Sex Sellers Research Articles

HIV-Related Knowledge and Health Care Seeking Barriers among Transgender Individuals in a Megacity of Bangladesh: A Cross-sectional Study

The prevalence of HIV among Transgender is 1% in Bangladesh while only 0.9% in Dhaka City.Being minority group barriers faced by transgenders for healthcare-seeking are major public health concerns. Thus, the study aims to find out the HIV-related knowledge and health care seeking barriers among transgender individuals in dhaka city. This was a cross-sectional study purposively selecting 135 transgender from Drop-in-center and three Hijra pollis of Dhaka City. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire containing a Likert scale regarding HIV-related knowledge. Majority were professional sex sellers including 54.10% having irregular sexual clients while 48.9% had been engaged in sex work for more than 10 years. Although more than half (57%) had good HIV-related knowledge. Only one-third (37.30%) sometimes used barrier method and more than half (58%) had knowledge of HIV symptoms. The barriers were negligence (16%), inconvenient location (12.43%), shame (13.45%), judgment (11.68%), fear (7.60%) and long waiting time (8.10%). Transgenders from Drop-in-center had higher HIV-related knowledge compared to ones from hijra pollis [t (95% CI)=.168, p<.001]. Those having HIV-related higher knowledge did not feel the necessity of isolated health corners [t (95% CI)= -3.799, p<.001]. Although DIC provides healthcare services, but existing facilities barriers need to be addressed to extend health services.

‘Looking back, I don’t quite recognise myself’: Narratives of the past in prostitution

This paper uses George Herbert Mead’s theory on time and the self in an analysis of qualitative interviews with sex sellers in Denmark. We show how exit from prostitution is associated with a gradual change of participants’ conceptions of commercial sex, bringing them in alignment with a ‘social problems’ approach to prostitution. From being conceptualised as a predominantly positive phenomenon, associated with ‘easy money’, power/self-affirmation and thrill, prostitution becomes a predominantly negative phenomenon, associated with ‘hard-to-earn-money’, subordination and repulsion. When transforming their conceptions of commercial sex, participants take over the view on prostitution that is dominant in Danish society – a view that defines commercial sex as inherently problematic and sex sellers as a ‘vulnerable group’ in need of rescue.

Decriminalization and What Else? Alternative Structural Interventions to Promote the Health, Safety, and Rights of Sex Workers

Researchers have argued that the current punitive approaches to regulating sex work expose underlying structures that seek to preserve a social order embedded with stigmas related to the race, gender, sexuality, class, and migration status of sex sellers (Benoit et al [...]

여성인권 보장을 위한 성매매 법제에 관한 연구

According to Korea's current law, both sex sellers and sex buyers, who are parties to prostitution, are punished, but those forced to sell sex due to hierarchy and power are excluded from the punishment, and the burden of proof of the damage is placed on women in prostitution. Although prostitution is currently illegal, the market size of prostitution is estimated to be more than 30 trillion won, and it is becoming more organized and intelligent. At the same time, the problem of human rights violations such as exploitation and violence against sex-selling women is accelerating. This shows that the current method of regulating prostitution has limitations in eradicating prostitution, blocking demand, and protecting the human rights of prostitution women. Above all, the current punishment clause for both parties of prostitution is abused as a means of threatening women even if they are victims of various crimes such as sexual violence and abuse. In addition, if prostitution women fail to prove the damage that they were forced to trade sex by others, they will eventually be punished, which makes them hesitate to report. In this situation, practical solutions are needed to effectively block the growing demand for prostitution and to protect prostitution women, and as part of this, it is essential to consider the Nordic model of punishing sex buyers and brokers without punishing sex sellers.

Prostitution Arrest Spatial Forecasting in an Era of Increasing Decriminalization

