March for Motherhood
Society has historically dictated that women engaged in sex work cannot be good mothers because they are the ones in charge of being an example for their children, and motherhood and sex should never function together. This biased and problematic view of motherhood does not take into account the sacrifices many mothers who are sex workers take solely to provide food and shelter for their children.
This article details a march organizaed by sex workers who are also mothers. They are quoted saying, "We’re invisible in the media unless we’ve been raided, arrested, jailed or murdered. We can’t even report attacks without risking arrest. As the cuts bite more women are being driven into the sex industry. How else are we to support kids through school, especially now EMA is gone and other benefits are being slashed?". [1]
“Most of the women I meet on the street are there to keep their families together and their children out of care. They go out for an hour and make enough money to pay a bill. What’s the alternative: stay in bed and survive on bread and jam? Personally I feel I deserve more and so does my daughter. What I do is not dishonest. It is hard work.” [1]
“Don't talk to me about ‘my country’. What kind of country forces mothers into prostitution to keep our kids safe? My son was nearly snatched off the street by a gang. He was saved by a passer-by. I never went home again. I moved area, found another flat and went on the game to cover the rent.” [1]
These mothers are fighting for agency in a world that renders their lives invisible, yet at the same time rendering their bodies hypervisible. Motherhood should not be determined by someone's job, because there are mothers who have to learn how to survive in a society that gives them little to no options for that very survival.
[1] http://www.globalwomenstrike.net/content/sex-workers-take-streets-with-mothers-march