Summary
AMMAR, the Association of Sex Workers in Argentina, has been working to reduce police violence against sex workers in the country since 1994. Given the violence sex workers suffer at the hands of security agencies, AMMAR devised an internal mediation mechanism in order to handle conflicts involving its members without resorting to the police. In this way, AMMAR aimed to avoid resorting to security agencies as the primary means for solving problems, thus averting the violence that unfolds in contact between law enforcement and sex workers throughout the country. This article recounts the establishment of this form of mediation as an alternative to police strategies, describes its mode of operation and details the obstacles that AMMAR has faced with regard to its implementation over time. Moreover, the article reflects on the measure’s positive aspects to design mechanisms that do not involve security forces to address the problems faced by sex workers.
Foreword: “La Patria es la otra” literally translates as “the nation is the other” (in the feminine form). It is a political expression in Argentina that means that without the existence of others, the inclusive concept of nation is impossible. AMMAR plays with the collective connotations to highlight the importance of sex workers caring for each other.
The starting point: internal mediation during the pandemic to prevent police violence
During Argentina’s mandatory lockdown in March 2020, two sex workers, N and J, got into an argument because one of them had not respected the other’s hours on the corner that they shared. The argument turned into a fistfight that was caught on camera. The video, filmed by a neighbour, was quickly shared on many messaging platforms and went viral on social media, triggering serious harassment of N, who received hate messages against her and her family. J also felt very affected by the amount of exposure this incident brought on, seeing herself in images that were disseminated and receiving unsolicited comments from strangers.
The strict lockdown established during the Covid-19 pandemic severely restricted the presence and circulation of people outside. This especially affected street vendors, gig economy workers and basically anyone making a living on the streets, including sex workers.
During the pandemic, the impossibility of working was accompanied in many cases by the escalation of institutional violence with extended police controls, especially affecting trans people and migrant sex workers.
During the pandemic, the impossibility of working was accompanied in many cases by the escalation of institutional violence with extended police controls, especially affecting trans people and migrant sex workers. A survey conducted by AMMAR showed that, in line with a historically problematic relationship with security forces, between June and October 2020 at least 20% of the surveyed sex workers had suffered institutional violence during the pandemic.1AMMAR, PUTXS DATOS: Trabajo Sexual y pandemia en Argentina. Perfil sociodemográfico de trabajadorxs sexuales alcanzadxs por AMMAR (“DATA ON PROSTITUTES: Sex Work and the Pandemic in Argentina. Socio-demographic profile of sex workers reached by AMMAR”), December 2020. See: https://www.ammar.org.ar/IMG/pdf/informe_putxs_datos_trabajo_sexual_y_pandemia_en_arg-2.pdf
Against this backdrop, the conflict between N and J served as a trigger for AMMAR to start devising other problem-solving mechanisms for the use of fellow workers.
During a week when restrictions on circulation were extended to night hours, AMMAR began thinking about ways to organize the shifts of fellow workers so those working the night shift would not be too badly affected. During an assembly, it was decided that they would temporarily share afternoon shifts with colleagues who worked in the same area. In that assembly, a series of agreements2See image at the end of this article. was made to encourage mutual respect and avoid any new conflicts like the one between N and J. In this way, these situations served as an impetus for AMMAR to imagine new possible ways to resolve issues between fellow workers.
The legality of sex work in Argentina vs. discretionary police power
In Argentina, the autonomous practice of sex work is not classified as a crime by the National Criminal Code. However, a series of pieces of legislation, such as the Human Trafficking Act, affects those who engage in sex work and is often used to criminalize them.3To read more about this regulatory framework please see AMMAR, “Informe nacional situación de DDHH de las mujeres trabajadoras sexuales en Argentina: Una mirada hacia la relación entre las fuerzas de seguridad y las trabajadoras sexuales en nuestro país” (“National Report on the Human Rights Situation of Women Sex Workers in Argentina: A look at the relationship between security forces and sex workers in our country”) 2017 (pages 3 to 7): http://www.ammar.org.ar/IMG/pdf/informe-nac.-ddhh-ammar-.pdf The Codes of Misdemeanours of several Argentine provinces still include articles that contribute to criminalizing some behaviours through ambiguous terminology such as “offence to morality”, “scandalous” or “ostensible” prostitution, among others.4INECIP, El trabajo sexual en los códigos contravencionales y de faltas de Argentina (“Sex Work in Argentina’s Codes of Misdemeanour and of Minor Offences”), June 2013. See: https://inecip.org/wp-content/uploads/El-trabajo-sexual-en-los-c%C3%B3digos-contravencionales-y-de-faltas-en-Argentina.pdf Those who apply these terms and ultimately decide which behaviours are subject to penalization are law-enforcement agents.
