Sapphic Circle February 15th, 2026: Lesbians Against Sexual Exploitation

Sapphic Circle meets the 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month at 12pm PST/3pm EST/8pm UTC.

Sapphic Circle is a space for lesbians to come together for thoughtful discussions on a variety of topics. We seek to build lesbian community through engaging in lesbian ideas, politics, media, and more!

Commercial sexual exploitation is one of the core concerns of feminists all over the world. Any woman can end up in a financial circumstance where she resorts to entering the sex trade; the explosion of women joining OnlyFans when they lost their jobs during COVID is one example. Primarily, it's women and girls with little financial and social support who end up in the sex trade. Recent data shows that 75% of the children who end up in the sex trade in New York state are former foster children.

Thus, the ultra-liberal vision of women’s ‘freedom’ to sell their bodies in exchange for payment ignores the fact that freedom in the capitalist system is primarily exercised by the dominant classes at the expense of the dominated classes. - Héma Sibi, 2022

Male social power over women and girls in conjunction with financial insecurity, is the cornerstone of the sex trade. Commercial sexual exploitation is male dominance enforcing women's subordination in it's most fundamental form. Molka is a clear demonstration of this; men placing spy cams in women's washrooms and change rooms. The videos or livestreams are then posted to both free and paid websites. Women's bodies are commodities, their consent or choice is a non-concern, and men's desire and money are the driving force.

Prostitution and pornography are popularly discussed as two different issues, but feminists know that they are the same. It is the same industry, catering to the same demand, exploiting the same vulnerable women. As Andrea Dworkin says, “pornography is prostitution’s propaganda," which may be truer today than it was when she wrote it. Pornography is prostitution on camera, where male entitlement to access women's bodies is permanently memorialized.

The Issues

Prostitution/Pornography objectify and commercialize women and girl's bodies
Prostitution/Pornography monetize and eroticize male sexual violence against women and girls
Prostitution/Pornography is the propaganda of misogyny and reinforces male sexual entitlement to women and girl's bodies
Prostitution/Pornography keep disadvantaged women and girls in poverty and in cycles of abuse/trauma
Prostitution/Pornography kills women and girls

The Lesbian Feminist Perspective

Compulsory Heterosexuality

“Lesbian existence comprises both the breaking of a taboo and the rejection of a compulsory way of life. It is also a direct or indirect attack on the male right of access to women.” - Adrienne Rich, Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence (1980)

Women's sexual self knowledge is only possible when women can conceptualize themselves, outside of the subordinated norms imposed by patriarchy. This is the opposite of how women in the sex industry are conditioned to perceive themselves.

Sexual Autonomy

“Prostitution and pornography are not about sex. They are about power — male power bought and sold.” - Andrea Dworkin, Pornography: Men Possessing Women (1981)

Lesbianism is only possible when women have the power to say no to sex with men, yes to sex with women. To express lesbian sexual desire, women must be free from enforced sexual service to men. This is the opposite of how women in the sex industry are forced to sexually submit to men.

Self-Determination

“Pornography is one of the practices through which male supremacy is eroticized, legitimized, and made to appear natural.” — Sheila Jeffreys, The Idea of Prostitution (1997)

Living a life of true self expression, where women can dress how they like, live how they like and connect how they like, is only possible when women are in a position to determine how they want to live their lives. This is the opposite of how women in the sex industry are forced to live their lives.

Racism In Action

Often overlooked, but inescapable when you look at any dataset about the sex trade, is that women of colour, immigrant women, women displaced by war and indigenous women are disproportionately those being sexually exploited. When looking at popular categories on porn sites or the listings for women on brothel websites, it's obvious that this is the case. Despite this racism exploitation of vulnerable and coerced women, the fact that women of colour are disproportionally visible in the sex trade is often ignored or turned into a narrative about empowerment.

Here is a quote from Suzanne Jay of Asian Women for Equality about what she sees while working with asian women in the sex trade or leaving the sex trade in Canada:

“What is profoundly disturbing to us is that we are highly visible yet ignored, and that there is a real acknowledgement of poverty and sexism in our countries of origin, yet, we’re described by academics as “migrant sex workers”. It is disturbing that there is some kind of liberal sympathy for Asian women. There is also a much stronger force that is very determined to confirm that the situation we are in -the sexism, the stereotyping, the violence that is committed against us- is our purpose. Even among people that might be our natural allies there is a real determination to have us remain subordinate” (Jay, 2024).

Questions To Consider

Do you think lesbians in general have a different perspective on commercial sexual exploitation (CSE), than non-lesbians?
Do you think lesbian feminists are visible in their opposition to CSE today?
What do you think are some of the successes of feminists fighting against CSE?
What are some of the failed strategies that feminists have used to fight against CSE? Why did they fail?
What do you think lesbian feminists can teach feminists about our perspective on CSE?
What do you think are the most easily debunked myths about CSE?
How do you think the racism of CSE is hidden or dismissed? What can we do to bring it into focus?
How do you think lesbians feminists are uniquely positioned to combat CSE?