Now, I can bring more foreign girls to SA, The Star

1.       Raise discussions around gender, sex work, and human trafficking.

2.       Show how economic disadvantages that women face often make them vulnerable to exploitation.

3.       Illustrate the point that news is often told from a male perspective where women are spoken for.

4.       Show the stereotypical ways in which women are represented in the media.

 

This article, which is about the reaction of Lolly Jackson, owner of “Teazers,” to the Supreme Court ruling, does not attempt to seek comment from affected women who are in the industry. Instead, the owner of the club is the one who tells the story; he actually speaks for the dancers. This article misses an opportunity to find out what the implications of the ruling are to the concerned dancers. This in itself denies women a voice and assumes that men are the voice of authority.

 

It is common knowledge that a lot of women are brought into the country as “dancers” when in-fact they come to do commercial sex work. Often times these girls are managed by men whom they work for and they get meagre salaries at the end of the month. This article could have raised concerns about issues of sex work and the close relationship with human trafficking. The article also does not look at the economic angle to sex work. Sex work is deeply rooted in the economic disadvantages that women face, the fact that it is one of the few enterprises that women can set up without much capital or infrastructure.  There is always the question of what the relationship between sex work and human trafficking is.

 

With 2010 coming up, this article could have addressed what the likely implications of the Supreme Court ruling would be. Jackson says, “It is great. Now, I can bring more people.” Will South Africa see an influx of sex workers around 2010? One also wonders whether South Africa does not have enough of its own girls to sustain this industry.

This article also does not look at the rights of these women who are brought in as dancers and what is being done to protect them.

 

The selection of pictures to accompany the story reveals the skewed way in which media view female dancers. A different could have been easily used. This article is accompanied by a picture of a dancer clad in skimpy underwear and boots. In the background men intently watch the dancers. Below the picture is the caption, “in a twirl.”

 

1.       What is the difference between sex work and human trafficking? How closely are the two linked.

2.       What are the implications of the Supreme Court ruling in light of 2010?

3.       How are women and men portrayed in this article?

4.       Who are the missing voices? Are they important ?

5.       Discuss the image. Is it appropriate ? Does it relate to the story?

 

1.      The article was written with very limited sources, and none from the women who work in the industry. Write up a list of sources and possible questions. If time allows, go out to conduct interviews, and write a commentary piece.

2.      Review an assortment of clippings on sex work and conduct a media monitoring exercise. (You can use the GL Clipping Database) Whose voices are heard? What perspectives are provided? Who are the sources ?

 

Whose news, whose views: A Gender and Media Handbook for Southern Africa Media

Picture our Lives, Gender and Images in Southern Africa, Chapter three: Sex, Gender and Stereotypes

HIV and AIDS and Gender Baseline Study

https://www.genderlinks.org.za/item.php?i_id=169

 

Related GL Commentaries
Respecting sex work

https://www.genderlinks.org.za/article.php?a_id=875

Human trafficking concern for 2010

https://www.genderlinks.org.za/article.php?a_id=871

Blow the whistle: human trafficking week highlights modern day slavery

https://www.genderlinks.org.za/article.php?a_id=815