Morality in the sense of STIs/AIDS: Where are your morals?

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According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, the word moral is defined as "relating to principles of right and wrong in behavior".  Right and wrong behavior.  I have trouble coming to terms with this idea of "right" and "wrong" behavior for several reasons.  Who determines what is right and what is wrong?  Are there consequences for not abiding by these moral codes?  Are the circumstances of your everyday life taken into account when your acts are being looked upon as moral or immoral?  These are important questions that need to be taken into consideration when deeming an individual or their acts moral or immoral. 

Culture is a large part of morality.  There are many different aspects of life that go into the determination of moral vs. immoral. According to an article titled Cultural Influence on Morals, you can find influences in the culture of family, popular culture, and generational change. Within the family you see different values that are set in stone and different understandings of what is right vs. what is wrong.  Popular culture generates ideas of morality through the news and media as well ad television and movies.  Change in generations institutes a change in the way values are looked at and expressed.

This idea of morality is a crucial aspect of STIs/AIDS.  This applies to both testing and having the disease(s) itself.  Often times, people with STIs/AIDS are looked upon as immoral.  They do not have values.  They do not use protection while having sexual intercourse.  They did something wrong.  That word makes a regular appearance when discussion of people with STIs/AIDS is going on.  Wrong. Wrong decision.  Wrong timing.  Wrong intentions.  Was what the person did actually a decision? Did he/she really have a choice? Was the timing even optional? Were the intentions actually bad?  Questions like these need to be answered before society decides to go ahead and tell someone they are morally incorrect. 

 Among many other things, something that needs to be taken into consideration when deeming a persons actions immoral is what their circumstances are.  In the text, Women, Povery, and AIDS, there are many stories of different women discussed.  These women come from different backgrounds, cultures, religions, etc.  The one thing that they share in common is that they have acquired a disease that subjects them to social stigmas, health problems, relationship issues, and many more. For example, for some of these women sex has become a means of survival.  The sex work industry is in itself looked upon as a complete immoral way of life, but for many of these women this is not a real choice.  Living in an impoverished community with a lack of education a lot of times women turn to sex work.  The "choice" is whether to steal, sell drugs, or exploit your body to provide for yourself/your family.  In all reality, there is no better choice.

The sex work industry does not only exploit adults, but children as well.  "In a perverse twist, fear of HIV infection has led to further exploitation of children in many parts of the world.  Men seek low-risk sexual partners and so press "virginal" adolescent girls for sexual relations" (Farmer, 44).  These children have no say in what their futures will turn into.  For example, Women, Poverty, and AIDS states a statistic for children in Thailand.  These children are of ages as low as 8 or 10 years old and are sold into sexual slavery (Farmer, 45). Do these children not have any values? Should we be telling them they are morally incorrect? No. This is not a way of life that anyone would want to live, but it is a way that many are coerced into living.  With limited options, many turn to sex work in order to live day-to-day life. By turning to sex work they become part of a high-risk group for HIV/AIDS as well as STIs.  A large part of this risk is the fact that many men do not find it necessary to inform their partner(s) if they are infected with HIV/AIDS or any other STIs (Farmer, 50).  Another issue is the idea of protection.   Many women either do not have access to forms of protection or they do not know how to tell their partner(s) that they have to use protection.  

What I would like to ask these judges of moral character, whomever they may be, is to look at the circumstances of these people worldwide.  To take into consideration the things they have seen, experienced, and done to try and make a living for themselves.  To look at their "options".  To realize that no option is necessarily better than the other and not everyone has a good "choice" to make.  To understand that the intentions are not always bad, but often times good.  To sympathize and empathize with the fact that different people are in different situations.  To realize that it is not the idea of morality or immorality that we should be looking at, but the measurment of strength it takes to get through things that life throws at you. To look in the mirror and ask if it is morally correct to judge others based off of their actions without knowing the basis behind them. Where are your morals?

References:

Farmer, P., Connors, M., & Simmons, J. (1996). Women, poverty, and AIDS: Sex, drugs, and structural violence. Monroe, Me.: Common Courage Press.

A Tangled Mess: Working to Strip Away the Issues Facing Sex Workers

 

Different people encounter and respond to sex workers in different ways, each one problematic in its own way. 