There is ongoing debate regarding the merits of decriminalization or outright legalization of commercial sex work in the United States. A few municipalities have officially legalized both the selling and purchasing of sex, while others unofficially criminalize purchasing sex but have decriminalized its sale. In addition, there are many other locales with no official guidance on the subject but have unofficially decriminalized sex work by designating specific areas in an urban landscape safe from law enforcement for commercial sex, by quietly ceasing to arrest sex sellers, or by declining to prosecute anyone selling or attempting to sell sex. Despite these efforts, it remains crucial to understand where in an urban area commercial sex exchanges occur—legalization and decriminalization may result in fewer arrests but is likely to increase the overall size of the sex market. This growth could result in an increase in sex trafficking victimization, which makes up the majority of commercial sex sellers in any domestic market. Given the distribution of prostitution activities in most communities, it is possible to use high-fidelity predictive models to identify intervention opportunities related to sex trafficking victimization. In this research, we construct several machine learning models and inform them with a range of known criminogenic factors to predict locations hosting high levels of prostitution. We demonstrate these methods in the city of Chicago, Illinois. The results of this exploratory analysis identified a range of explanatory factors driving prostitution activity throughout Chicago, and the best-performing model correctly predicted prostitution frequency with 94% accuracy. We conclude by exploring specific areas of under- and over-prediction throughout Chicago and discuss the implications of these results for allocating social support efforts.

Prostitution Decriminalization Campaigns in the United States: Libertarianism or a "Decent Society"?

Recently, legislative campaigns to totally decriminalize the sex trade industry in a handful of U.S. states and the District of Columbia failed, but a look at campaign supporters and their arguments demonstrates that libertarian principles are mainly guiding their efforts. This article explores how libertarianism principles, when applied to the sex trade, could bring about severe and lasting harm to others, including sellers of sex, potential victims of sex trafficking to meet the new demand, and the general community. Philosophic principles of liberty have been incorporated by courts, which find that liberty is never absolute and requires a balancing test in order to create a "decent society."

Prostitution Decriminalization Campaigns in the United States: Libertarianism or a "Decent Society"?

Recently, legislative campaigns to totally decriminalize the sex trade industry in a handful of U.S. states and the District of Columbia failed, but a look at campaign supporters and their arguments demonstrates that libertarian principles are mainly guiding their efforts. This article explores how libertarianism principles, when applied to the sex trade, could bring about severe and lasting harm to others, including sellers of sex, potential victims of sex trafficking to meet the new demand, and the general community. Philosophic principles of liberty have been incorporated by courts, which find that liberty is never absolute and requires a balancing test in order to create a "decent society."

A Mule for the Patriarchy: Waking Up to the Harm of Prostitution to Wives and Families

I exited from commercial sexual exploitation eight years ago. Here, I share my reflections on how my actions directly impacted other women. I describe how my participation in the sex trade adversely affected the wives and girlfriends of sex buyers. I posit that sex sellers negatively impact these vicarious victims by subscribing to and endorsing “sex work” ideology. I assert that the collective good of all women is diminished by viewing sexual services as a market commodity. I stress that the collective good of all women is enhanced by assuming responsibility and compassion for one another.

“Not a Real Prostitute”: Narrative Imagination, Social Policy, and Care for Men who Sell Sex

The dominant cultural narrative of sex-selling involves female sellers and male buyers, consistent with governing notions of sexual desire and sexual performance more generally. Likewise, needing and receiving care is conventionally coded as feminine. Analysis of semi-structured qualitative interviews with 21 cisgender male sex sellers in Denmark leads us to consider how storylines and discursive boundaries having to do with sex work, sexuality, gender, and care shape narrative imagination in ways that inhibit the participation of male sex sellers in programs that provide the kind of care they may need. Respondents described different experiences of and pathways into sex work. However, both respondents who enjoyed selling sex as well as respondents who suffered found it difficult to imagine themselves as participants in service-providing programs. Rather, they deemed programs designed to provide care and support to sex sellers the exclusive province of women. The paper clarifies the importance of cultivating narrative imagination among male sex sellers, policymakers, and care providers in order to develop and deliver more adequate policies and effective programs for male sex sellers in need of care.

Women Who Trade Sexual Services from Men: A Systematic Mapping Review

Most research on transactional sex frame men as buyers and females as sellers of sex. We conducted a systematic mapping review of the empirical research on transactional sex where women form the demand (buyer) and men the supply (seller). We included 46 studies, of which 25 explicitly researched women as buyers of sex from male sellers, and 21 studies where this topic was a subset of larger topics. The majority of research on women who trade sexual services from men is published in the last 15 years, by female researchers, using cross-sectional or qualitative/ethnographic design, and from the perspective of males as sellers. While the women appear to be mature and financially independent, the men are young and socioeconomically vulnerable. Men’s main motivation for the sexual-economic exchanges with women is financial, whereas women’s motivations are largely satisfaction of sexual needs and a stereotyped erotic fantasy of black male hypersexuality. Condoms are often not used. Our review shows that there is a – possibly growing and diversifying – female consumer demand for male sexual services, and transactional sex where women trade sex from men is a complex social phenomenon firmly grounded in social, economic, political, and sexual relations.

