Selling Sex Research Articles

The Moral and Political Stakes of Health Issues in the Regulation of Prostitution (the Cases of Belgium and France)

Many studies have demonstrated the prominent role legal frameworks and local policies play in the shaping of prostitution, by informing to a large extent the conditions governing the exercise of the sex trade, while promoting a certain definition of this activity and its protagonists. However, the role of private organizations delegated the mission of providing social or medical assistance to people selling sex should not be overlooked. These organizations are still under-researched, despite the fact that they often occupy a pivotal position between those involved in the sex trade, public authorities, and the general population. Our contribution aims to provide an overview of the relevant landscape of third sector organizations in both Belgium and France and, more specifically, retrace the genesis of associations that have implemented programs to prevent sexually transmitted infections. We will also examine their relations with the public authorities and the legitimacy they enjoy in each country, before highlighting their potential influence on the structuring of representations and regulation of prostitution.

Adolescents’ motives for selling sex in a welfare state – A Swedish national study

In addition to money or other compensation, other motives for selling sex may be important in a welfare country such as Sweden. The aim of this study was to carry out an exploratory investigation of adolescents’ motives for selling sex in a population-based survey in Sweden. A total of 5839 adolescents from the third year of Swedish high school, mean age 18.0 years, participated in the study. The response rate was 59.7% and 51 students (0.9%) reported having sold sex. Exploratory factor analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis were used to identify groups of adolescents according to underlying motives for selling sex. Further analyses were carried out for characteristics of selling sex and risk factors. Three groups of adolescents were categorized according to their motives for selling sex: Adolescents reporting; 1) Emotional reasons, being at a greater risk of sexual abuse, using sex as a means of self-injury and having a non-heterosexual orientation. 2) Material but no Emotional reasons, who more often receive money as compensation and selling sex to a person over 25 years of age, and 3) Pleasure or no underlying motive for selling sex reported, who were mostly heterosexual males selling sex to a person under 25 years of age, the buyer was not known from the Internet, the reward was seldom money and this group was less exposed to penetrative sexual abuse or using sex as a means of self-injury. In conclusion, adolescents selling sex are a heterogeneous group in regard to underlying motives.

Commodifying Intimacy in 'Hard times': A Hardcore Ethnography of a Luxury Brothel

This paper is a methodological reflection on an ongoing covert ethnography I have been undertaking in a luxury brothel in Madrid, Spain. By accident, this study became a research project when I was employed by the manager to review porn forums offering feedback on the women that worked there and taught English to him. For 18 months now, I have worked in the brothel a couple of nights a week doing these duties and have come to know the manager’s closest friends and family, the women who work there and the security staff. The context for the work is the expansion of the sex industry in an era of consumer society and self-gratification coupled with austerity politics which has disproportionately affected the opportunities for women in the formal labour market thus catapulting many into precarious situations in which selling sex becomes an option. This has crudely mixed with cultural change in Spain in the wake of increased neoliberal economics which have hollowed out notions of family, tradition and intimacy.

Men Selling Sex to Men in Sweden: Balancing Safety and Risk.

The purpose of this study is to examine how men who sell sex to men perceive the risks in this activity and what experiences they have of actual denigration, threats, and violence in their relations with customers. We also discuss the self-defense strategies they have used to protect themselves. The study is based on an Internet survey on Swedish websites. Statistical analyses have been carried out, and in interpreting the results, Finkelhor and Asdigian's revised routine activities theory has been used. The results show that the vulnerability of sellers of sex is greatest during the time when the sexual act is being performed, and that this is primarily linked to the customer's antagonism and seeking gratification by overstepping agreed boundaries, particularly with regard to sexual services including BDSM. Their vulnerability was also connected to the seller's diminished capacity for self-protection due to personal and external pressures. A smaller proportion of the men described risk prevention activities. These involved refusing a customer after an initial contact, protecting themselves from infection, being on their guard during the whole process, selecting the place, and deciding not to carry out certain sexual acts. An important implication concerns the occupational health and safety that men who sell sex to men can develop for themselves, while remaining within the law. International studies have demonstrated that selling sex in collective, indoor forms provides the greatest security. For decades, Swedish prostitution policy has had the ambition of reducing prostitution through targeting those who purchase sex, and those who promote prostitution in criminal legislation. This effectively prevents more systematic and collective attempts to create safer conditions for selling sex. In conclusion, it can be stated that while it is legal to sell sex in Sweden, this is done at the seller's own risk.

