No work of charity can be more productive of good to society than the careful instruction of women. – Catherine McAuley
My column of January 10th contrasted the religious views of prostitutes with the views of the religious toward prostitutes, and related the story of a priest who avoided dealing with a group of streetwalkers until chance (or perhaps God) forced him to see one of them as a real person. Not all clergy need to be so pushed; in my column of last February 12th I introduced Reverend Paul Turp, who spoke out against attempts by the Hackney council to put local strippers out of work by closing down their clubs, and in the comments for that January 10th column The Dudes are Emerging pointed out two stories about another member of the London clergy who feels called to reach out to sex workers, Sister Lynda Dearlove.
As Dudes remembered, I have great respect for nuns; in one of my earliest columns I wrote:
Like many Catholic girls…from south Louisiana, I attended an all-girl Catholic high school run by nuns. And though my path is quite different from theirs and would undoubtedly horrify most of those good ladies, I have nothing but respect for them as a group…the education they gave me has served me well, and despite our different philosophies and spiritual beliefs we have in common a decision to pursue a life different from that of most women in modern society…one of my [favorite] teachers…[was a nun who] first exposed [me] to the idea that there are many paths to God, and we are called upon to follow the one which our hearts tell us is right despite what others might think.
I imagine that Sister Lynda, profiled in this article from the Guardian of January 5th, would agree:
…Sister Lynda [is] a nun [dedicated] …to working with sex workers in one of London’s most notorious red-light districts, King’s Cross. And just like the convent, the “safe house” [she] has set up is women-only. “Women operate differently, and it helps street prostitutes – just as it helps nuns – to have a space that they know will only have women in it,” she says. Women at the Well – the project’s name comes from a gospel story in which Jesus meets a woman at a well who is living in an “irregular” relationship, and refuses to judge her for it – looks like just another anonymous hotel [on the outside]…But…inside… there are bright, cheerful paintings on the walls, a cafe and a clothes store, a computer room and lots of [showers] with body lotion and fluffy towels. “The women who come here can have counselling, and help with finding accommodation, but we also offer massages and manicures and the chance to get your hair done,” explains [Sister] Lynda. “Most of these women have never had…any pampering in their life; what we’re doing is helping them see that they matter too, that they have permission to care about themselves. The thing most of them most want is simply a long, hot shower…”
Most of the women who come here…have had desperately disadvantaged lives. “Typically they’re in their 30s through 50s, and they’ve been involved in prostitution since they were teenagers. Many have mental-health problems; the majority didn’t finish school, and almost none of them grew up in stable families. I’m not saying there’s only one sort of background for prostitution – you do see women who come from much more advantaged backgrounds, but that’s far less usual…” What Women at the Well aims to provide…is something most of its clients…have…no experience of…the sense of being part of a family. “That’s what we’re trying to do that’s different from the other services the women might access,” she says. “Ours is a very holistic service, and we aim to give the women a place where they feel genuinely valued, looked after and cared about.”
…women using the centre are [also] offered sexual health advice. This is a treading-on-eggshells issue for a project run by a Catholic nun – but it’s clear that [Sister] Lynda operates as close to the wire as she possibly can without invoking the ire of the Catholic hierarchy. “We enable women to have contact with sexual health services because they’re in a high-risk occupation,” she says. “It’s important to deal with it effectively, just as we aim to deal effectively with their mental and physical health…[I was] heartened by the Pope’s recognition that within the context of prostitution, using a condom is primarily about the intention to reduce the risk of infection and an assumption of responsibility”…For some years she ran a shelter for homeless people: but gradually she realised there was one group of clients the shelter wasn’t [caring] for. “Those women were street prostitutes, and they were the most disadvantaged group of all – and in a shelter that was dominated by men and their needs, the women simply weren’t being heard,” she says. What angered her on these women’s behalf was that as disadvantaged children they had been seen as “deserving” – whereas once they were effectively forced into prostitution, society ceased to care. “One minute they’re ‘children in need’ and we’re trying to help them, the next minute they’ve turned 18, we’ve failed to help, and suddenly it’s all their own fault.”
