scholarly journals Reimagining Sex Work Venues: Occupational Health, Safety, and Rights in Indoor Workplaces

2021 ◽  
pp. 207-230
Author(s):  
Brooke S. West ◽  
◽  
Anne M. Montgomery ◽  
Allison R. Ebben
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Critical Element ◽  
Sex Worker ◽  
Safety Standards

AbstractThe setting in which sex workers live and work is a critical element shaping health outcomes, in so far that different venues afford different sets of risk and protective factors. Understanding how contextual factors differ across venue types and influence health outcomes is thus essential to developing and supporting programmes promoting the rights and safety of people in sex work. In this chapter, we focus primarily on indoor workplaces, with the goals of: (1) elucidating unique social, economic, physical, and policy factors that influence the well-being of sex workers in indoor workplaces; (2) highlighting sex worker-led efforts in the Thai context through a case study of the organisation Empower Thailand; (3) describing best practices for indoor settings; and (4) developing a framework of key factors that must be addressed to improve the rights and safety of sex workers in indoor workplaces, and to support their efforts to organise. The chapter draws attention to convergences and divergences in key challenges that sex workers encounter in indoor venues in different global contexts, as well as opportunities to advance comprehensive occupational health and safety programmes. Indoor venues pose important potential for establishing and implementing occupational health and safety standards in sex work and also may provide substantial opportunity for collective organising given the close proximity of people working together. However, any efforts to improve the health and safety of sex workers must explicitly address the structural conditions that lead to power imbalances and which undermine sex worker agency and equality.

Decriminalisation of sex work in the post-truth era? Strategic storytelling in neo-abolitionist accounts of the New Zealand model

2020 ◽  
pp. 174889582091889 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynzi Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Sex Work Policy ◽  
Knowledge Claims

In the context of on-going debates regarding sex work laws, in most jurisdictions forms of criminalisation continue to dominate. Despite decades of sex workers calling for the decriminalisation of sex work and collectively organising against repressive laws, decriminalisation remains uncommon. New Zealand was the first full country to decriminalise sex work with the passing of the Prostitution Reform Act in 2003, which aimed to improve occupational health and safety. Several empirical studies have documented positive impacts of this framework. However, despite this, neo-abolitionists persistently describe the New Zealand model as a failed approach. This article examines neo-abolitionist knowledge claims regarding the New Zealand model and in doing so unpacks the strategic stories told about this approach, considering the implications for sex work policy making.

Why “Sex Work” Cannot Be Understood as Just Another Form of “Work”

2019 ◽  
pp. 75-127
Author(s):  
Flanigan Jessica
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Safety Standards ◽  
Legal Standards

Watson critically engages with the often-repeated argument that “sex work is work like any other form of work.” Advocates of this argument rely upon it as a basis for either decriminalization or legalization. Watson dismantles this claim by showing that where sex is the “service,” occupational health and safety standards applicable to every other form of work cannot be met. Further, the various ways in which persons in prostitution may be thought of as “workers” is explored and arguments are given that relevant legal standards in the context of discrimination laws and employment laws cannot be met in the context of “sex work.” Thus, the burden of argument falls on advocates of decriminalization to legalization to argue for a series of exemptions from generally applicable laws. However, such exemptions are unwarranted, do not achieve their aims, and would require institutionalizing inequality for persons in prostitution.

scholarly journals The use of Information and Communication Technologies by sex workers to manage occupational health and safety: a scoping review. (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Therese Bernier ◽  
Amika Shah ◽  
Lori E. Ross ◽  
Carmen Logie ◽  
Emily Seto
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Scoping Review ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Information And Communication

