There is a myth that sex workers cannot be sexually assaulted. Since they receive payment for sex when they are at work, they could never be raped because they were "asking for it." The need for consent in order to engage in sexual activity with someone does not magically disappear when that person is a sex worker.
Cardi B, a rapper and former sex worker, was leaving the Mayweather-McGregor fight when a supposed fan of hers decided to grab her butt. She was outraged by the blatant sexual assault, but many people did not come to her defense.
Some of the comments under the video of Cardi yelling at the man for grabbing her butt said that she had no reason to be angry because she was already used to getting her butt slapped when she was a stripper, and that now that she no longer strips she feels that she should be treated with respect.
The fact that Cardi used to be a stripper has no relevance whatsoever to her sexual assault because she did not give that man consent to touch her. The difference between when men used to touch Cardi when she was a stripper versus when that man touched her as she was leaving the Mayweather-McGregor fight was that she had consented for those men in the strip club to put their hands on her.
They were paying her for a service that she agreed to give, and that is perfectly acceptable. What is not acceptable is for people to assume that because someone is or was a sex worker, you are no longer required to ask for consent. Just because someone has engaged in sexual activities with various people, it does not mean that everyone has a free pass to do as they please to that person.
Also, Cardi did not believe that she deserved respect because she was no longer a stripper. She believed that she deserved respect because she is a human being. Even if Cardi had never become a rapper and had stayed a stripper and social media personality when she was sexually assaulted, she would still be a victim because she never gave that man her consent.
We must speak out about the prevalence of sexual assault against sex workers. One in five reports of sexual assault from an urban, U.S. emergency room were filed by sex workers.
The stigma around being a sex worker also puts them in danger of being a victim of sexual violence because it perpetuates the idea that sex workers are second class citizens that are not worthy of human rights. People then feel justified when they rape sex workers because they were never worthy of respect in the first place and because they know that many judges, police officers, and juries are biased against sex workers.
Many sex workers choose to not report their crimes because of the public's negative perception, and those that do would most likely not be protected by rape shield laws, which prevent defendants from using the victim's sexual behavior and history as evidence. Only New York and Ohio have prevented sex work from being used as character evidence.
Promiscuity being seen as taboo is preventing victims of sexual assault from receiving justice. Just because you personally may not have a lot of sex, it does not mean that someone who does deserves to be sexually assaulted.