Social-ecological factors associated with selling sex among men who have sex with men in Jamaica: results from a cross-sectional tablet-based survey

ABSTRACTBackground: Globally, men who have sex with men (MSM) experience social marginalization and criminalization that increase HIV vulnerability by constraining access to HIV prevention and care. People who sell sex also experience criminalization, rights violations, and violence, which elevate HIV exposure. MSM who sell sex may experience intersectional stigma and intensified social marginalization, yet have largely been overlooked in epidemiological and social HIV research. In Jamaica, where same sex practices and sex work are criminalized, scant research has investigated sex selling among MSM, including associations with HIV vulnerability.Objective: We aimed to examine social ecological factors associated with selling sex among MSM in Jamaica, including exchanging sex for money, shelter, food, transportation, or drugs/alcohol (past 12 months).Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey with a peer-driven sample of MSM in Kingston, Ocho Rios, and Montego Bay. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted to estimate intrapersonal/individual, interpersonal/social, and structural factors associated with selling sex.Results: Among 556 MSM, one-third (n = 182; 32.7%) reported selling sex. In the final multivariable model, correlates of selling sex included: individual/intrapersonal (lower safer sex self-efficacy [AOR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.77, 0.94]), interpersonal/social (concurrent partnerships [AOR: 5.52, 95% CI: 1.56, 19.53], a higher need for social support [AOR: 1.08, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.12], lifetime forced sex [AOR: 2.74, 95% 1.65, 4.55]) and structural-level factors (sexual stigma [AOR: 1.09, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.15], food insecurity [AOR: 2.38, 95% CI: 1.41, 4.02], housing insecurity [AOR: 1.94, 95% CI: 1.16, 3.26], no regular healthcare provider [AOR: 2.72, 95% CI: 1.60, 4.64]).Conclusions: This study highlights social ecological correlates of selling sex among MSM in Jamaica, in particular elevated stigma and economic insecurity. Findings suggest that MSM in Jamaica who sell sex experience intensified social and structural HIV vulnerabilities that should be addressed in multi-level interventions to promote health and human rights.

Social-ecological factors associated with selling sex among men who have sex with men in Jamaica: results from a cross-sectional tablet-based survey

Social-ecological factors associated with selling sex among men who have sex with men in Jamaica: results from a cross-sectional tablet-based survey

Gloria Naylor's Fiction: Contemporary Explorations of Class and Capitalism by Sharon A. Lewis, Ama S. Wattley