Women at the Well is funded from a variety of sources, including the Sisters of Mercy [Sister Lynda’s order]. “My fellow sisters were happy to back me – they believed, as I believe, that this is the work our order’s founder, an 18th-century Irishwoman called Catherine McAuley, set us up to do…She worked with women in extreme need, just as I do.” Other funding comes from grants and individual donors, with around a fifth coming from central government…Over the last three years Sister Lynda has become increasingly respected among those who champion the rights of sex workers – in 2010 she was awarded the MBE, and last year she was nominated for an International Women of Courage award…
The reporter can’t quite resist some subtle editorialization and injecting an Olympics angle which, though not directly stated, implies a “human trafficking” connection. But Sister Lynda herself doesn’t buy into propaganda, as demonstrated by this two-year-old article from the Islington Tribune:
…the streets of King’s Cross are a safer place for all thanks to…Sister Lynda Dearlove…[a] 51-year-old [Roman Catholic nun] who was awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours List…she has witnessed first-hand the problems the women face during regular night patrols around the area…[Sister Lynda said,] “There is no religious judgment. We just aim to improve the quality of people’s lives and to break down the barriers for these women…We offer training but also help to empower women by raising their personal confidence. A lot of time they just need someone to treat them with respect – many of them have been looked down on by everyone they have met.”
…The drop-in centre provides a range of support and employment advice services for more than 150 prostitutes each year…Sister Lynda said crack cocaine is a “massive problem” for prostitutes in King’s Cross and backed [government] proposals…to open a…drug clinic in the south of the borough. She said: “Of most of the women we meet on the street, very few are working with pimps. It is not organised at all and…many of these women are self-medicating with crack, which is a psychological addiction – it means their mental health becomes an issue.
“I am absolutely for decriminalisation of prostitution. One of the main problems for prostitutes is that they become locked in a cycle and much of that has to do with these women going in and out of prison. [Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs)], which are used to police prostitution, are a big issue. We have a positive relationship with the police, but ASBOs are easily breached and often women find themselves in custody…Then there are CRB [Criminal Record Bureau] checks. If a prostitute comes to us and she applies for a job, for example as a cleaner in a hospital, she will be CRB checked and not even given an interview. For many it feels like there is no escape, but there are ways out and we can show them that…”
Perhaps one day some members of the American clergy will develop the courage necessary to follow the example of people like Sister Lynda and Reverend Turp, both in reaching out to sex workers and in speaking up against the evil propaganda which supports the continued criminalization of sex work, and thereby makes the lives of all sex workers (especially those at the subsistence level) far more difficult and dangerous than a more just society would tolerate.
One Year Ago Today
“January Updates” reports on the death of a German porn star, Marriott’s announcement that its hotels will no longer offer in-room porn, and British police tricking female activists into sex in order to bust them.
This is a really warming story and it highlights exactly what Christianity should be – and perhaps once was.
If God put us on this earth to find the correct path and walk it – that’s an exercise of free will. How can you promote that goal by outlawing and criminalizing all but ONE path? If God is real, people will find him (or her) … even amongst the noise and confusion of multiple paths. It’s insanity to criminalize any conduct for which there is no victim – other than perhaps the one that chooses to be involved in the conduct.
This kind of reminds me of Mother Theresa’s brand of Christianity and selfless service.
Isn’t this kind of the way Jesus lived his life? I don’t recall any passage where Jesus advocated for criminalizing certain behavior. He did advocate adherence to divine laws – but such adherence was between the individual and God – not the state.
Maybe someone can show me where Jesus advocating overthrowing governments and implementing moral laws – but I just can’t find it. I do seem to recall that he took it upon himself to “decriminalize” Mary Magdalene’s sin of prostitution – by saving her from a mob bent on carrying out the moral law against her.
Jesus’ opposition to the Pharisees and his statement that “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27) indicate his hostility to the concepts of arbitrary laws and victimless crimes. Any “Christian” who supports the concept of consensual crime is therefore a hypocrite.
