Unwanted Sex
The sexual exploitation industries have been extremely successful in penetrating (pun intended) every layer of society - and like Gail Dines calls it - “pornifying our culture”.
But amid full decriminalization of prostitution, the rise of OnlyFans and Pornhub, pervasive global sex trafficking, and social media providing exploiters and predators free and open access to vulnerable populations - the liberal myth of sexual self-empowerment is cracking.
This in part because survivors of the sex trade are finally talking, being heard, weighing in in the debate and getting politically active - in numbers. Defying the shame and the stigma, women are writing books, appearing in media and waging political campaigns - and insisting that we listen to their accounts of what sexual exploitation really looks and feels like on the receiving end.
In this episode, psychotherapist and author Mia Döring talks to Elle about her new book Any Girl: A Memoir of Sexual Exploitation and Recovery about her experiences in the Dublin sex trade, the damage it wrought, and the importance of truth-telling to our collective healing.
Psychotherapist & Author
Mia Döring is a psychotherapist specializing in sexual trauma and is the author of the bestselling memoir Any Girl, A Memoir of Sexual Exploitation and Recovery. Mia is also a writer; her essays, fiction and articles have been published in Litro Magazine, The Bohemyth, Ropes Journal and Huffington Post.
As an activist, Mia successfully campaigned for the introduction of the Nordic Model of prostitution legislation in Ireland, which was passed in 2017. She is a TedX speaker and works closely with SPACE International, a sex trade survivor-lead organization working towards prostitution being recognized as sexual abuse.