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5 Berkeley Women's L.J. 75 (1989-1990)
The Feminist Debate over Prostitution Reform: Prostitutes' Rights Groups, Radical Feminists, and the (Im)possibility of Consent

handle is hein.journals/berkwolj5 and id is 79 raw text is: The Feminist Debate Over Prostitution Reform: Prostitutes' Rights Groups, Radical Feminists, and the (IM)possibility of Consent Jody Freemant INTRODUCTION This article has two purposes. The first is to identify the theoretical basis for the divergence between prostitutes' rights groups and radical feminists over prostitution reform.' I will argue that the crux of the divergence is different understandings of consent and coercion. The sec- ond purpose is to argue that despite their deep differences, both groups should support decriminalization as the only acceptable short-term option. Throughout the article, I treat prostitutes' rights groups as having the same ideological base as those we might call liberal feminists.2 They see sex-trade workers as respectable women doing dignified work. Radi- cal feminists, in contrast, assume that prostitutes are victims of coercion in a society that services men by objectifying and subordinating women. Because their visions of the world are incompatible, it is hard to imagine both groups on the same side of the prostitution debate. I will argue, however, that they should agree on short-term reform proposals in the service of their very different long-term aspirations. t B.A., Stanford University, 1985; LL.B., University of Toronto, 1989. I would like to thank Denise Rbaume for her role in inspiring this article and overseeing its birth, Ruth Colker for her support and substantive suggestions, and Shirley Netten for courageously criticizing every- thing I write and always knowing what I want to say. I To the extent that I use labels in the paper, such as radical feminist or liberal feminist, it is because I think they distinguish feminists and help locate them in a theoretical tradition and along a spectrum of belief in the possibility of choice. I realize that some of the individuals or groups I refer to would never call themselves either liberal or radical feminists. 2 I will argue later that liberal feminism is a misnomer: to the extent that it is rooted in classic liberalism it cannot be feminist. It will become clear that I see prostitutes' rights groups as essentially liberal. BERKELEY WOMEN'S LAW JOURNAL

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