Seeing skimpily-clad women on the streets of big cities elicits mixed reactions from those passing by, walking quickly, and pretending not to see. Some of us may be curious, others disgusted. Kinder hearts wish to help while less sympathetic souls feel that it is on the backs of prostitutes to improve their own situations. There have been countless debates and discussions about the issues facing prostitutes, including whether "prostitute" is the most appropriate term to use. Although I myself come from a privileged space of never having personally encountered sex work, I believe that there are things that each person can do to progress the movement trying to combat the systems that create spaces in which women move into sex work. These systems are deeply ingrained in global societies, which creates a complex and terribly tangled mess of problems facing this issue. However, allowing this fact to deter action would be to actively participate in the mess. I propose that small things we each do can being to create better systems for those in need everywhere.

A small glimpse into the issues that are at play in the mess of this issue. 

One of the most critical elements of social movements is dialogue. Within the movement to improve the situations of sex workers, there are two elements of dialogue that anyone who cares to can work towards improving. The two most detrimental issues facing the dialogue of this issue are that barely any exists, and what does exist rarely includes the voices of the sex workers themselves.

The first thing that must be done with any issue before any progress can be made is to talk about the issue itself. The barriers to progress, the facets of the problem, and possible plans of action need to be established and agreed upon by those affected and those in positions of change. A huge barrier this movement faces is the stigma surrounding even any discussion of sex work. The reasons this topic makes so many of us so uncomfortable are worth considering and would reveal the core issues at work, and dismantling these would facilitate a more open discussion. We all need to move past these personal blocks and participate in the national and international conversation about sex work. This conversation needs to be on all levels; between general community members, students, colleagues, neighbors, and between academics. The existing body of literature is lacking on both quantity and quality.

Within the existing body of literature, there are common threads. As Vanwesenbeeck concludes after a review of a decade's worth of sex work research; 

"The wrongs associated with sex work are all too often attributed to the nature of sex work itself instead of to the stigma attached to it or to specific negative circumstances. Likewise, the association between prostitution and negative features (in particular HIV and early victimization) is overwhelming, despite evidence that, for large groups of sex workers, these issues are of limited relevance. Generally, writers fail to adequately differentiate among types of sex workers."

As he notes later in his analysis, Vanwesenbeeck acknowledges the issues of early sex work research; how the women were assumed to be "evil characters" with "sick personalities" (243). He also describes the body of literature in this field as creating a discourse that is "moralizing, categorizing, unifying, and stigmatizing" (247). It is clear that the body of literature needs to be increased and, more importantly, filled with dialogue that fights stigma, recognizes the intersectionality of the systems of oppression these workers face, and works within the true needs of global sex workers (an example of such an intersectional study can be found here). 

Not only do the narratives of sex workers themselves need to be included in the ongoing discussion of this issue, but in order to truly change the factors that have created such a tangled mess, these people must join the governing bodies and participate in policy making in order to change the stigma and criminalization they face. However, it cannot go unsaid that this would be extremely difficult to accomplish for the majority of sex workers, who face poverty, oppression, and stigma.

Many people fight against the idea that sex workers are a population deserving of attention or aid. A common viewpoint by some communities is that discussing sex and sex work will make it seem that sex work is an acceptable way to live your life, an idea that these communities object strongly to. Additionally, many people cannot think outside of the stigma of sex work, holding in their mind an image of the morally abhorrent and deviant whores, riddled with disease and addicted to heroin. This reveals the extent of the internalization of the stigma and discrimination against sex workers as well as the true need for the incorporation of authentic sex worker narratives into the public forum.

The more digging is done into the stigma, discrimination, and marginalization faced by sex workers, the more complex and tangled the situation becomes, and the more daunting of a challenge it seems. HIV- positive sex workers in Ontario describe relationships between social identities and inequities such as stigma, sexism, racism, and homo/transphobia that overlap and connect with each other. These systems cannot be overturned rapidly; we must each work continuously to make lasting change. Improving the situation for sex workers will depend on sustained, respectful dialogue, reduced stigma, and increased self-advocacy and involvement of sex workers in policy making. By creating a coordinated and inclusive movement, we can all stand in solidarity and work to end the oppression of sex workers. 