Changes in Arrest Patterns of Buyers and Sellers of Commercial Sex: An Interrupted Time-Series Analysis

Although the commercial sex trade consists of three distinct parties—buyers, sellers, and facilitators—sellers are the most likely to be criminalized for their role in prostitution. In 2015, the Texas state legislature passed Senate Bill (S.B.) 825. This bill created separate offense codes for buyers and sellers of commercial sex. Prior to this, buyers and sellers were legally indistinguishable from each other under Texas law. Legally distinguishing buyers from sellers recognizes that different roles exist within the commercial sex trade, and serves as a necessary prerequisite for creating divergent pathways for individuals in these roles (e.g., targeting buyers with criminal sanctions, but providing sellers with access to victim services and diversion programs). This study examined whether S.B. 825 was associated with a shift in the number of buyers and sellers arrested for prostitution in Harris County, Texas. Findings revealed that the enactment of S.B. 825 corresponded with an increase in the number of prostitution arrests buyers accounted for, and an observable decrease in the number of prostitution arrests sellers accounted for. These changes remained relatively stable over a one-year period after the bill took effect.

Controlling intimacy: Sexual scripts among men and women in prostitution

Inspired by sexual scripting theory, this article analyses intimacy and control in prostitution. The authors identify two strategies for maintaining control among male and female sex sellers. The first strategy is to restrict prostitution to relationships with as much sexual reciprocity as possible. The other is to maintain sexual/emotional distance from customers – yet often acting the opposite. The article questions prevailing stereotypes about male sex sellers being more agentic and autonomous than female sex sellers, arguing that control in prostitution can be achieved (and lost) in different ways. The analysis shows how scripting theory – with its differentiation between the cultural, interpersonal and intrapsychic levels of scripting – may be used to understand variations and contradictions in prostitution experiences. The article is based on 36 qualitative interviews with men and women in escort services, clinic prostitution and prostitution in private apartments in Denmark.

Individual or Structural Inequality? Access and Barriers in Welfare Services for Women Who Sell Sex

It is often taken for granted that women who sell sex are vulnerable, that welfare services can and should alleviate this vulnerability, and as such, being defined as ‘vulnerable’ can be beneficial and associated with special rights that would otherwise be inaccessible. At the same time, ongoing debates have demonstrated that establishing individuals and groups as vulnerable tends to mask structural factors in inequality and has negative consequences, among them an idea that the path to ‘non-vulnerability’ lies in changing the ‘afflicted’ individuals or groups, not in structures or in addressing unequal access to resources. In this article, we take this as a starting point and discuss challenges for the welfare state in meeting the varied and often complex needs of sex sellers. Based on qualitative research with service providers in specialised social and health services in Norway, we examine access and barriers to services among female sex sellers as well as how vulnerability is understood and shapes what services are available. An important feature of modern prostitution in Norway, as in the rest of Western Europe, is that sex sellers are predominantly migrants with varying migration status and corresponding rights to services. This has influenced the options available to address prostitution as a phenomenon within the welfare state and measures that have previously been helpful for domestic women in prostitution are not easily replicated for the current target population. A starting point in a theoretical understanding that considers vulnerability to be a human predicament (rather than the exception to the rule or a deficit in individuals or groups) allows for a discussion that highlights the centrality of structural conditions rather than a need for change in the individual. In order to understand the limitations of the welfare state in addressing modern prostitution as such, it is highly relevant to look at the structural origin of vulnerabilities that may look individual.

Criminal Justice System Outcomes for Buyers, Sellers, and Facilitators of Commercial Sex in Houston, Texas

This study draws upon the economic model of prostitution to explore the relationship between gender, prostitution role, and criminal justice system outcomes. Official court data for 1,027 prostitution arrestees from Harris County (Houston), Texas, were used to differentiate participants by their role in the commercial sex trade (buyer, facilitator, or seller). Logistic regression results indicate that gender differences persist for case dismissal and plea deal acceptance among prostitution arrestees even after controlling for their criminality and role in the prostitution offense. Although gender does not influence the likelihood of conviction, buyers are significantly less likely to be convicted than sellers. Implications from these findings, as well as limitations and suggestions for further research, are discussed.