The discretionary power exerted to control the use of public and private spaces where sex workers carry out their activities exposes them to the violence that has always characterized their relationship with security institutions. It is often the case that during these controls, police officers engage in discriminatory speech towards sex workers, exercise physical and sexual violence against them, subject them to bribes and extortion or vexatious and unfounded frisk searches, and commit abuses of authority. Among these concerningly frequent abuses, sex workers are forced to sign documents even when they have not had the opportunity to read them, and do not receive copies of such documents to learn whether any legal proceedings have been instituted against them.5AMMAR, “Informe nacional situación de DDHH de las mujeres trabajadoras sexuales en Argentina: Una mirada hacia la relación entre las fuerzas de seguridad y las trabajadoras sexuales en nuestro país” (“National Report on the Human Rights Situation of Women Sex Workers in Argentina: A look at the relationship between security forces and sex workers in our country”), 2017. See: https://www.ammar.org.ar/IMG/pdf/informe-nac.-ddhh-ammar-.pdf.
These arbitrary arrests occur not only during working hours but even when workers are walking around in their neighbourhoods, shopping or engaging in some other activity. The institutional violence suffered by sex workers permeates all aspects of their working and daily lives. As a result, mistrust towards the security forces is growing and extends to attitudes towards the judiciary.
The institutional violence suffered by sex workers permeates all aspects of their working and daily lives. As a result, mistrust towards the security forces is growing and extends to attitudes towards the judiciary.
Within this context, AMMAR has been working to reduce police violence against sex workers in Argentina since 1994. As part of this long-standing struggle, in this article we detail the creation and progress of an initiative deployed by AMMAR in the most conflictive areas of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires to manage conflicts between two or more members of the Association to avoid resorting to the police as a mechanism for dispute resolution.
Setting up and expanding AMMAR’s conciliation meetings
The episode between N and J made obvious the consequences of conflict and motivated AMMAR to try to find solutions without increasing violence by resorting to the police. Since resorting to security forces does not constitute a safe strategy for sex workers –it rather exacerbates existing conflicts–, AMMAR devised an initiative for internal conflict management.
AMMAR delegates, together with colleagues, discussed the impact of what had happened between J and N. The two workers went to AMMAR headquarters in Buenos Aires and set about putting an end to the conflict using what were later called “conciliation meetings” or “conciliation discussions”. Upon reaching an agreement that both considered equitable, the resolution was celebrated and even photographed and recorded in a minute book.
The mechanism is applied to a wide range of issues, such as disputes over working times or areas, price setting and problems arising from the harassment of neighbours who oppose or interfere with the exercise of sex work on the streets. Also within this procedure, workers treat conflicts that arise from issues related to cohabitation, since in many cases they share not only areas of work but also the hotels in which they live – some even in a communal manner. Although each person might pay for their private room, the fact that they share spaces such as the kitchen or the bathroom implies community living that can also become a source of conflict.
At the time of writing this article, more than twenty conciliation meetings have taken place, with their scope expanding to cover new types of conflicts such as economic debts.
As the outcome of the process was shared among the several AMMAR branches, other workers became aware of the mechanism and began to request it frequently. At the time of writing this article, more than twenty conciliation meetings have taken place, with their scope expanding to cover new types of conflicts such as economic debts. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on sexual work and the informal economy fed into conflicts related to work and socioeconomic vulnerabilities. For example, workers’ extension of their previously agreed shift times in a given area because they needed more income caused conflicts with those working the following shift in the same area.