Sex workers and allies can work together to make profound and positive change. 

Shkreli's Cat: A Moral Paradox

Unpopular opinion: we shouldn’t be hating on Martin Shkreli.  

By now, you’ve probably heard of the guy christened the most-hated man in America, the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals who made headlines overnight last September hiking up the price of a life-saving Daraprim pill from $13.50 to a stunning $750.  Shkreli, quickly becoming both a household name and paragon of free-market capitalism, has cited the tremendous price jump as a necessary turn for Turing Pharmaceuticals to make bank. Critics of Shkreli (read: nearly everyone) are outraged by the lack of empathy expressed in this corporate strategy, a coup so conniving its motives seem to only enrich himself. Public outrage has escalated alongside the 5,000 percent price increase of the drug, outpouring a basin of anger toward the designated public villain:

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Checkpoint:  Hating Martin Shkreli yet? 

The madness continues.  Outrage has only continued to escalate over Shkreli since the millionaire has shown no signs of remorse over his actions.  A recent viral video shows a House Oversight Committee hearing in which Shkreli responds to the demands by callously smirking, averting eye contact with the judge, and exercising mishandled levity over the integrity of the situation.  

Turing's Daraprim works to fight the Toxoplasma parasite, a disease that affects compromised immune systems, especially those weakened by AIDS or chemotherapy. With much of the affected population also affected by poverty, a catastrophic price increase not only alters lives, but cuts them short. Shkreli's infamy only seems to rise with the increased spectacle of his indifference.  His behavior, fronted by his (now former) company, has ensnared the public eye.

Or, is it possible that his company's behavior has been fronted by Shkreli?  Social media has spun the Shkreli situation as a tale of human morality.  How could a person act so phlegmatically cruel and seemingly without guilt? How could one man be so greedy at the expense of millions of lives?  The emotional poignancy that has carved Shkreli into a household name requires the deduction of Shkreli into a single, human life.

But, as Schrodinger's cat is both dead and alive, Martin Shkreli is the culmination of both the arbitrary free choices of a man and the exact, calculated system of the Pharmaceutical Industry.  To fully humanize Shkreli is to deny the very systems that perpetuate cycles of poverty and surrender lives to HIV/AIDS. 

Shkreli is not the only man or company forced to raise prices, but has perhaps he has gained international attention by tacking a human face to a Trojan horse (scary enough) in order to further obscure the nuanced, global infrastructure that upholds systems of structural violence.  The global infrastructure is upheld independent of Shkreli's choices and despite his impact on millions of Daraprim users. 

Unpopular opinion: we shouldn’t be hating on Martin Shkreli.  Here's why:

1. Behaviors and Choices Should Not Negate Universal Human Rights

HIV/AIDS, as we know, disproportionately affects impoverished populations, and increasingly, impoverished women worldwide.  Paul Farmer, Margaret Coates, and Janie Simmons, authors of Women, Poverty, and Aids, work to destabilize the pervading stereotype that HIV/AIDS affects only certain sectors of the global population. To combat the stigma, the researchers highlight narratives that negate the belief that HIV/AIDS is the consequence of poor choices, and such is the story of Mildred, a 29-year-old preacher's daughter. Mildred does not engage in injection drug use or sex work, but contracts HIV through her husband's absconded heroin addiction. The researchers hope to shed light that even the Mildreds of the world, innocent as-they-come and ensconced in "puppy love," are not protected from the HIV/AIDS pandemic, especially when viewed through the prism of poverty. Mildred's story serves to vindicate HIV/AIDS as a human rights issue, and not just moral quagmire. 

Or does it?  Instead, does elevating Mildred's story actually create a moral hierarchy for women?  I argue that stories like Mildred's only serve to disparage the realities of other women and to further advance choice politics, arguing the public should only care about HIV/AIDS because it also affects women who do not engage in drug use or sex work. In this way, Mildred's story only further shames other women for the individual choices they make.

HIV/AIDS, the researchers conclude, is not a nexus of individual choices, but a product of the structural violence maintained through neoliberalism and structures of power.  HIV/AIDS is a human rights issue, and should be prioritized independent of individual behavior.