CLA JOURNAL 245 Book Reviews Lewis,SharonA.andAma S.Wattley,eds. Gloria Naylor’s Fiction: Contemporary Explorations of Class and Capitalism. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017. 142pp. ISBN-13: 978-1-4438-9591-0 $59.86 Hardcover. Gloria Naylor lived only 66 years, but she left a valuable literary legacy. She gave the keynote address for the College Language Association banquet at the 2006 convention hosted by the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Naylor’s prose is celebrated for its poetic quality, its powerful imagery, and its memorable characters. Her debut novel, The Women of Brewster Place, won the National Book Award and was adapted into both a musical and a 1989 television mini-series starring Oprah Winfrey. Her work has been the subject of several book-length studies, many interviews, and dozens of essays. This collection of six essays and the editors’ introduction adds an important perspective to the existing body of critical work discussing five of Gloria Naylor’s six novels. (Her 2005 novel/ fictionalized memoir entitled 1996 is not the subject of anyof theessaysinthiscollectionandisnotmentionedintheeditors’introduction.) The specific focus on class and capitalism distinguishes these essays from other critical sources about Naylor’s works. In their introduction to this volume, editors Sharon A. Lewis and Ama S. Wattley carefully distinguish social class from social status. Concentration on socioeconomic conditions and attitudes within the Black community guides a specifically focused examination of these novels. The primary interpretive tool for this collection is Marxist literary criticism with an additional lens of womanist/feminist theory. The Women of Brewster Place (1982), Mama Day (1988), Bailey’s Café (1992), and The Men of Brewster Place (1998) are all the central focus of one essay apiece in this collection. Given the socioeconomic theme of the volume, it is quite appropriate that Linden Hills (1985)—which dwells upon the upper class—is analyzed in two of the essays. Anita August brings her experience as a novelist and scholar of visual culture to bear in her essay, “I Need a Prince to Watch Over Me. Really?! Re-Visioning ‘Happily Ever After’ in Gloria Naylor’s The Women of Brewster Place.” Her focus on paternalism as it impacts women’s financial success brings a gendered lens to the economic analysis. Given the discussions of class, Kiswana Browne and her naïve interactions with Cora Lee illustrate the distinctions in values and priorities, since Kiswana is “the only resident to choose Brewster Place,” as August notes (31). Naylor’s emphasis on woman-centered support rather than the fairy tale Prince is emphasized. The homoerotic relationship between Mattie Michael and Etta Mae Johnson is discussed and is contrasted to the “taboo lesbian relationship” between Lorraine and Theresa, or “The Two,” as their chapter in Naylor’s novel is entitled 246 CLA JOURNAL Book Reviews (39). In every instance, August details the ways that the “happily ever after” of traditional fairy tales falls short with the women in Naylor’s first novel. ShamikaAnn Mitchell contributes“KeepYour Check: Commodity,Capitalism and Commerce in Gloria Naylor’s Mama Day.” Gentrification and predatory development in the novel’s fictional Willow Springs are compared to similar situations in the real-life Sea Islands. Ownership of ancestral lands and a mutual respect and collective responsibility for what happens on those lands become the focus of Mitchell’s essay. Maxine Lavon Montgomery is the editor of Conversations with Gloria Naylor (2004) and author of The Fiction of Gloria Naylor: Houses and Spaces of Resistance (2010) and numerous other essays on Naylor. For this volume, she wrote “Gloria Naylor’s Bailey’s Café: Selling Sex in the Cultural Marketplace.” She identifies Bailey’s Café as “the last text in a tetralogy” and asserts that it “represents the culmination of a narrative mediation on constructions of the sexual self within the context of a hierarchal socio-economic system” (62). Indeed, Montgomery claims that “capitalism, along with the commodity status ascribed to the female body, persists as a fundamental issue”(62). Her essay also makes excellent use of Trimiko Melancon’s CLA Book Award winning Unbought and Unbossed: Transgressive Black Women, Sexuality and Representation. One of the most arresting essays for admirers of popular culture comes from Terrence Tucker...

“I Walked into the Industry for Survival and Came Out of a Closet”

This paper seeks to examine how gender and sexual identities shape sex work experiences among men, two spirit, and/or trans people in Vancouver. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with men and trans people in Metro Vancouver from CHAPS (Community Health & HIV Assessment of Men Who Purchase and Sell Sex). An intersectional critical feminist perspective guided the thematic analysis of interview transcripts, and ATLAS.ti 7 was used to manage data analysis. Three themes emerged from the data: (1) the diversity of sexual and gender identities among sex workers and clients, (2) the expression and exploration of sexual and gender identities through sex work, (3) the migration of sexual and gender minorities to urban centres to escape discrimination in their places of origin. These findings complicate existing narratives of sex work, demonstrating the need for policies and services that reflect the diversity of sex work experiences.

Characterizing the HIV risks and potential pathways to HIV infection among transgender women in Côte d'Ivoire, Togo and Burkina Faso.