Mode of operation
The first step in a conciliation meeting is to schedule a formal appointment. Usually, this notification is issued with the Association’s official letterhead and signed by its national general secretary and/or attorney. The meetings partially pursue the format of a legal proceeding, as there is a lawyer who supervises the procedure and each of the parties involved in the conflict may call a witness to give a three-minute deposition. Each party involved may also give a five-minute testimony in which they can put forward their arguments. The role of the lawyer is not to propose possible solutions, but rather to supervise the meeting, facilitate the exchange between the two sides and ask them what they see as the best solution to the problem or how they would like AMMAR to intervene to rectify the conflict.
All this is recorded in the minute book kept at AMMAR’s headquarters. The minutes of the meeting are signed by those present. Sometimes, law students from the University of Buenos Aires doing fellowships in AMMAR’s headquarters take part in the mediations. For AMMAR this is important because it reinforces specialized training in topics that are not usually covered by the university, giving a class perspective on, and real engagement with, the issues sex workers face.
The zone delegates of the area where the event has taken place are usually present at meetings as well. They are then in charge of ensuring that the agreements are complied with. Both the individuals involved and the delegates can raise possible solutions or options for repairing the damage done; for example, one of the parties might commit to returning a stolen object or reimbursing its monetary value. Finally, the lawyer reads the minutes and asks the two sides if they are satisfied with the resolution.
In cases where the conflict brings out strong emotions such as anger or distress, AMMAR will propose to postpone the reconciliation meeting by a few days to ensure that the parties do not arrive at the meeting in a frame of mind that could frustrate efforts to reach a mutual agreement. These instances have also been used by AMMAR to reflect more broadly on what has happened, including with other workers, with the objective that this mechanism can also serve as a tool to prevent future conflicts.
If the agreement isn’t respected, the individuals involved are summoned again for a review of the conciliation process, although this does not happen very often. On those occasions, the affected party is provided with the necessary information to resort to a formal judicial process if they so wish, and they are informed of their right to file a complaint to report situations of violence. However, AMMAR does not encourage this remedy, as it maintains that the judiciary is accountable for many violations of sex workers’ rights, and this could turn into a revictimizing experience that will not lead to reparations.
This happened in one instance when a worker complained that another was charging her a daily fee to allow her to work on a specific corner. The judicial power would process this situation as a “procuring offence”, while AMMAR understood it as a survival tactic for women who, generally due to their age, are left out of sex work, which leads to each corner having significant value. In this case, the two workers were not able to reach an agreement through mediation. AMMAR attempted to obtain another form of income through subsidies for the worker who was facing economic hardship, but when they observed that she continued to be violent they decided to support the filing of a complaint at the prosecutor’s office. Both in the cases when mediation works and in those when it does not, AMMAR provides a nuanced perspective to ensure that decisions are not reduced to punitive responses.
Virtues and challenges of conciliation meetings
AMMAR has encountered some obstacles in trying to implement and diversify the conciliation mechanism. The biggest is the lack of trust in the idea of “justice” for those who suffer daily abuses by the agencies that make up the criminal justice system. For many sex workers, justice is a distant ideal that they have never experienced first-hand; they believe it is reserved for the privileged, and that they will never receive the redress they seek through the mechanism. Disbelief that the other party will actually comply with the agreement adds to the anger workers feel because of the harm they suffer and fuels the cycle of violence and distrust in the use of the mechanism.
However, AMMAR has noted that the mechanism allows people to go through conflict resolution with a feeling of reparation that they do not get when interacting with the police or when seeking revenge, which they previously saw as a solution to their problems. Those previous forms of conflict resolution did not improve their condition or allow them to obtain redress.
Additionally, the conciliation mechanism allows them to take ownership of their conflicts. The police officer who arrives at the scene to intervene in a conflict is not aware of the situation the sex workers are undergoing in the way a fellow worker can be. Furthermore, legal authorities who settle a dispute are oblivious to the rights of sex workers daily and even exercise violence against them.
Moreover, conciliation meetings are much more expeditious than the judiciary. By the time the judicial agencies reach a resolution, in most cases the situation of the individuals involved has already changed with regards to the conflict. More often than not, the state response comes too late.
