Decriminalization Of Sex Work Research Articles

Condoms and sexual health education as evidence: impact of criminalization of in-call venues and managers on migrant sex workers access to HIV/STI prevention in a Canadian setting.

BackgroundDespite a large body of evidence globally demonstrating that the criminalization of sex workers increases HIV/STI risks, we know far less about the impact of criminalization and policing of managers and in-call establishments on HIV/STI prevention among sex workers, and even less so among migrant sex workers.MethodsAnalysis draws on ethnographic fieldwork and 46 qualitative interviews with migrant sex workers, managers and business owners of in-call sex work venues in Metro Vancouver, Canada.ResultsThe criminalization of in-call venues and third parties explicitly limits sex workers’ access to HIV/STI prevention, including manager restrictions on condoms and limited onsite access to sexual health information and HIV/STI testing. With limited labour protections and socio-cultural barriers, criminalization and policing undermine the health and human rights of migrant sex workers working in –call venues.ConclusionsThis research supports growing evidence-based calls for decriminalization of sex work, including the removal of criminal sanctions targeting third parties and in-call venues, alongside programs and policies that better protect the working conditions of migrant sex workers as critical to HIV/STI prevention and human rights.

Decriminalization of Sex Work Is Not Associated with More Men Paying for Sex: Results from the Second Australian Study of Health and Relationships

It has been claimed that the decriminalization of sex work may result in its proliferation, but there is no evidence to prove or disprove this claim. We investigated whether decriminalization was associated with the prevalence of paying for sex. A representative national sample of 8074 Australian men interviewed by telephone reported whether they had paid for sex ever and in the last 12 months. Cross-sectional associations between paying for sex in the last 12 months and their jurisdiction’s legal approach to sex work (criminalized, licensed, or decriminalized), were examined with logistic regression analysis, controlling for demographic variables and relationship status. Overall, 2.2 % of the men reported paying for sex in the past year—a proportion that was not statistically different by state or territory (P = 0.26). The only variable that was associated with paying for sex was not having a regular sexual partner, or to a lesser extent, not living with a regular partner. Being aged 16–19 years was associated with lower odds of paying for sex. Being a male without a regular partner was associated with paying for sex. The legal approach to sex work in the respondent’s state of residence was not associated with having paid for sex.

LIBERTARIANISM AND THE SEX TRADE ARGUMENT

The work of MacKinnon, Pheterson and others is cited to examine what are commonly described as libertarian arguments for the decriminalization of sex work. Original Marxist lines of analysis are also examined, and it is concluded that the dangers of sex work outweigh the notion that there is no compelling state interest in suppressing it.

The representation of sex workers in South African media: Danger, morals and human rights

The ideological construct of gender typically positions women below men, and “others” certain types of women even more, especially those distinguished from idealised femininity by aspects of their sexuality. This paper explores the representation of sex work and sex workers in the South African media in 2009 and 2010, a time during which there was an increase in news coverage of sex work during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Analysis of the two data sets revealed that sex work is still often perceived as immoral and dangerous, and that sex workers – overwhelmingly represented as women – are criminalised for their actions while client agency is largely obscured, which is in line with previous studies of South African newspapers. However, a strong liberal representation of sex workers was also found in one data set, which advocates the decriminalisation of sex work in the context of human rights. The use of the term “sex work” and its derivatives, rather than “prostitution”, was found to index this progressive stance.

Violence prevention and municipal licensing of indoor sex work venues in the Greater Vancouver Area: narratives of migrant sex workers, managers and business owners

Using a socio-ecological, structural determinants framework, this study assesses the impact of municipal licensing policies and related policing practices across the Greater Vancouver Area (Canada) on the risk of violence within indoor sex work venues. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 46 migrant/immigrant sex workers, managers and owners of licensed indoor sex work establishments and micro-brothels. Findings indicate that policing practices and licensing requirements increase sex workers' risk of violence and conflict with clients and result in heightened stress, an inability to rely on police support, lost income and the displacement of sex workers to more hidden informal work venues. Prohibitive licensing and policing practices prevent sex workers, managers and owners from adopting safer workplace measures and exacerbate health and safety risks for sex workers. This study provides critical evidence of the negative public health implications of prohibitive municipal licensing in the context of a criminalised and enforcement-based approach to sex work. Workplace safety recommendations include the decriminalisation of sex work and the elimination of disproportionately high fees for licences, criminal record restrictions, door lock restrictions, employee registration requirements and the use of police as licensing inspectors.