BACKGROUND In many countries sex work is criminalized, driving sex work underground and leaving sex workers vulnerable to a number of occupational health and safety (OHS) risks, including violence, assault and robbery. With the advent of widely accessible information and communication technologies (ICTs), sex workers have begun to use electronic OHS tools to mitigate these risks. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to explore the use of ICTs by sex workers in managing OHS risks and strategies to reduce these risks. This paper aims to answer the following question: What is known about sex workers’ usage of information and communication technologies in the delivery of OHS strategies? METHODS A literature review following the methodological framework of Arksey et al and Levac et al was conducted to analyze studies describing the usage of ICTs by sex workers to mitigate OHS risks. Experimental, observational, and descriptive studies, as well as protocol papers, were included in this scoping review. RESULTS Of the 2477 articles initially identified, 41 met the inclusion criteria. 71% of the studies (N=29) were published between 2015 and 2019. In the studies, the Internet was the predominant ICT (58%), followed by text messaging (24%), and assorted communication technologies associated with mobile phones without Internet access (17%) (e.g., interactive voice response (IVR), voice-mail). In 56% of the studies (N=23), sex workers located in high income countries created the OHS strategies (e.g., bad date lists, violence prevention) and shared them via the Internet. In 24% of the studies (N=10), mostly in LMICs, organizations external to sex work developed and sent, via text message, OHS strategies focused on STI/HIV. In 20% (N=8) of the studies, external organizations collaborated with the sex worker community in the development and study of OHS strategies communicated via ICTs; through this collaboration, concerns other than STI/HIV (e.g., sexual and reproductive health, mental health) emerged. CONCLUSIONS While there has been an increase in studies on the use of ICTs by sex workers for managing OHS over the past five years, the knowledge around how to optimally leverage ICTs for this purpose remains scarce. Recommendations to further the use of ICTs by sex workers for OHS include (1) that external organizations collaborate with sex workers in the design of ICT interventions to mitigate OHS risks, (2) to examine whether ICTs used in LMICs would have applications in high income countries as a substitute to the Internet in sharing OHS strategies, and (3) to explore the creation of innovative secure online communities using existing or alternative digital technologies that could be used by sex workers to manage their occupational health and safety

Debating Sex Work

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Flanigan ◽  
Lori Watson
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Occupational Health ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Safety Standards ◽  
Sex Equality ◽  
Worker Autonomy

In this “for and against” book Lori Watson argues for a sex equality approach to prostitution in which buyers are criminalized and sellers are decriminalized (the Nordic Model). Jessica Flanigan argues that sex work should be fully decriminalized. Watson defends the Nordic Model on the grounds that prostitution is an exploitative and unequal practice that entrenches existing patterns of gendered injustice. Watson also argues that full decriminalization of prostitution is incompatible with existing occupational health and safety standards and securing worker autonomy and equality. Watson further argues that sex trafficking and prostitution are functionally similar such that the distinction is irrelevant for public policy; attacking demand is necessary to address the inequalities that fuel both. Flanigan argues that sex work should be decriminalized because restrictions on the sale and purchase of sex violate the rights of sex workers and their clients. Flanigan also suggests that decriminalization would have better consequences than policies that expose sex workers and their clients to criminal penalties, and that once we consider that public officials can also stand in relations of subordination to citizens, decriminalization is a more egalitarian approach than alternative policies.

scholarly journals Compatibility as guiding principle for ergonomics work design and preventive occupational health and safety

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helmut Strasser
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
System Performance ◽  
Occupational Diseases ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Work Design ◽  
Human Organism ◽  
Machine System ◽  
Human Capacity

AbstractMutual adaptation and inter-changeability of system elements are very important prerequisites for machines, technical devices and products. Similar to that technical compatibility which can be achieved by standards and regulations, optimum design of human-oriented workplaces or a man-machine system cannot be attained without, e.g., a compatible arrangement of connected displays and controls. Over and above those stimulus/response relations, all technical elements and interfaces have to be designed in such a way that they do not exceed human capacity in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance. Compatibility between the properties of the human organism on the one hand, and the adaptable technical components of a work system on the other hand, offers a great potential of preventive measures. Examples of ergonomically designed working tools show that compatibility is capable of reducing the prevalence of occupational diseases and repetitive strain injuries as well as leading to lower physiological cost in such a way that the same output results from a lower demand of human resources or even a higher performance will be attained. Compatibility also supports the quick perception and transmission of information in a man-machine system, and as a result of lower requirements for decoding during information processing, spare mental capacity may enhance occupational safety. In the field of software, compatibility also helps to avoid psychological frustration. All in all, the center core competency, which reflects the major significant function of the ergonomist in work design, consists in determining the compatibility of human capacity and planned or existing demands of work. In order to provide efficient working tools and working conditions as well as to be successful in occupational health and safety, ergonomics and industrial engineering in the future are expected to pay more attention to the rules of compatibility. Applied in an appropriate way, these rules may convince people that ergonomics can be a powerful means for reducing prevalence of occupational diseases and complaints, and has a positive effect on overall system performance. Besides presenting examples of work design according to the principle of compatibility, also methods will be shown which enable the assessment of the ergonomic quality of hand-held tools and computer input devices.