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.

Can Prostitution Law Reform Curb Sex Trafficking? Theory and Evidence on Scale Substitution, and Replacement Effects

Sex trafficking, a pervasive problem in many parts of the world, has become increasingly salient to policymakers and the general public. Activists, politicians, and scholars continue to engage in debates about how best to curb it. This Article discusses one especially contentious dimension of these debates: does banning prostitution reduce sex trafficking? Or is legalizing prostitution the optimal approach? Or is there a third, better way? Proceeding both theoretically and empirically, this Article seeks to cast light on the relationship between different types of prostitution laws and the prevalence of sex trafficking and human trafficking. It attempts to make three contributions to the literature. First, it builds on existing theories of the link between the demand for purchased sex and the supply of sex-trafficking victims to create a simple ordinal measure of prostitution laws. This measure, which the Article dubs the Prostitution Law Index (PLI), captures not only whether prostitution overall is legal or illegal, but whether buying sex is legal or illegal and whether selling sex is legal or illegal, which better reflects the actual cross-country variation in prostitution laws. The PLI takes into account scale, substitution, and replacement effects in the market for prostitution, where scale refers to increases in the prevalence of trafficking that are caused by growth of the overall market for prostitution; substitution to decreases in trafficking caused by current consumers who purchase sex with trafficking victims and, based on the risk of criminal sanction, shift to instead purchasing sex with individuals who voluntarily sell sex, thereby crowding out trafficking victims; and replacement to decreases in trafficking caused by new voluntary sellers of sex who, incentivized by changes in prostitution laws, enter the market and crowd out trafficking victims. The PLI ranks prostitution laws across countries on a four-point scale (from 1 to 4), based on their expected effectiveness (from least to most effective) in reducing sex trafficking. Second, the study uses a recent dataset provided by the European Union to map the statistical relationship between PLI scores and prevalence of sex trafficking, based on the Article’s theory of scale, substitution, and replacement effects. The analysis suggests that there generally is an inverse relationship between a country’s PLI score and the prevalence of trafficking in that country. Greater legislative efforts to reduce scale and to increase substitution and replacement appear, on average, to be associated with lower levels of sex trafficking. Third, the Article presents a basic Difference-in-Differences analysis—on the basis of extremely limited data and thus with an unusually large number of caveats— of Norway’s 2009 prostitution law reform. Tentative results indicate that the Norwegian reform, which made it legal to sell but illegal to buy sex, may potentially have helped reduce the prevalence of trafficking there.

Criminalizing Prostitution: The United States' Resistance to Relinquish One of Its Last Strongholds on Women's Rights

This note examines how the United States has dealt with the practice of prostitution from its origins to the current date through a feminist lens. From its inception, the United States has used laws regarding prostitution as a mechanism to keep all women’s carnal activities in check. Over time, the law has progressed to punish male buyers as well as women sellers of sex; however, the laws only serve equality on their face and women have suffered gravely through criminalization. Although decriminalization would cure the disparate treatment of the sexes, the United States has only been willing to employ laws that maintain its stronghold over a woman’s sexual freedom.

Should US Physicians Support the Decriminalization of Commercial Sex?

According to the World Health Organization, "commercial sex" is the exchange of money or goods for sexual services, and this term can be applied to both consensual and nonconsensual exchanges. Some nonconsensual exchanges qualify as human trafficking. Whether the form of commercial sex that is also known as prostitution should be decriminalized is being debated contentiously around the world, in part because the percentage of commercial sex exchanges that are consensual as opposed to nonconsensual, or trafficked, is unknown. This paper explores the question of decriminalization of commercial sex with reference to the bioethical principles of beneficence, nonmaleficence, and respect for autonomy. It concludes that though there is no perfect policy solution to the various ethical problems associated with commercial sex that can arise under either criminalized or decriminalized conditions, the Nordic model offers several potential advantages. This model criminalizes the buying of sex and third-party brokering of sex (i.e., pimping) but exempts sex sellers (i.e., prostitutes, sex workers) from criminal penalties. However, ongoing support for this type of policy should be contingent upon positive results over time.