The relationship between social, policy and physical venue features and social cohesion on condom use for pregnancy prevention among sex workers: a safer indoor work environment scale

BackgroundThis study aims to report on a newly developed Safer Indoor Work Environmental Scale that characterises the social, policy and physical features of indoor venues and social cohesion; and using...

Speaking of sex workers: How suppression of research has distorted the United States' domestic HIV response

Sex workers remain a vulnerable population at risk for HIV acquisition and transmission. Research suggests that interventions at the individual level, such as condom distribution, are less effective in preventing HIV among sex workers than structural changes such as allowing safer work settings and reducing the harassment and abuse of sex workers by clients and police. In the US, HIV incidence has not declined in the last decade. This may be due in part to its policy of wilful ignorance about sex work, but the data to resolve the question simply do not exist. Political actions such as PEPFAR's prostitution pledge and a congressional campaign against "waste, fraud and abuse" in research are products of an ideological environment that suppresses research on HIV prevention and treatment needs of sex workers. Even basic prevalence data are missing because there is no "sex worker" category in the US National HIV Behavior Surveillance System. However, international efforts are taking a public health approach and are calling for decriminalization of sex work, as the most effective public health strategy for reducing HIV incidence among sex workers. Although such an approach is not yet politically feasible in the US, some urgent practical policy changes can be implemented to improve data collection and generation of evidence to support HIV prevention and treatment programs targeting sex workers.

Criminalisation of clients: reproducing vulnerabilities for violence and poor health among street-based sex workers in Canada—a qualitative study

ObjectivesTo explore how criminalisation and policing of sex buyers (clients) rather than sex workers shapes sex workers’ working conditions and sexual transactions including risk of violence and HIV/sexually transmitted infections...

The impact of different regulatory models on the labour conditions, safety and welfare of indoor-based sex workers

Drawing on research in the UK and the Netherlands, this article considers the respective legislative backgrounds, recent policy changes and their implication for sex workers in off-street environments. It considers the impact of different regulatory models on the employment rights, safety and welfare of sex workers and explores how working conditions in different indoor settings might be improved through legal and policy changes. We argue that although decriminalization of sex work is a precondition to secure the labour and human rights of sex workers, the involvement of sex workers in policy development and facilitation of different modes of working are necessary to improve their working conditions and autonomy.

Piloting a ‘spatial isolation’ index: The built environment and sexual and drug use risks to sex workers

BackgroundEmploying innovative mapping and spatial analyses of individual and neighbourhood environment data, we examined the social, physical and structural features of overlapping street-based sex work and drug scenes and explored the utility of a ‘spatial isolation index’ in explaining exchanging sex for drugs and exchanging sex while high. MethodsAnalyses drew on baseline interview and geographic data (January 2010–October 2011) from a large prospective cohort of street and off-street sex workers (SWs) in Metropolitan Vancouver and external publically-available, neighbourhood environment data. An index measuring ‘spatial isolation’ was developed from seven indicators measuring features of the built environment within 50m buffers (e.g., industrial or commercial zoning, lighting) surrounding sex work environments. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was used to examine associations between the two outcomes (exchanged sex for drugs; exchanged sex while high) and the index, as well as each individual indicator. ResultsOf 510 SWs, 328 worked in street-based/outdoor environments (e.g., streets, parks, alleys) and were included in the analyses. In multivariable analysis, increased spatial isolation surrounding street-based/outdoor SWs’ main places of servicing clients as measured with the index was significantly associated with exchanging sex for drugs. Exchanging sex for drugs was also significantly positively associated with an indicator of the built environment suggesting greater spatial isolation (increased percent of parks) and negatively associated with those suggesting decreased spatial isolation (increased percent commercial areas, increased count of lighting, increased building footprint). Exchanging sex while high was negatively associated with increased percent of commercial zones but this association was removed when adjusting for police harassment. ConclusionsThe results from our exploratory study highlight how built environment shapes risks within overlapping street-based sex work and drug scenes through the development of a novel index comprised of multiple indicators of the built environment available through publicly available data, This study informs the important role that spatially-oriented responses, such as safer-environment interventions, and structural responses, such as decriminalization of sex work can play in improving the health, safety and well-being of SWs.