As the mechanism’s outreach has expanded and increasingly resulted in successful cases, there has been a change in the way the parties themselves view their conflicts and resolutions. They are the ones who now suggest conciliation meetings as a way to solve problems, instead of contributing to making humiliating videos or photographs go viral and celebrating hate speech against other colleagues. In this sense, the mechanism serves as a way to mitigate discriminatory attitudes among fellow workers. The mechanism is now complemented by other services offered by AMMAR; for example, a party may propose that the opposite party attend psychological counselling sessions at the national headquarters as part of the agreement.
Moreover, conciliation meetings are much more expeditious than the judiciary. By the time the judicial agencies reach a resolution, in most cases the situation of the individuals involved has already changed with regards to the conflict. More often than not, the state response comes too late.
Brief closing remarks
In this article, we have described the conciliation meetings carried out by AMMAR for the internal management of conflicts between sex workers to avoid having to resort to criminal justice agencies. When analysing the mechanism, it becomes evident that conflicts are diverse and the agreements reached by the parties involved are also varied: the reparations sought vary widely, from a simple apology to a change in the distribution of work or economic compensation. Why, then, would a single institution, such as the police, be qualified to resolve such different conflicts? In fact, the nature of the conflicts covered by the mechanism is not related to security, but to coexistence at work, or to financial or personal issues.
For AMMAR, law is a field that should not centre around punitive response but should engage in a class perspective that does not criminalize poverty. The mechanism put in motion by AMMAR provides opportunities to transcend a specific conflict and instead nuances concepts like vengeance, “escraches” (public shaming) and punitivism. This experience clearly shows the virtues of resolving different types of conflict by strengthening the capacities for collective organization and solidarity instead of “teaching a lesson” through vengeance or criminal response.
The 10 agreements that were established within the framework of the mediation mechanisms led to the following poster, which AMMAR places on many corners of the City of Buenos Aires to promote solidarity between sex workers when having to resolve possible conflicts.
Endnotes
Contributors
Juliana Miranda is a sociologist (UBA), holds a diploma in civil society organizations (FLACSO), and is a master’s candidate in criminology (UNL). She currently coordinates the International Work Team at the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS). She is also a lecturer at the University Institute of the Argentine Federal Police and the University of Buenos Aires. She specializes in the field of security, violence, and policing.
Georgina Orellano is a street prostitute, feminist and activist for the rights of Argentine sex workers. She has been the National Secretary General of the Sex Workers’ Union of Argentina (AMMAR) since March 2014 and is the author of the book Puta feminista. Historias de una trabajadora sexual (2022). Her work focuses on combating stigma and violence against sex workers, promoting legal recognition and labor rights. She has gained national and international recognition for her dedication to social justice and human rights.
Illustrations by Vicky Cuello via femiñetas
Vicky Cuello is an Argentine illustrator and designer, and Barcelona resident since 2002. She has collaborated on children editorial projects and also on making posters and fanzines from a universe of symbolism and personal iconography.
Published in Femiñetas, “Punk Nuns of Tarot” is one of her latest creations. In 2021, she was one of the urban artists who painted the #8M mural in the former Barcelona Model Prison as part of Femiñetas’ creative project in partnership with the city hall. She participated as an illustrator and designer for the ITS Life-Sex campaign by the NGO sexus.org.
femiñetas: feminism in vignettes. femiñetas is an illustrated and transoceanic collective and media. It comprises some 300 illustrators and writers from different parts of the world who form a story-telling community in the language of comics.
Flor Coll is the coordinator and founder of femiñetas. She is a journalist and Social Communication graduate from Universidad Nacional de Rosario (Argentina) and holds a Master’s in Gender and Communication from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain). After working for more than 15 years as a journalist in Argentinian radio, TV and print media, she currently carries out gender and sexuality campaigns for the NGO Sexus and teaches at the Master’s in Communication and Gender at the Barcelona Open University in Spain (UAB). She co-created Chamana Comunicación, a consultancy firm based in Barcelona where she is the director of communication and capacity building.
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