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Sex workers are often seen as victims of trafficking. That is the case in some instances. However, career sex workers have found financial stability in a line of work that is prone to violence, police harassment, and social discrimination.
Tami Kashia Gold is producer, director, and writer of the documentary Sex Work: It’s Just a Job. Alex Vitale is a co-producer of the film and is a professor of sociology at Brooklyn College and the City University of New York Graduate Center.
The film explores the movement to decriminalize sex work.
Sex Work: It’s Just a Job will be screened Saturday, Aug. 23, at 7 p.m. at San Antonio’s Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, 922 San Pedro Ave. The free screening is followed by a plática with the filmmakers and local activists and sex workers.
The screening is a collaboration between the Esperanza, ACT 4 SA, and The Pride Center SA.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
VITALE: So, I was working many years ago at the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness, and part of my job involved doing street outreach, and that put me into contact mostly with young people, some of whom were juveniles, homeless, runaways, that kind of thing, pushed out of their homes, who were involved in what we called at that time, survival sex work.
These were young people who were in and out of shelters, in and out of jails, living in very desperate circumstances, and sex work was something that gave them some financial security and independence and also brought them frequently to the attention of police. And so, I saw through them just how harmful a police-centered approach to sex work could be.
And then I wrote a book about 10 years ago called The End of Policing that focused on really looking at the research that shows that trying to address problems around sex work through policing is really counterproductive.
And so, that chapter then became something that influenced Tami and she approached me about the possibility of making a documentary out of it.
MARTINEZ: And so, how were you brought into the project, Tami? And how did you take control of that project and put your vision into it?
GOLD: I think what happened is at this time, when Alex and I said we should go down this road and really do a piece about policing and sex work, at that time, Alex received notice of a the first ever New York Decrim press conference. That was in 2019 which seems so long ago.
So, I went to it. And as soon as I went and met the people who were involved in this movement, I realized there was a lot that I had to learn.
And then as we started interviewing people, my education just grew and grew to where I absolutely understand that the safest thing we can do around the questions in our communities, and specifically, in this case, sex work, is to really look at solutions that are outside of law enforcement, outside of thinking that policing is going to solve a problem.
That's kind of how I got into it was that press conference in 2019, and Alex helping me understand and bringing me into the understanding, and the people who do the organizing and activism around decriminalizing sex work.
MARTINEZ: Well, here in Texas, there is a law that was passed in 2021 that targets not the sex worker, but the clientele. And I saw it in the film described as the “Nordic model.” But that also threatens their work and may also threaten their safety.
And I know that some of what is happening in Texas, and what you are screening in your film is what will be discussed at a talk that is happening this weekend, on Saturday here in San Antonio, at the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center.
And I'm wondering, Alex and Tami, what the angle is that you are looking at to achieve here in San Antonio. We do have a sex work industry here.
There was a really great podcast that we had here at TPR, I think back in 2021 or 2022, called Running Red-Lights, about the history of the red-light district here in San Antonio. The history of sex work has been pretty rich here in San Antonio, and it continues today.
Give us a bit of a preview as to what we can expect at this plática, this talk, that's happening at the Esperanza this weekend in San Antonio. And I'll start with you, Alex.
VITALE: So, we intentionally kept the length of the film down to an hour, so that when we had screenings, we would have plenty of time to have discussions after the film.
And there will be on the panel current and former sex workers, and we know there will be sex workers coming from San Antonio and also from Austin to participate in the conversation.
And it's certainly our hope that this will lead to further organizing, to further conversations about what is really in the best interests of both sex workers and communities. What kinds of strategies will make their lives better and improve conditions in communities?
MARTINEZ: Tami, what do you look forward to most when you bring the film and enter into this discussion in San Antonio?
GOLD: Well, this is the first time the film will be screened in Texas. So, it's a premiere in Texas, and it's the first time in the South. So, we're excited. We're excited to hear the conversation, hear the questions. That will be fascinating.
And I think for me, what's the most important thing is that we open dialogue. The film will activate that. That's the dialogue.
And at the foundation is the question of police. To me, it's about police and about working. How do we see sex work as legitimate work among consenting adults, and to separate that from trafficking?
And then the other thing is, what's the best way to look at this work, the safest for the communities and the safest for the workers? That's the discussion we want to have.
And part of that discussion is to make it very local. What do people from San Antonio want? What are the sex workers who are going to be on the panel with us, what do they want and to engage in this discussion? And sometimes it's going to be a hard discussion.
MARTINEZ: Alex Vitale and Tami Gold, thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us.
GOLD & VITALE: You’re welcome.