Rethinking the Prostitution Debates: Transcending Structural Stigma in Systemic Responses to Sex Work

Abstract As legal authorities consider the constitutionality of the laws surrounding prostitution in Canada, we have the opportunity to rethink some of the fundamental assumptions that have been made about sex work and the socio-legal responses to it. In this article we draw on the concept of structural stigma to analyze the stigmatic assumptions inherent in the Canadian laws and briefly describe their effect—the civic exclusion of sex workers. We then consider the ways in which these same assumptions of risk and immorality are reproduced in end-demand (partial criminalization), legalized (regulatory) models, and decriminalization. While the decriminalization of sex work is the response that relies on the least stigmatic assumptions, even the celebrated New Zealand model is not absent of moralization and “othering” discourse. Further reflection is required to conceptualize a policy approach that transcends stigmatic assumptions so as to respect the human and civil rights of sex workers.

Decriminalization of Sex Work: Feminist Discourses in Light of Research

Three main ideological stances exist regarding sex work issues: abolitionism, sex-positive feminism, and decriminalization. We argue for decriminalization based on decades of research results. Research on female sex workers is most often done through feminist theory and focus on gender relationships and on the experience of oppression and/or agency. Such studies examine the motivations to do sex work, the experience of being objectified, the stigma related to sex work, and, finally, the impact of this kind of work on self-esteem, on couple relationships, and on social relationships. Research on male sex workers examines power dynamics, representations of masculinity, self-perception, and the socioeconomic conditions that lead to sex work and influence safe-sex practices. Usually, feminist approaches do not take the experiences of male sex workers into account. However, taking these experiences into consideration would give a broader perspective to the understanding of sex work, as the experiences of male sex workers show many aspects similar to those of female sex workers. We contend that a woman’s sexual experience has been socially constructed as being part of her identity, in such a way that she becomes socially devalued whenever she does not comply to norms, thus making sex work a ‘degrading’ experience even though it is not intrinsically so.

HIV prevention among female sex workers in Africa

Sex work occurs to meet the demand for sexual services and is a universal phenomenon. In Africa sex work takes many forms and is an important source of income for many women. Yet sex worker reproductive health needs remain largely unmet. The criminalisation of sex work; community and service provider stigma; violence; substance use and limited access to health services and prevention commodities contribute to the high HIV burden evident among female sex workers in Africa. Following UNAIDS' three pillar approach to HIV prevention and sex work we present an overview of current opportunities, barriers and suggestions to improve HIV prevention policy and programming for sex work in Africa. Universal access to a comprehensive package of HIV services is the first pillar. Reproductive health commodities; voluntary and anonymous HIV counselling and testing; treatment of sexually transmitted infections, HIV and opportunistic infections; harm reduction for substance use and psychosocial support services make up the recommended package of services. The second pillar is a sex worker-supportive environment. The inclusion of sex worker programmes within national HIV strategic planning; sex worker-led community mobilisation and the establishment of sex work community networks (comprised of sex workers, health service providers, law enforcers and other stakeholders) enable effective programme implementation and are recommended. The reduction of sex worker vulnerability and addressing structural issues form the final pillar. The decriminalisation of sex work; development of supportive policy; gender equality and economic development are key factors that need to be addressed to increase sex worker resilience. Evidence supports the public health benefit of human rights based approaches to HIV prevention; moralistic and restrictive policy and laws towards sex work are harmful and should be removed. The establishment of these pillars will increase sex worker safety and enhance the inclusiveness of the HIV response.