IntroductionTransgender women are at high risk for the acquisition and transmission of HIV. However, there are limited empiric data characterizing HIV-related risks among transgender women in sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of these analyses is to determine what factors, including sexual behaviour stigma, condom use and engagement in sex work, contribute to risk for HIV infection among transgender women across three West African nations.MethodsData were collected via respondent-driven sampling from men who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women during three- to five-month intervals from December 2012 to October 2015 across a total of six study sites in Togo, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire. During the study visit, participants completed a questionnaire and were tested for HIV. Chi-square tests were used to compare the prevalence of variables of interest between transgender women and MSM. A multilevel generalized structural equation model (GSEM) was used to account for clustering of observations within study sites in the multivariable analysis, as well as to estimate mediated associations between sexual behaviour stigma and HIV infection among transgender women.ResultsIn total, 2456 participants meeting eligibility criteria were recruited, of which 453 individuals identified as being female/transgender. Transgender women were more likely than MSM to report selling sex to a male partner within the past 12 months (p<0.01), to be living with HIV (p<0.01) and to report greater levels of sexual behaviour stigma as compared with MSM (p<0.05). In the GSEM, sexual behaviour stigma from broader social groups was positively associated with condomless anal sex (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=1.33, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.09, 1.62) and with selling sex (AOR=1.23, 95% CI=1.02, 1.50). Stigma from family/friends was also associated with selling sex (AOR=1.42, 95% CI=1.13, 1.79), although no significant associations were identified with prevalent HIV infection.ConclusionsThese data suggest that transgender women have distinct behaviours from those of MSM and that stigma perpetuated against transgender women is impacting HIV-related behaviours. Furthermore, given these differences, interventions developed for MSM will likely be less effective among transgender women. This situation necessitates dedicated responses for this population, which has been underserved in the context of both HIV surveillance and existing responses.

The Loss of Boystown and Transition to Online Sex Work: Strategies and Barriers to Increase Safety Among Men Sex Workers and Clients of Men.

Men sex workers in Vancouver have largely transitioned from street to online solicitation coinciding with losing "Boystown," the main outdoor sex work stroll for men. This article explores strategies and barriers to increase safety among men and trans sex workers and clients of men in Vancouver, Canada. Qualitative interviews were conducted (2012-2013) with 61 self-identifed men who currently buy and/or sell sex in a community-based research project known as CHAPS (Community Health Assessment of Men Who Purchase and Sell Sex). Drawing on a socioecological framework, thematic analysis of interview transcripts was conducted utilizing ATLAS.ti 7 software among men (39 workers; 8 buyers). Narratives indicate that gentrification and urban planning led to social isolation and loss of social support networks among men in the sex industry. Concurrently, the restructuring of sex work to online increased workers' safety and control. Narratives reveal how the Internet can provide greater opportunities to negotiate terms of sex work and enhanced screening using webcams, reducing risks of violence, stigma, and police harassment for both workers and clients compared with the street. This study highlights how losing Boystown led to a loss of community and solidarity: key protective measures for sex workers. Online solicitation increased workers' capacity to screen prospective clients and prevent violence. Recent legal reforms in Canada to further criminalize sex work raise significant concern for human rights and health of individuals in the sex industry, and point to the critical need to include voices of men and trans sex workers and buyers in policy discussions.

Selling Sex, Mothering and ‘Keeping Well’ in the City: Reflecting on the Everyday Experiences of Cross-Border Migrant Women Who Sell Sex in Johannesburg

In Johannesburg, a city with the largest proportion of South Africa’s migrant population, women who sell sex face multiple vulnerabilities including discrimination, criminalisation, and many levels of violence, directed particularly at non-nationals. Drawing from interviews with non-national or cross-border migrant women who sell sex on a regular basis, this paper explores experiences of selling sex, motherhood and ‘keeping well’ through the lens of the city. Noting that violence against sex workers is often identified at an inter-personal and behavioural level (attacks and abuse from clients, the police and the public), this paper seeks to make more visible the unjust and violent structures and practices of the inner-city, which impact upon and negatively shape the everyday experiences and well-being of migrant women as they sell sex. These include difficulties in accessing basic services such as healthcare and childcare, encountering widespread stigmatisation and the misrepresentation or silencing of certain voices within the sex worker movement. Therefore, questioning the ways in which the city is experienced, and in turn how practices of the city have failed migrant women who sell sex, the paper argues for a broader approach, an approach that recognises the complexities and ambiguities inherent in the lived experiences and multiple identities of migrant women themselves rather than through the frames applied to them whether it be that of sex worker, foreigner or mother.

