of the male violence done to the prostituted.

I know that most females have experienced some form of male violence in their lives but usually this is done by a few men. I know that most rapes go unpunished and that much domestic violence is ignored.

I know all that – but I will still state that the scale of male violence done to the prostituted is so high that it is made invisible – for it seems that the more that you are raped, the less it is seen.

Instead, the violence in the sex trade is made to be ‘work,’ is made so normal that it is as if nothing is happening to nobody.

Let us see what this normal is. Most long-term prostituted women are not raped or sexually tortured by a few punters. They are raped by hundreds, if not thousands, of punters.

The sexual torturing could include extreme anal raping, gang raping, or punters destroying every cell of the prostituted women. Being beaten or battered is common inside all forms of prostitution.

Being physically tortured is common, as most punters want full control over the prostituted. Remember, they do not see the prostituted as humans, but as goods that they have bought.

Most forms of torture are rehearsed inside the sex trade, then let loose on the world.

Instead of fighting this constant abuse of power, people reframe it as a ‘kink’ or say it is work.

Lastly, for prostitution to be seen as normal, it is vital to break down the humanity of the prostituted. This is done until the prostituted woman forgets what it is to be human.

In that environment, it becomes normal for the prostituted to speak the language of their oppressor. This is done by claiming that prostitution is empowering and can be seen as a choice – or that it is just work like any other job.

This is the language of deep denial – as surviving in a world without hope or even a sense that anyone cares about your existence.

To end, I would say that to understand prostitution, you must listen to exited women, especially those who are campaigning to get back full humanity for all the prostituted.

We demand justice, the right to be a full human and to be leaders in the abolitionist movement.

Thank you for listening. Please look deeper into what prostitution is. Do not be afraid to explore what the sex trade wants to be unspeakable and invisible. Be braver and ask exited women about their truths.

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For a podcast and recording of Rebecca’s talk, see The Experience of Prostitution: Recordings of the webinar.