Regarding the issue of free will, make sure you read my upcoming column of February 17th.
You have your columns planned out through Feb 17th? Damn – I don’t even know what I’m doing this evening.
Oh one more thing … maybe I got Mary Magdelene’s history wrong here – there seems to be some confusion about whether or not she was really a prostitute. I haven’t read the Bible, and I was not raised in the Church but did attend a few years of Catholic Catechism. I do remember the Nuns telling us about Mary Magdeline the “prostitute” who was about to be stoned to death when Jesus saved her.
I was like eight years old – so I asked … “Sister what is a prostitute?” … and her response was … “That is a woman who sells her body.”
I remember that answer confused me even more – as I tried to imagine how a woman literally sells her body. How does she jump out of it when she turns it over to the new owner? Well thankfully I didn’t ask that question.
IIRC, the mythology of Magdalene as a prostitute came out of a sermon by one of the Pope Gregorys. I don’t recall which number. And I think that the RCC later distanced themselves from that stance.
I know that 18th and 19th century England had hostels for penitent prostitutes that were referred to as “Magdalens” – the hostels, not the prostitutes. I’m sure that that usage grew out of the mythos that Magdalene was a prostitute and that the seven devils cast out of her were illustrative of the “Seven Deadly Sins.” I think that was the taking off point for Gregory’s Homily on her prostitution.
I just preposted my column for February 20th.
She wasn’t a prostitute, as I explained in the column linked at the beginning of the second paragraph in today’s column.
Is that why items sometime show up in the index that don’t go anywhere?
Yes, I went through the whole index clicking on articles that looked interesting until I had read the whole blog.
It is fascinating as well as eye opening.
Yep, that’s why! Note the ones that were dead; they’ll all become live in the next few weeks, one per day. 🙂
Any “Christian” who supports the concept of consensual crime is therefore a hypocrite.
Worse than mere hypocrisy, supporting state-sponsored persecution of prostitutes… means they do not love their neighbour, and they thereby break the commandments and the whole law:
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
– Matthew 22:37-40.
“Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” – Romans 13:10.
“For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” – Galatians 5:14.
This guy sounds like a hippie!
Well, given that EVERY woman I knew who identified herself as a “good christian woman” openly agreed with my FALLEN (renounced her Christianity) wife on her RIGHT to commit crimes against a CHRISTIAN man?
I think that a sex worker who is honest in representing what she is on about is FAR SUPERIOR to all those “good christian woman” who openly support child abuse. And you can tell as many “good christian woman” that as you like Maggie.
Indeed. I was so surprised to be so shabbily treated by christian women AND MEN that, after some more research, I chose to denounce the christian religion for being a pack of LIES and full of deceitful and evil people.
I make a specific point of telling christian women they are particularly hypocritical when they will not even do as GOD demands…..bring a lost sheep back to the fold. Nope. If it benefits a woman and abuses a man what GOD says has no bearing.
I think Christians staying silent on the crimes of women in the family courts is the greatest hypocrisy of all. And I tell them so.
Pete … every woman is “salvageable” – she just needs her oil changed regularly by a “good” mechanic. 🙂
Yeah – this is the part of the “myth of the wonton” that is totally true!
Next time you run into one of those Feminazis … just realize that something is MISSING in her life – and you can be the one to fix that for her. I know, it’s tough sometimes … the engines look like hell and are a bear to work on when the oil’s been run out of it – but a bit of TLC will get her firing on all cylinders once again!
And … all men will be happier for it – you just have to take one for the team. I’ve done my fair share of tough jobs there Pete – and it can be very rewarding – like working for the salvation army or something.
Maggie,
Have you seen this?
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/opinion/how-pimps-use-the-web-to-sell-girls.html?_r=1&hp
If you registered and bought a cheap digital subscription at the NYT, you could post in the comment threads there.
This would explode your blog and help your cause — probably more than anything else you could do.