scholarly journals Foreword and Introduction to This Issue on Contemporary Safety Topics in Animal Research

ILAR Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-126
Author(s):  
John Bradfield ◽  
Esmeralda Meyer ◽  
John N Norton
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Animal Research ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
The Status ◽  
Safety Considerations ◽  
Animal Care ◽  
Health And Well Being

Abstract Institutions with animal care and use programs are obligated to provide for the health and well-being of the animals, but are equally obligated to provide for safety of individuals associated with the program. The topics in this issue of the ILAR Journal, in association with those within the complimentary issue of the Journal of Applied Biosafety, provide a variety of contemporary occupational health and safety considerations in today’s animal research programs. Each article addresses key or emerging occupational health and safety topics in institutional animal care and use programs, where the status of the topic, contemporary challenges, and future directions are provided.

scholarly journals Smart occupational health and safety for a digital era and its place in smart and sustainable cities

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 8831-8856
Author(s):  
María-Isabel Sánchez-Segura ◽  
◽  
German-Lenin Dugarte-Peña ◽  
Antonio de Amescua ◽  
Fuensanta Medina-Domínguez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Support Service ◽  
A Value ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Prevention Model

<abstract> <p>As innovative technologies emerge, there is a need to evolve the environments in which these technologies are used. The trend has shifted from considering technology as a support service towards making it the means for transforming all complex systems. Smart cities focus their development on the use of technology to transform every aspect of society and embrace the complexity of these transformations towards something leading to the well-being and safety of people inhabiting these cities. Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) is an essential aspect to be considered in the design of a smart city and its digital ecosystems, however, it remains unconsidered in most smart city's frameworks, despite the need for a specific space for smart OHS. This paper summarizes a 9-month process of generation of a value proposition for evolving the sector of OHS based on a value-map in whose creation several stakeholders have participated. They focused on identifying the products, the methods, the organizational structures and the technologies required to develop an updated, dynamic and robust prevention model focused on workers in smart and complex contexts, and to improve the organizations' capability to guarantee safety even in the most changing, digital and disruptive settings. To assess the relevance and validity of this value-map, a study was carried out to match the set of its elements and its specific and conceptual products discovered, considering also the definition of the past needs and future trends of the sector that a set of renowned stakeholders and key opinion leaders (with mastery in OHS from several companies and industries) have recently defined for the decade of 2020. A prospective analysis of this match is presented, revealing that there is still an existing gap to be covered in the context of smart cities design: the explicit guarantee of safety for workers.</p> </abstract>

scholarly journals Occupational Health and Safety Standards of Foreign Seasonal Farm Workers: Evaluation of Personal Protection Measures, Policies and Practices

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Swarna Weerasinghe
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Occupational Health And Safety ◽  
Farm Workers ◽  
Agricultural Workers ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Safety Standards ◽  
Seasonal Farm Workers ◽  
Policies And Practices

Health and safety standards are paramount to all agricultural workers and more so to the foreign seasonal farm workers. European, North American and Oceanic agricultural sector heavily depends on the foreign workers migrating temporarily to carryout seasonal agricultural work that are not attractive to local citizens. The aim of this chapter is to critically analyze existing workplace health and safety measures, policies and practices of Foreign agricultural workers with a secondary focus on Canadian public health standards that applies to COVID-19 pandemic control and beyond. During the pandemic, many countries opened international labour migration as a measure of economic recovery. Recent news media reported two Caribbean workers in the Canadian Agricultural sector, had died of COVID-19 complications. The basis of this chapter is the research based evidence that the author carried out on occupational health and safety standards of the population of foreign seasonal farm workers using a multi-method data collection: a scoping review of existing standards, policies and practices and personal interviews with seasonal agricultural workers and their employers. This chapter provides a critical analysis of data from multiple sources and from multiple jurisdictions to uncover gaps and malpractices of existing occupational health and safety practice standards for illness and injury prevention of foreign seasonal farm workers.

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