So what does that mean for Shkreli? To fully humanize Shkreli is to elevate the consequences of individual choices and further obfuscate the monolith of structural violence. To hate a man so viscerally, to ask how could one man be so greedy at the expense of millions of lives, is to deny the full extent of systemic violence.

The moral problem is not that one individual made a dastardly choice at the disposal of millions of lives.

The moral problem is that a one individual was able to.

2. Is it Possible to Have the Same Moral Standards for People Who Are Disempowered as for People In Power?

Ending the HIV/AIDS pandemic is not as simple, as USAID may suggest, as giving women access to female condoms.  While the prevention of HIV/AIDS can be facilitated through female condom use, the structural violence that surrenders impoverished women to the disease also facilitates social obstacles that complicate the use of condoms, independent of any access to resources.  At-risk women may be stuck in compromising situations where sex may not be a negotiation between partners, and while condom use may provide biological safety, it may also expedite interpersonal danger.  Efforts to educate and empower women often emphasize an individual path out of poverty and disease for those who muster up enough motivation.

But poverty does not end with single cases of empowerment.  Nor does it thrive on single cases of power.

To fully humanize Martin Shkreli is to blame the singularity of his actions.  To blame only Shkreli for his "individual" actions creates a parallel framework where women should also be accountable for theirs, without considering the broader context.  The target of our hatred and our anger and our energy should transcend the individual actions of Shkreli.  Our combined energy should disclose the systems and the millions of amounting choices that have positioned Shkreli at such a wide apex of power.

Want to fight the system? Illuminate the system.

3. We Can Allocate Our Emotional Resources More Effectively

Ah, twitter, a necropolis of energy and time. The heart of the Shkreli story feeds on a lack of human empathy from a man in a position of great power. The negation of empathy is a fine public spectacle. And perhaps there is some fulfilling, cathartic release in spending large amounts of hate on Shkreli. Or perhaps it is empty, and there is no catharsis.

 

Hate takes up so much energy. Fight the urge to succumb to spectacle. Instead, I say, pay the empathy forward to someone who needs it. Or go read a book!

 

 

 

 

Does the Illegalization of Sex Work Contribute Positively to the Wellbeing of Women?

            Until recently, I, like many other Americans who I know, never imagined I could view sex work in a positive light. I thought of myself as the type of person who adamantly promoted self-respect among women, assuming that under no circumstances would sex work be the best possible solution in anyone’s life. Reading Paul Farmer’s Women, Poverty, and AIDS started to open my mind to the possibility that sex work, although it is undesirable, does have some positive attributes. The illegalization of sex work denies both women and men the rights that they have in the use of their bodies, the freedom to make money in ways that may seem like their only choice, and makes the field a more dangerous profession.

             A number of places in the world, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Chile, deem prostitution as legal, but acts surrounding prostitution as illegal. Other countries, such as the majority of the United States, Cuba, and Egypt, regard prostitution as fully illegal. On this website created to debate the pros and cons of prostitution, http://prostitution.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000772, 100 countries from across the world and their policies on prostitution are listed. This is an interesting source to view when considering the countries’ major religions, which tend have a large impact on the laws mandated in those areas. Religious beliefs and morals are often at play in the stigma that surrounds sex workers. However, contrary to popular belief, the world does not share one moral compass; some people view sex work as a rewarding job that helps make ends meet. In this video, http://bcove.me/hdoda3dg, a fairly successful sex worker from Great Britain describes the satisfaction sex work has brought them as a career. In all aspects of life, it is important to be open to new thoughts and ideas, and sex work is a matter that must not be disregarded.