The New York Times? I’m afraid not. They’re institutionally anti-whore, which is why they print garbage like this. NYT comments are subject to moderation, and those which oppose Kristof too well don’t stay for long. However, this article by Laura Agustin (published yesterday) does a good job of exposing him for what he is.
Yes, of course they’re anti-whore by ideology — but my point was a simple one: publicity.
They would have a much more difficult time “moderating” a woman.
That’s the key fact.–
You should read the ~175 comments posted. It’s a disgusting and edifying experience.
If you had posted within the first few comments, your comment would’ve dominated the thead, and many people who would never read your blog would be exposed to its disinfectant properties.
Check out that comment thread. It may be even worse than you imagine.
Oh, I’ve read Kristof comment threads before, and “disgusting” may be too mild a word. BTB, you may be pleased to know that I’m going to use that link in an upcoming column on Kristof inspired by an interview with him I read earlier this week. 🙂
It does please me.–
A Maggie attack on mendacity is a beautiful thing.
I just wish I could deploy you at will. 😉
LOL! I know Grace always takes a fiendish glee in letting me loose on stupid people. 😉
My fiance, a prostitute, happens to be the most religious person I know. For example, she always blesses herself when sitting down for a meal (even my parents save that kind of overt display for major holidays) and for Christmas she bought me a Kindle Fire and the first thing she did when we were looking at it together is download a free Bible application for it.
How does she reconcile this with her job? Well, she doesn’t really. Personally, I don’t see why she should have to, given the history of Christianity. Usurers, for example, are lauded as “masters of the universe” in our modern culture despite the Church’s solemn prohibition on usury. Prostitutes were never condemned as thoroughly as usurers until modern times, the New Testament is far kinder to them than to religious hypocrites and moneylenders.
Unfortunately, as decadent modern sophisticate, I can’t share the kind of simple faith she shows. I do find it endearing though, so I don’t mock it.
Now, her form of Catholicism comes from the Caribbean and involves a lot of statues and burning candles and the like. However, my grandmother was an Irish Catholic, and her version of Catholicism involved similar fetishes (in the religious, not sexual, sense of the term).
My maternal grandmother had an altar with statues, candles, blessed talismans, etc; above it was this rather creepy icon:![](http://maggiemcneill.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/omphicon.jpg)
It sounds like Sister Lynda Dearlove is more of a genuine Christian and good person than most so called Christians and good people are. You can insert any religious belief with the word Christian in the above sentence and this would be true. I’m a Christian and of the Catholic denomination just like Sister Lynda Dearlove as many of you know, and I agree with her just like St. Augustine of Hippo and St. Thomas Aquinas did. Decriminalization as well as sensible and lightly reguated legalization of the vice called prostitution won’t end human misery especially in regards to this aforementioned vice, but it will significantly reduce the harm done to all. Prostitution is not a true crime which is the harm one person causes to another person, but rather a vice which is the harm one person causes to oneself. Sadly, most people don’t know the difference between crime and vice. These street walker whores’ lives were already a mess before they became adults and also before they became whores. I fail to see how giving them a criminal record is helping. It’s hurting them. Prostitution may have hurt them some more, but there was usually no other way for them to support themselves. Now because of Criminal Record Backgroung Checks, CRB, it is virtually impossible for them to find work which isn’t deemed by the authorities to be criminal. How does this help them leave prostitution when many want to? It doesn’t. At least before all this keeping of records on people, they could move to another town and start over. Now they can’t unless they move to a foreign country, and it’s even debateable that they can even start over in a foreign country too because of the CRB. The problem with criminalization of something which should have never been criminalized like prostitutionis that it only increases the number of people who are criminally inclined or stupid who will engage in it. If you criminalize the whores, then you increase the risk of unjustified violence and robbery etc. and if you increase the criminalization of the johns, then the same can be said which would be true crimes being commited not stupid lawhead crimes such as prostitution. It also increases the stupidity of not using latex condoms during sex while people engage in prostitution. Only stupid people, lunatic people and sadistic people would be against the decriminalization of prostitution.
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