Raising Questions

The crown and the defense argued that Pamela's role as a sex worked should be included in the case. This begs the question why. Razack makes several great points about this. 

Labelling Pamela as a prostitute allows justification to the assailant's action, hence allowing them a lighter sentence and decreased responsibility for their actions. Why should there be any justification at all for this brutal crime? 

As mentioned in a previous post. Pamela is in a particular unique sector of oppression - Aboriginal, a woman, single mother, sex worker - which places her at an already increased risk of oppression and systemic violence. People assume sex workers have no bodily autonomy or care what happens to their body, but this is never the case. It is rather a matter of using her profession against her - to demean and make her seem separate. This is the key thing regarding gendered racialized violence and spatialized justice. 

Social and economic determinants are typically what force people to choose sex work to survive. Violence against sex workers often goes unnoticed or is diminished because of the thought that violation is the norm, especially regarding sexual assault to this day. The fact remains that no one would ask for such a thing to happen to them, or assume that such violent acts are okay, so why do people use this as an excuse? It is despicable.


 

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