Can rights stop the wrongs? Exploring the connections between framings of sex workers' rights and sexual and reproductive health.

BackgroundThere is growing interest in the ways in which legal and human rights issues related to sex work affect sex workers’ vulnerability to HIV and abuses including human trafficking and sexual exploitation. International agencies, such as UNAIDS, have called for decriminalisation of sex work because the delivery of sexual and reproductive health services is affected by criminalisation and social exclusion as experienced by sex workers. The paper reflects on the connections in various actors’ framings between sex workers sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) and the ways that international law is interpreted in policing and regulatory practices.MethodsThe literature review that informs this paper was carried out by the authors in the course of their work within the Paulo Longo Research Initiative. The review covered academic and grey literature such as resources generated by sex worker rights activists, UN policy positions and print and online media. The argument in this paper has been developed reflectively through long term involvement with key actors in the field of sex workers’ rights.ResultsInternational legislation characterises sex work in various ways which do not always accord with moves toward decriminalisation. Law, policy and regulation at national level and law enforcement vary between settings. The demands of sex worker rights activists do relate to sexual and reproductive health but they place greater emphasis on efforts to remove the structural barriers that limit sex workers’ ability to participate in society on an equal footing with other citizens.Discussion and conclusionThere is a tension between those who wish to uphold the rights of sex workers in order to reduce vulnerability to ill-health and those who insist that sex work is itself a violation of rights. This is reflected in contemporary narratives about sex workers’ rights and the ways in which different actors interpret human rights law. The creation of regulatory frameworks around sex work that support health, safety and freedom from abuse requires a better understanding of the broad scope of laws, policies and enforcement practices in different cultural contexts and economic settings, alongside reviews of UN policies and human rights conventions.

Feminist Evaluation and Gender Approaches: There's a Difference?

Background: Feminist evaluation and gender approaches offer evaluators distinct ways of thinking and applying evaluations. A Namibian case narrative demonstrates how feminist evaluation and gender approaches, among others, resulted in a useful and used evaluation. Purpose: The purpose of this article is to provide readers with a historical overview and description of feminist evaluation and gender approaches and is intended for those who are interested in understanding these approaches to evaluation. Setting: Southern Africa. Intervention: A nonprofit that advocates for sex workers safety and the decriminalization of sex work. Research Design: A comparative framework is used to describe feminist evaluation and gender approaches. The evaluation employs qualitative methods that explored the reality of sex work and sex workers through both semi-structured and exploratory questionnaires. The approach was guided by feminist evaluation, gender approaches, and to a lesser extent drew on several other evaluation approaches. Data Collection and Analysis: Interviews and document reviews were used to collect data and content and thematic analyses were used to analyze data. Findings: Feminist evaluation and gender approaches should be viewed as distinct approaches. Their use should be of interest both to evaluation scholars and to those who design, implement and/or use evaluations.

HIV criminalisation and sex work in Australia

In 2008, Scarlet Alliance, the Australian Sex Workers Association, carried out a needs assessment among sex workers living with HIV in Australia. The research showed that HIV positive sex workers experience discrimination from within the community, are criminalised for sex work and subject to disclosure laws in some states and territories, and face stigma perpetrated by the media. Supported by legislation, they have an almost insurmountable lack of access to policy development due to disclosure and confidentiality issues, and have expressed ongoing frustration at the lack of leadership on the intersecting issues of HIV and sex work. A high profile prosecution of a sex worker living with HIV coincided with the duration of the needs assessment project. The research gave a voice to sex workers living with HIV and highlighted the levels of institutionalised marginalisation and stigmatisation they experience. Criminalisation of sex work, of people living with HIV, and of sex workers living with HIV is at the core of this discrimination and must be challenged. Scarlet Alliance advocates for the decriminalisation of sex work across all jurisdictions in Australia. This will deliver rights to sex workers living with HIV and create a more equitable and productive environment for HIV prevention and public health generally.

