Thank you for the introduction, Michele, and, Karen, I really appreciated your remarks.
I think what really brought me to this topic is that I wondered to myself, what would it mean to bring intersectionality theory to criminal law theory and to policing scholarship and policing work, because what I observed was that when I was reading this work by a notable policing scholar, almost entirely focused on male perspectives, male experiences, and it was almost as if there were no Black women in society and Black women were not especially impacted by policing and criminalization. I decided that was an area I want to focus on, and I did that research both in the United States and I have done it in South Africa, and my book really focuses on what has been happening in South Africa.
What I focused on was on the policing of sex work, in particular, because I think sex work is interesting in terms of reflecting the different sexual hierarchies, both gender hierarchies as well as racial hierarchies, and what I found is depending on where you fit on a hierarchy impacts the type of policing you receive. For those individuals who were whiter, who were lighter skinned, they were entitled to more protection from the police. Police saw them as benevolent, beneficiaries of their protection. Whereas, the darker-skinned people, the Blacker-skinned people, which has this particular meaning in South Africa where there is a lot of xenophobia or there has been this history of xenophobia, a history of colorism, history of racism, Blacker people were entitled to less protection, were often left for neglect and just seen as not worthy of police protection. I think that provides interesting insights in terms of who do we deem as being valuable, who is worthy of police protection, where you look at the same thing in the United States where whiter women might be entitled to greater protection or seen as being more vulnerable, whereas, Blacker women might be left for neglect.
Michele Bratcher Goodwin
We have seen those patterns worldwide, right? As you talk about colorism and how this pans out in terms of complexion and the kind of alarmism related to complexion, sadly that has been part of a diaspora story. Aissatou, I want to turn to you because this connection that India weaves for us in terms of sex work, we know one of the ways in which Black women have been policed as with regard to their sexuality, and that traditionally it has been that police target individuals based on their clothing. I am wondering, as a designer coming into the space, what is your thought process there? I recall the defense strategies of the 1980s. Regarding gang rape, “Well, she was wearing red.” It is unfathomable to think that people would actually put a defense like, “Well, of course, what else were we supposed to do? She was wearing red after all.” Or, “Her skirt was above her knee. What else could be expected but that men would lose their mind?” What do you bring to this when you are thinking about it through the lens as a designer and clothing people? How do these issues relate for you?
