Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
In recent years, the sex industry in Dubai has grown to include women from the
Middle East, Eastern Europe, East Asia, and Africa. The increase in sex workers of
different nationalities has produced a form of racism embedded in spatialized struc-
tures of desire constructing specific locations. In other words, the raced hierarchy of
demand both structures and is structured by the locations within the city in which sex
workers perform their labor. Women from Iran, Morocco, and some parts of Eastern
Europe (described as lighter skinned women and labeled as “white”) command the
highest price, and thus invariably work in the higher paid, more comfortable environ-
ments of expensive bars in Jumeirah, Dubai Marina, and inside luxury apartments in
wealthier parts of town. Women from East Asia, the Philippines, India, and Pakistan
(perceived as “brown” women) form a middle tier (based on earnings) and often work
in lower end bars and clubs in Deira or Bur Dubai, or else in brothels and massage par-
lors throughout the city. Finally, women from Africa (specifically sub-Saharan and East
Africa—perceivedas“black”)arestillconspicuouslyoverrepresentedinthepoorestand
most dangerous sectors of the trade, namely in street work. That each group is located
invariousimaginedandphysicalspacesisaproductoftheirracializationwithinthedis-
course,butisalsocausedbytheconstructionofhierarchicaldemand.Causalitybetween
race, space, place, and demand is thus multidirectional. Ideal “victims” are typically
those in street based sex work, while those working in higher end arenas of the sex in-
dustry are viewed as having consented and are cast as criminals, regardless of abuses
faced or actual level of consent structuring employment situations.
“You can't win either way,” said a Moroccan sex worker/activist I met in 2008. “If
you are considered a trafficked person, usually the Ethiopians or Nigerians who work
the streets or low end bars, then you get raided and rounded up by the police or people
who are trying to 'help you,' supposedly. If you aren't, if you are someone like me, con-
sidered a criminal, you'll still get arrested by the police. Sometimes we all end up in jail
cells together,” she explained. The antitrafficking developmentalist discourse constructs
appropriate “victims” who are painted as lacking in agency, and are in need of rescue,
though rescue efforts can feel like abuse for many women I spoke with. Furthermore,
the solution put forth for these “victims” is to send them “home,” which for many wo-
menisnotconsideredhelp.“Whatpeopledon'tunderstandisthatwehaveoftenleftour
homes because 'home' is not a good place to be,” said one Eritrean woman who fled
threats of violence in her home country. “I cannot go back there, I cannot,” she added.
Others noted that they did not want to return home empty handed to face debts or ques-
tioning family or friends, while still others felt that deportation was a terrifying experi-
ence. Many of the local activists I spoke with indicated frustration at the way in which
the trafficking rhetoric sought to create and produce categories.
Search WWH ::




Custom Search