Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.09.2016, Qupperneq 16

Offering fresh Icelandic cuisine in a
stylish and casual atmosphere in the heart
of down town Reykjavík.
isafoldrestaurant . is
Þingholtsstræti 5 - tel: 595 8535
RESTAURANT
ÍSAFOLD
Fresh local food and cozy ambiance in the city center
Kitchen open from 11:30 - 22:00

Þingholtsstræti 5 - Tel: 595 8535 - www.isafoldrestaurant.is
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 14 — 2016
16
We have made huge progress with
slut-shaming. Movements such as
Slutwalk Iceland are making sure
of this, allowing women and other
non-binary people to discuss our
sex lives and sexualities like men
have done for many years, with-
out being degraded and told we’re
easy and dirty. But Iceland still
has a horrific and frankly shame-
ful whorephobia problem, both in
the media representation of sex
work, and in society at large.
We Icelanders pride ourselves on
being a great country for women.
But as soon as you add money into
the mix of this sexual liberation, we
become dirty and easy and we should
be ashamed of ourselves, again.
The most aggressive alterca-
tions I have had in Iceland in re-
lation to my work have involved
“feminists” who tell me me over
and over that my work is rape,
that I just don’t understand it,
that I’m “too traumatised” to re-
alise what is happening and that
by “selling” my body I’m moving
women’s rights back decades.
I understand that it is a loaded
topic, especially due to the confu-
sion in this country between sex
work and sex trafficking, but none
of the people who have said these
things to me have experience of
sex work, all they’ve done is read
articles and make assumptions.
I believe strongly that no one has
a right to shame me or my fellow
workers for our work choices.
Choice
I, like many people, choose to
do sex work because it suits my
needs. I chose it because I have se-
vere anxiety as well as other men-
tal health issues, which makes
the 9-to-5 work market inacces-
sible to me, and I am not eligible
for benefits. Camming from my
bed as well as f lexible in-call
hours works incredibly well for
me, so I made a conscious choice
between sex work and debt—a
choice most working-class people
who have rent and bills to pay will
recognise and understand. Maybe
their choice is not about sex work,
though. It could be between severe
debt and cleaning, café work, or
long underpaid shifts in the tour-
ist industry.
Clients
An issue that comes up time and
again for sex workers is the mis-
conception that clients are the
worst part of any sex worker’s job.
Yes, clients can be rude, entitled,
and disrespectful and in some
cases violent and deadly—I am not
going to hide this, but those ter-
rifying and negative aspects are
hugely aided by the Swedish Model
(which criminalises the buying,
rather than the selling, of sexual
services, a policy many of my fel-
low feminists adore and push for),
as well other laws with criminal-
ising aspects.
I, and many sex workers like
me, feel that decriminalisation is
the safest way to go if harm reduc-
tion and worker safety are really
the goals. Decriminalisation can
ensure our safety, our right to
unionise and to create better and
stronger work environments for
ourselves.
The current law in Iceland, based
on the Swedish Model, makes sure
we can’t do that. It makes sure we
can’t work together for our safety
and that we can’t properly vet our
clients like workers in some other
countries can, as clients are too
scared of being arrested to give any
personal details at all.
Language
Something that bothers me greatly
with regard to the politics of my job,
apart from how obviously ineffec-
tive the Swedish Model is at pre-
venting sex trafficking and ensur-
ing consensual sex workers’ safety,
is that there is no word for “sex
worker” in Icelandic. All we have is
“vændi/vændisfólk” which trans-
lates to the degrading slur “pros-
titution” and “prostitutes.” These
words in Iceland are associated
with shame, coercion, violence and
trafficking, because many people
here don’t seem to know, or want
to acknowledge, that sex traffick-
ing and consensual sex work are
two completely separate issues that
need different approaches.
Stigma and Politics
I’m not a huge fan of the sex in-
dustry. But then, I’m not a huge
fan of any industry because of how
capitalism exploits labourers and
workers.
Sex work is not for everyone,
I understand and respect that,
but it is very frustrating to have
your agency completely taken
away from you by the people you
thought would be the first to ex-
press solidarity with you.
The author is an Icelandic-born sex
worker and an anti-client working
class anarcha-feminist.
“I’m Not A Slut;
I’m A Whore”
OPINION
An Icelandic sex worker dispels the myths
Words LOI MAGS Illustration AUÐUR LÓA GUÐNADÓTTIR
“We Icelanders pride ourselves on being a great country
for women. As soon as you add money into the mix of
this sexual liberation, we become dirty and easy and
we should be ashamed of ourselves, again.”