Criminalization, legalization or decriminalization of sex work: what female sex workers say in San Francisco, USA

Sex work is a criminal offence in San Francisco, USA, and sex work advocates have so far unsuccessfully campaigned for decriminalizing it. Some groups argue that the decriminalization movement does not represent the voices of marginalized sex workers. Using qualitative and quantitative data from the Sex Worker Environmental Assessment Team Study, we investigated the perspectives and experiences of a range of female sex workers regarding the legal status of sex work and the impact of criminal law on their work experiences. Forty women were enrolled in the qualitative phase in 2004 and 247 women in the quantitative phase in 2006-07. Overall, the women in this study seemed to prefer a hybrid of legalization and decriminalization. The majority voiced a preference for removing statutes that criminalize sex work in order to facilitate a social and political environment where they had legal rights and could seek help when they were victims of violence. Advocacy groups need to explore the compromises sex workers are willing to make to ensure safe working conditions and the same legal protections afforded to other workers, and with those who are most marginalized to better understand their immediate needs and how these can be met through decriminalization.

Self-Reported Use of Health Services, Contact with Police and Views About Sex Work Organizations Among Male Sex Workers in Cordoba, Argentina

Abstract A total of 31 male sex workers recruited in Cordoba, Argentina, completed a questionnaire about the use and barriers to the use of health services, contact with the police and perception about the need of sex workers organizations. The results reveal that the majority preferred to use public services for general and sexual health concerns. The most frequently identified barriers to use of health services were waiting time before consultation and opening hours. The majority agreed for the need of a sex workers organization to advocate on their behalf, particularly achieving decriminalization of sex work and providing sexual health information to sex workers. Many reported contact with police that was generally positive, although some concerns were raised. The paper discusses implications for public health measures aimed at promoting greater sexual safety in the male sex industry.

Searching for Justice for Body and Self in a Coercive Environment: Sex Work in Kerala, India

Sex workers in Kerala, India, live in a coercive environment and face violence from the police and criminals, lack of shelter, lack of childcare support and have many physical and mental health problems. This paper documents the environment in which women have been selling sex in Kerala since 1995, and their efforts to claim their rights. It is based on sex workers' own reports and experiences, a situation analysis and a needs assessment study by the Foundation for Integrated Research in Mental Health. Involvement in HIV/AIDS prevention projects first gave sex workers in Kerala an opportunity to come together. Some have become peer educators and distribute condoms but they continue to be harassed by police. Most anti-trafficking interventions, including rescue and rehabilitation, either criminalise or victimise sex workers, and sex workers reject them as a solution to sex work. They understand that the lack of sexual fulfillment in other relationships and their own lack of access to other work and resources are the reasons why commercial sex flourishes. Sex workers are not mere victims without agency. They have a right to bodily integrity, pleasure, livelihood, self-determination and a safe working environment. Sex workers are organising themselves for these objectives and demand decriminalisation of sex work.

The Movement to Decriminalize Sex Work in Gauteng Province, South Africa, 1994-2002

This article explores the movement to decriminalize sex work in the Gauteng province of Johannesburg from 1994 to 2002. In particular, I examine the actions and statements of the provincial Ministry of Safety and Security and other ministries in the decision to de facto decriminalize prostitution using the international language of human rights. This article illustrates that the movement to decriminalize sex work in the postapartheid period is not a sharp departure from the past. Rather, as early as the 1970s there were minority contingents that advocated a legalization or decriminalization of sex work, arguing for the public health or policy benefits that would follow. What is new in the postapartheid period is the justification for decriminalization, which now is based on the international language of human rights. Also new in the postapartheid period is the inclusion in the debate of voices that were not heard during apartheid, when the media was dominated by white South Africans. There is now a counterdiscourse opposing decriminalization, based on religion and on the argument that sex work is “un-African.”