The Relationship between Prostitution Laws and Sex Trafficking: Theory and Evidence on Scale, Substitution, and Replacement Effects

Sex trafficking is a pervasive problem in many parts of the world. This study investigates the relationship between different types of prostitution laws and the prevalence of sex and human trafficking across European countries using data that covers 2008-2010. The Article attempts to make three contributions to the literature.First, it builds on existing theories of the link between the demand for purchased sex and the supply of sex trafficking to create a simple ordinal measure of prostitution laws that better reflects the actual cross-country variation in prostitution laws compared with a binary variable that merely indicates whether prostitution is legal or illegal. The measure is called the Prostitution Law Index and is based on a very rudimentary framework that analyzes forms of scale, substitution, and replacement effects in the market for prostitution. Scale refers to increases in the prevalence of trafficking that are caused by growth in the overall size of the market for prostitution. Substitution refers to when current consumers begin to purchase sex with individuals who voluntarily sell sex rather than with trafficking victims. Replacement refers to when new voluntary sellers of sex enter the market and crowd out trafficking victims. The index ranks prostitution laws across countries on a four-point scale (from 1 to 4) based on expected effectiveness (from least to most effective) in terms of reducing the prevalence of sex trafficking.Second, the study uses a new dataset provided by the European Union to study the relationship between Prostitution Law Index scores and prevalence of sex trafficking. Cross-country analyses suggest that there generally appears to be a negative relationship between a country’s Prostitution Law Index score and the prevalence of trafficking. Greater legislative efforts to reduce scale and to increase substitution and replacement — as captured by a higher score in the index — appear to, on average, be associated with lower levels of sex trafficking.Third, the Article presents a basic Difference-in-Differences analysis — with very limited data and thus with many caveats — that seeks to study the causal impact of Norway’s implementation in 2009 of a set of prostitution laws that made it legal to sell sex, but illegal to buy sex (the category of laws that receives the highest index score). Tentative results suggest that this legal reform may potentially have caused some reduction in the prevalence of trafficking.

Sex-habit and Sexually Transmitted Infection (STIs) Among The Drug Abusers Undergoing Detoxification

Drug abuse is increasing alarmingly with time among the young-adults in Bangladesh. The objective of the study was to investigate sex-habit and STIs of the drug abusers. A total of 1076 drug abusers undergoing detoxification voluntarily at the Central Drug Addiction Treatment Centre (CTC), Tejgaon, Dhaka were investigated from September 2010 to August 2011. They were selected consecutively on the basis of defined selection criteria. Research instrument was an interviewer questionnaire and blood specimen. Results showed that 82.1% (n=883) were heterosexual and 16.2% (n=174) had no sex. The majority of them (55.3%, n=595) had enjoyed sex with multiple partners. They enjoyed sex with commercial sex sellers (11.1%, n=119) but majority of them (34.2%, n=368) had sex with all categories including spouse. Results also showed that majority of them had unethical sex, of which 24.9%(n=268) had experience about extramarital sex and 30.4%(n=327) premarital sex respectively. Around 55.0%(n=594) of them did not use condom during sex and 21.9%(n=236) used it occasionally. The 14.5%(n=156) of them had signsymptoms of gonorrhea and syphilis, of which 1.8%(n=19) had genital ulcer, 3.7%(n=40) genital discharge and 9.0%(n=97) had both ulcer and discharge respectively. In laboratory analysis, 16.3%(n=175) had STIs positive results, of which 9.9%(n=107) were RPR reactive, 1.8%(n=19) URS reactive and 4.6%(n=49) both RPR and URS reactive respectively. In drug habit, results also showed that 82.6% (n=889) of them had been using heroin and the rests used cannabis (8.6%, n=93), phensedyl (5.4%, n=58) and injections (3.3%, n=25) respectively. Forty two percent (n=455) of them had been abusing it for 1-5 years, 31.4% (n=338) for 6-10 years and 26.3%(n=283) for 11-20 years. Most of them (91.1%, n=980) used multiple illicit drugs and their ultimate choice of drug was heroin (77.3%, n=832). About 22.6%(n=243) addicts abused injection drugs in their lifetime. Altering behaviors, especially their drug habit and sexual lifestyle are still the only applicable ways to stop this human catastrophe. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jom.v14i1.14529 J MEDICINE 2013; 14 : 5-10