Sex Work

Question 1

Direct vs. Indirect Sex Work

Answer 1

Direct: street- based, brothel, escorts, independent, (rented apartments) home-based
Indirect: Erotic dance, retail, virtual

Question 2

Assumptions and myths

Answer 2

¯ Sex work is inherently oppressive and sex workers are all victims who need to be saved
¯ Sex workers can not feel empowered, nor do they enjoy their work because its exploitative
¯ They are a homogenous group
¯ Sex workers are a high risk group for HIV
- Sex work and trafficking are the same

Question 3

3 overarching themes

Answer 3

contagion, culpability, risk

Question 4

Total criminalization

Answer 4

Abolish sex work altogether so that it is illegal to buy and sell
If you cut off the supply, there will be no demand
Does this deny the agency of sex workers who choose this kind of work?
Is it even a realistic model?

Question 5

Total decriminalization

Answer 5

Not illegal to buy or sell: no one is criminalized, safety of sex workers is a priority
Operates like a business
What does this model do to sex as an intimate practice?
Does this model lessen the stigma associated with sex work/workers?

Question 6

Partial decriminalization

Answer 6

As of 2014, selling sex is legal in Canada, but most activities related to it are still illegal:
Illegal to buy
Operate a common bawdy-house (brothel/indoor managed space including one’s home)
Live on the avails of prostitution (directed at managers/pimps)
Communicating for the purpose of prostitution in public

Question 7

Recap of Krusi et al: Problems with Canada’s current law

Answer 7

¯ Pushes sex work further underground
¯ Limited effects on deterring women from working
¯ Huge limitations for implementing safety strategies
- Relationship with police changes both positively and negatively

Question 8

Stigma Management

Answer 8

¯ Teela Sanders - Sex Work: A Risky Business (2005)
¯ Exchange of sexual services for money is legal but many activities related to it are not
¯ 55 British participants, all sex workers
¯ 22 participants said they would never be free from the stigma even if they left
¯ 2014 Canadian Report - 20% of sex workers rated their job as very or extremely stressful; in contrast, 43% ranked their personal lives as very or extremely stressful
¯ How do sex workers manage the consequences of stigmatization?

Question 9

Tensions of truth

Answer 9

80% (44 of the participants) were married, long term partner, boyfriend
13 participants didn’t tell partner; 26 said at some point partners did not know

Question 10

Stigma Management- the Johns

Answer 10

¯ Teela Sanders, Paying for Pleasure (2008)
¯ 50 male participants who buy sex in the UK
¯ Most had been buying sex for up to 5 years, but 34% had been buying for over 10 years
¯ 64% exclusively buy sex indoors – massage parlour, escort – only 2 men said they bought sex from the street