            The legalization of sex work has many positive and negative effects. In Women, Poverty, and AIDS, Farmer illustrates a negative situation where a young woman was sold into prostitution and worked as a prostitute in Bombay to stay alive. Sex slavery is a completely unacceptable occurrence that happens far too often in many regions of the world. Sex slavery, however, is different from sex work. In sex slavery, human beings are forced to partake in sexual activities with others for a compensation that they will likely never see. In sex work, however, the workers are deciding to solicit sexual encounters to clients. Most people who end up becoming sex workers are women living in poverty, without much of a choice for other forms of financial income. As addressed by Farmer, these women are often caretakers for many people other than just themselves, and they strive to support their families financially to provide adequate meals and healthcare when necessary. As a result of putting their loved ones first, they often ignore their own health and wellbeing, attempting to care for the ones who mean more to them than their own lives. To some, this is visible in their choice to become sex workers. To others, that decision was simply a survival mechanism.

            In areas where sex work has been made illegal, there are also both positive and negative consequences. The main issue that dejects illegalization of sex work is that it removes an opportunity for many women living in poverty to obtain a job within the boundaries of the law. Although sex workers may not receive a full benefits package like many other legal employees do, they pay their taxes and are offered some form of legal protection in many areas globally where it is considered to be a legalized career. While making sex work illegal may seem like a beneficial plan of action because it may encourage women to look for other jobs, it will not put an end to prostitution in that area. As Farmer points out in Women, Poverty, and AIDS, in regions of the world where prostitution is illegal, a large number of female sex workers have been reported to have contracted AIDS. Legally, these women should not be working in the sex industry, but data is still being collected for them. Creating laws may lessen the number of women who ultimately decide to become sex workers, but it will never eradicate the job field.

            Although there are many female sex workers in the world who are in their line of work because they see no other viable option, there are some who live in wealthier areas where prostitution is legal who chose sex work as their career because they enjoy it. In this blog, http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/im-a-sex-worker-in-a-legal-brothel-here-are-the-five-biggest-misconceptions-about-what-i-do-10460454.html, a female sex worker from Nevada, the only state in the United States where sex work is legal, discusses her love for this career choice and points out some ‘common misconceptions’ that people make about her job. As sex workers are human beings, even though others who do not understand or support the job oftentimes dehumanize them, they come from many different backgrounds, each with a unique story to tell. Sometimes it is one of great misfortune, and other times it is one of curiosity about a job at which many scoff. Making sex work illegal, overall, takes away women’s rights to do what they want with their bodies and create a source of income for themselves. In a world where it is necessary to learn to take care of yourself, sex work is a way for some to gain independence and make money. It does not positively contribute to the wellbeing of women to make sex work illegal.

References:

Farmer, Paul. Women, Poverty, and AIDS. United States: Common Courage Press, 2011. Print.

Greenmore, Sarah. "I'm a Sex Worker in a Legal Brothel – Here Are the Biggest Misconceptions 

     about What I Do." The Independent. Independent Digital News and Media, 18 Aug. 2015. Web. 8 

     Feb. 2016.

Hilton, Elise. "Amnesty International Supports Legalized Prostitution; Trafficking Victims May Pay 

     The Price | Acton PowerBlog." Acton Institute PowerBlog. 12 Aug. 2015. Web. 8 Feb. 2016.

"The UK’s Best-paid Sex Worker - London Live." Article Player. Web. 8 Feb. 2016.

"100 Countries and Their Prostitution Policies - Legal Prostitution - ProCon.org." ProConorg 

     Headlines. 1 Apr. 2015. Web. 08 Feb. 2016.

Poor Women, Education, & HIV Rates: NOT a "Private Affair"

 A group of Bronx teenage community leaders attempting to push for reform within sex education in NYC. 

The largest cases of HIV/AIDs in the U.S. are often seen primarily in cities with areas of low income such as Atlanta, Philadelphia, and areas in New York City. A high concentration of these diseases within low income areas is not coincidental, as issues arising from poverty render bodies more vulnerable to HIV/AIDs such as through difficulties finding good healthcare and lack of time individuals have to take off from work in order to receive necessary care. Women of color are particularly at risk within these areas, as the intersecting identities of being poor, a person of color, and a woman create circumstances that put them at a greater risk. As stated by Paul Farmer “One way to imagine these ‘factors’ (poverty, gender inequality, racism, drug use) is as vectors that converge in the bodies and lives of individuals; in some lives, more factors converge, placing those people at higher risk of contracting disease.” (Farmer, 93). For young women of color, a lack of access to a quality public education within low income areas is all too common and is yet another resource they are cheated from which affects their accessibility to knowledge for their health, as well as affects their prospects for pursuing higher education.