‘I am more than just a sex worker but you have to also know that I sell sex and it’s okay’: Lived Experiences of Migrant Sex Workers in Inner-City Johannesburg, South Africa

A perceived opportunity for improved livelihoods has made Johannesburg a target destination for many internal migrants moving within the borders of South Africa, as well as for cross-border migrants from around the continent and beyond. As a result, many migrants—especially those with irregular documentation—engage in unconventional and sometimes criminalised livelihood strategies, including sex work. This paper uses empirical data from a 2010 mixed methods research study that included a participatory photography project with 11 migrant women from Zimbabwe and elsewhere in South Africa, who sold sex in the migrant-dense suburb of Hillbrow, in inner-city Johannesburg. By focussing on the diverse lived experiences of migrant women who sell sex, this paper examines the ways in which these women survive, engage, and experience their work and the city. Feelings of excitement as a result of new experiences, opportunities for new identities and dreams to be formed, sentiments of nostalgia, concerns and experiences of violence, pride in the ability to survive and earn an income, feelings of loneliness, and negotiations of stigma surfaced throughout the study as participants explained, represented and examined their lives.

Sexually transmitted infections associated with alcohol use and HIV infection among men who have sex with men in Kampala, Uganda

ObjectivesFew studies have been conducted in Africa to assess prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and risk factors among men who have sex with men (MSM). We report findings from...

‘I Do Not Work: I Do Commercial Sex Work’. Ambiguities in the Discourse and Practice of Selling Sex in Mombasa, Kenya

ABSTRACTBuilding on the narratives of women selling sex in Mombasa, this article shows how the livelihoods and strategies of women who self‐identify as sex workers are influenced by the discourses and activities of the NGO sector, the sex workers’ movement, and international tourism on the one hand, and by their struggle for survival and personal advancement on the other hand. More specifically, while the term ‘sex industries’ or ‘sex workers’ — as used by a number of local and international actors — is partly internalized by women selling sex, these terms obscure the more complicated realities of women who seek to secure income for their households.

Prostitution Policy in the Nordic Region: Ambiguous Sympathies. By May-Len Skilbrei and Charlotta Holmstrom (Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2013, 184pp., Hardback, £60:00 GBP)Leaving Prostitution: Getting Out and Staying Out of Sex Work. By Sharon S. Oselin (NYU Press, 2014, 218pp., Paperback, $25 USD)Selling Sex: Experience, Advocacy and Research on Sex Work in Canada. By Emily van der Meulen, Elya M. Durisn

Whilst each being different, when these three texts are read together, they offer the reader a wide range of often related ideas regarding the nuanced nature of sex work in different geographical locations. At first glance, one would be forgiven for imagining that the books would be very different, but there are many commonalities. Skilbrei and Holmstrom’s book offers an in-depth look at the development of Nordic policies pertaining to prostitution, whereas one may be forgiven for assuming Oselin’s text is very much written with a radical feminist agenda given the title ‘ Leaving Prostitution: Getting Out and Staying Out of Sex Work ’. Once one delves into its pages, however, the reality is a text which is not stringently aligned with a radical agenda, although there are problems with the language used, which I note further into this review. Selling Sex offers a rainbow of different perspectives of sex work and, like Prostitution Policy , provides information about experiences across Canada. Prostitution Policy is not so concerned with individual experiences but looks as a number of Nordic countries rather than focusing on one area as Leaving Prostitution does. All three texts offer an analysis of geographically specific experiences of sex work though, which of course can alter depending on where an individual is working—the experience of operating in the sex industry varies not only between country, but also by profession. Selling Sex is particularly useful as this text looks at a variety of ways of selling sex from transgender sex work to stripping and the wide variety of experiences contained within each.

Book review: Emily van der Meulen, Elya M Durisin and Victoria Love (eds), Selling Sex: Experience, Advocacy and Research on Sex Work in Canada

Book review: Emily van der Meulen, Elya M Durisin and Victoria Love (eds), <i>Selling Sex: Experience, Advocacy and Research on Sex Work in Canada</i>

Structural determinants of health among women who started selling sex as minors in Burkina Faso.