Many public schools in low income areas are often lacking in resources and funding compared to public schools in wealthier neighborhoods. An example of an area in which poverty, lack of access to a higher quality of education, and increasing HIV/AIDs rates tie together is demonstrated in the NYC borough of the Bronx. The Bronx has the highest poverty rate in the city and has the second highest rate of HIV diagnoses in the city. There are about 1,385,000 people in the borough, comprised of pre-dominantly Latinos (about 53% of the population) and African Americans (about 36% of the population). “Drop out factories”, a term assigned to many schools with high dropout rates, have been increasingly prevalent in poor neighborhoods including the Bronx. In a press release titled “Adolescent Reproductive and Sexual Health Disparities: The Caseof Youth Residing in the Bronx” written by Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, Jane Lee, and Laryssa Husiak, “Adolescents residing in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods, including many areas of the Bronx, have a greater likelihood of dropping out of school. Given the clear relationship between educational attainment and health disparities, school dropout is a significant social welfare issue in the Bronx—an area with a high school dropout rate (31%) more than double the national average (15%).” (p 10). It is noted later in the article that girls who drop out of school may be more vulnerable to contracting HIV.

In a neoliberal society which assigns blame for people’s struggles on the individual, such as in the idea that “poverty is a private affair”, young women of color are faced with a difficult situation. (Farmer, 32). If they do not educate themselves on topics including their own health, it ends up being their fault despite the broken education system. If they are poor, it is their own fault and their families’ fault for not working hard enough, despite the many structures keeping poor people (especially poor people of color) in the same poor neighborhoods. This perception can deter women of color from seeking knowledge and help regarding their health and safety within institutions such as their schools, along with their school perhaps not even having sufficient resources to support them. (Farmer, 106).  Beyond this, once young women are already struggling with HIV/AIDs, they may be hesitant to seek help due to the stigma against those with the diseases due to the blame often placed upon the individual rather than on the factors rendering them more vulnerable and what they may lose. “Many poor women with HIV often feel AIDs-related stigma might erode the social supports upon which they depend on for survival. Thus they may avoid obtaining critically important care…” With the neoliberal mindset, if young women contract HIV/AIDs, it is seen as their own fault for being too sexually promiscuous or ignorant on how to protect themselves.  

In what ways can there be a push toward supporting young women of color in getting the access they need to knowledge and support with their health? For starters, with the existing health and sex education classes, there can be more tailoring of lesson plans to incorporate the struggles low income students go through and health factors particular to them. Lesson plans must be relevant enough concerning the issues youth in particular areas face, as well as avoid a strictly neoliberal approach. While looking over the NYC Department of Education’s HIV/AIDs curriculum for 2013, it is evident that lesson plans problematically individualize ways in which to combat HIV/AIDs and places the responsibility of vulnerability to the diseases on students’ actions rather than on structural oppression as seen in various chapters, such as in one titled “How is Abstinence from Sexual Intercourse Both a Health Decision and a Reflection of Personal Values?”. This title not only focuses on the "personal", but also has "slut-shaming" undertones which is more often inflicted against women rather than men. In a chapter titled “What are the Social and Economic Issues Related to HIV?”, which would seem to have the potential to discuss the impact of poverty on HIV/AIDs, the focus seems to be on what has been already done by policies and organizations to combat HIV/AIDs rather than on what more needs to be done and what structures continue to allow for the diseases to target poor communities with majority people of color.

Having more attention paid to the specific risk factors for poor women is imperative. Concluding the press release by Guilamo-Ramos, Lee, and Husiak, current programs and initiatives that target youth more vulnerable to HIV/AIDs list “The Young Men’s Health Initiative”, but does not list a program specific to providing poor young women (specifically African American and Latino women) with the tools and health services to understand their specific risk factors. There needs to be a greater push toward providing poor women of color with quality education and services, as they have specific risk factors that need to be fully addressed. Hopefully, there will also be a greater push by government policies for public schools in low income areas to receive the funding needed to address their issues, as well as allocate those funds appropriately to ensure these students receive a higher quality education.