To explore the prevalence of and factors associated with initiation of selling sex as a minor. Data were drawn from cross-sectional studies of adult female sex workers (FSW) recruited through respondent-driven sampling in Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. FSW completed a questionnaire that included a retrospective question regarding the age at which they started selling sex. Separate multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted for each city to examine associations with initiation of selling sex as a minor (<18 year old), controlling for current age. Of study participants, 27.8% (194/698) reported selling sex as a minor, ranging from 24.4% (85/349) in Bobo-Dioulasso to 31.2% (85/349) in Ouagadougou. In Ouagadougou, early initiates were more than twice as likely to report someone ever forced them to have sex [age-adjusted odds ratio (aaOR): 2.54, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.53 to 4.23]. In Bobo-Dioulasso, those who started as minors were more likely to report someone ever tortured them (aaOR: 2.29, 95% CI: 1.28 to 4.10). In both cities, early initiates were more likely to not use a condom with a client if offered more money (Ouagadougou aaOR: 2.34, 95% CI: 1.23 to 4.47; Bobo-Dioulasso aaOR: 2.37, 95% CI: 1.29 to 4.36). In Ouagadougou, women who had started selling sex at a young age were half as likely to have been tested for HIV more than once ever (aaOR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.26 to 0.94). In Bobo-Dioulasso, early initiates were less likely to attend HIV-related talks or meetings (aaOR: 0.56, 95% CI: 0.33 to 0.97). A substantial proportion of FSW in Burkina Faso started selling sex as minors. The findings show that there are heightened vulnerabilities associated with selling sex below age 18 years, including physical and sexual violence, client-related barriers to condom use, and lower access to HIV-related services.

Book Review: Selling sex: Experience, advocacy and research on sex work in Canada

Book Review: Selling sex: Experience, advocacy and research on sex work in Canada

Sexual Practices and the Prevalence of HIV and Syphilis among Men Who Have Sex with Men in Lanzhou, China.

We aimed to assess the risk of infections caused by sexual practices and determine the factors affecting the prevalence of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and syphilis among men who have sex with men (MSM) in Lanzhou, China. A survey including 600 MSM was conducted from March 2008 to December 2009. Demographic and sexual behavior data were collected using the snowball sampling technology, and blood samples were obtained. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to determine the predictors of HIV and syphilis infection. The seroprevalence of HIV, syphilis, HCV, and co-infection of HIV with syphilis was 6.0%, 18.0%, 1.3%, and 2.5%, respectively. Use of condoms was more inconsistent in vaginal sex than that in anal sex, buying sex or selling sex. Multivariate analysis showed that MSM with syphilis infection, MSM from other provinces, and MSM of Han ethnicity were more likely to have HIV infection. Further, MSM with HIV infection, inconsistent condom use, and less knowledge about AIDS prevention were more likely to have syphilis infection. Their social background, habit of condom use, and infection status may affect the prevalence of HIV or syphilis. These findings may have important implications for further behavioral interventions among this population.

Drug Use and Sexual Behaviors Among MSM in China

Background: This study explores patterns of drug use and related correlates among a sample of men who have sex with men (MSM) and men who sell sex to other men (aka “money boys”) in China. Objectives: Data were collected from MSM and money boys (MBs) in Shanghai, China using a Community Popular Opinion Leader (CPOL) research design with a self-administered cross-sectional survey to: (1) describe drug use and drug use correlates and (2) examine relationships between drug use and sexual behaviors in general MSM and MBs. Methods: The sample consisted of 402 MSM (203 MBs) who live in Shanghai, China. Descriptive statistics and regression analyses were used to explore associations between drug use and sexual behaviors and make comparisons between MBs and general MSM. Results: MBs reported using more drugs in the last week, 3 months and ever; sex after using drugs, and unprotected sex after using drugs more frequently than general MSM. Additionally, many MBs reported receiving free drugs from their clients and those who did receive free drugs were very likely to report having unprotected sex. Conclusions: It is crucial to increase research and include Chinese MSM and their drug use in the Chinese policy conversation. These data suggest that drug use and sexual behaviors after drug use among Chinese MSM differ widely based upon selling sex and separate intervention strategies may be appropriate.