“Different Strolls, Different Worlds? Gentrification and its Impact on Outdoor Sex Work”

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon S Oselin ◽  
Katie Hail-Jares ◽  
Melanie Kushida
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Small Businesses ◽  
Urban Redevelopment ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Work Conditions ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Strategic Decisions ◽  
Individual Perceptions

Abstract Research reveals mixed findings regarding gentrification’s effects on longtime residents and legal small businesses. There is only minimal examination of the ways in which urban redevelopment impacts illicit outdoor marketplaces, and the studies that do rarely employ a comparative analysis or focus on individual perceptions regarding such changes. Using the case of street-based sex work, this study illuminates how workers in the outdoor trade assess changing work conditions and establishes that such evaluations color workers’ decision-making. We draw on interviews with 51 sex workers of color who are familiar with two divergent sex work “strolls” in Washington, DC. Our findings suggest that participants perceive gentrification as a multifaceted phenomenon that reconfigures their work by altering social support, environmental conditions, and competition, changes which ultimately inform where they ply their trade. This research shows that individuals in illicit outdoor markets consider the ramifications of urban redevelopment on their work and make strategic decisions that have implications for their emotional, physical, and financial well-being.

It’s Not Just Sex: Relational Dynamics between Street-Based Sex Workers and Their Regular Customers

2021 ◽  
pp. 095001702110217
Author(s):  
Sharon S Oselin ◽  
Katie Hail-Jares
Keyword(s):  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Service Industry ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Work Practices ◽  
Considerable Time ◽  
Economic Stability ◽  
Relational Dynamics ◽  
Relational Work ◽  
Boundary Setting

Establishing regular customers is an integral aspect of any service industry since they can increase profits and referrals. Most research on regulars within sex work focuses on indoor, high-end workers, who cultivate them through relational work practices. Yet very little is known about whether street-based sex workers employ these same tactics or even seek out regulars. This article draws upon interviews with 36 street-based sex workers in Washington, DC, USA. Sex workers dedicate considerable time and effort in order to retain regulars via relational work, noting such customers offer greater economic stability and fewer risks. Relational work also has disadvantages, exacerbated by the illicit and illegal nature of this work. Street-based sex workers navigate boundary setting and slippage as a part of retaining or rejecting regular clients. These findings have implications for policies that can reduce harms for sex workers and enhance their protections.

The Case for Decriminalization

2019 ◽  
pp. 169-241
Author(s):  
Jessica Flanigan
Keyword(s):  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Well Being

Sex work should be decriminalized because the criminalization of sex work violates the rights of sex workers and their clients and it has bad consequences. The case for decriminalization has three parts. First, criminalization violates the rights of sex workers and their clients. Second, decriminalization would be better on balance for sex workers’ and clients’ well-being. Third, criminalization is inegalitarian, especially because laws that prohibit the sale or purchase of sex subordinate both sex workers and their clients to fines and incarceration. Throughout this analysis, arguments are developed that fall along a spectrum of idealization.

scholarly journals Drifters, Party Boys and Incumbents: The Life Patterns of Male Street-based Sex Workers

Sociology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Ellison
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Rational Decision ◽  
Life Patterns ◽  
Rational Decision Making ◽  
Male Prostitution ◽  
Male Sex Work ◽  
Male Sex ◽  
Working Practices

This article is based on a qualitative study of male street-based prostitution. It suggests that the street-based sector is more varied, with sellers adopting a wider range of working practices, than is commonly acknowledged in the literature on male prostitution. Drawing on data from Manchester, England, I identify a number of ‘life patterns’ among male street sellers that reflect varied working practices based on issues around rational decision-making and the sex worker’s relationship to place and environment. The discussion has implications for urban policies around street-based sex work but also for a more general understanding of male sex work in an international and comparative perspective.

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.

Using Ethnography to Explore HIV Risk Among Transgender Sex Workers in Washington, DC

2005 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 18-22
Author(s):  
Amy Hardt
Keyword(s):  
Hiv Infection ◽  
Ethnic Minority ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Income Status

In the United States, HIV/AIDS is a health issue that we tend to associate with developing countries in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. The quiet truth is that American HIV infections have remained steady over the past decade, with sex, gender, and race/ethnic minority populations disproportionately affected by AIDS in the 21st century. A subgroup that appears to have one of the highest rates of HIV infection is characterized by a confluence of sex/gender/race/ethnic minority attributes, as well as low-income status. This subgroup comprises male-to-female transgender individuals (MTFs) who engage in street-based commercial sex work (prostitution) in urban centers such as Washington, DC. MTF as a gender and sex work as an employment are not standard categories on the US census, so we do not have the kind of nationwide population data that would be necessary to generate a representative epidemiological profile for this sub-group. However, CDC surveillance does tell us that men of color who sleep with men (MSM) have a growing rate of HIV infection around the country, and the MSM category is understood to include most MTFs who reveal their status to health workers. Also, studies in several cities suggest that HIV among MTF transgenders, and MTF sex workers in particular, may be at epidemic levels. In a 1999-2000 study of 188 MTF transgenders living in the Washington, DC area, thirty-two percent (32%) reported their positive HIV status (Xavier 2000). In a similar study in San Francisco, thirty-five percent (35%) of 392 MTF transgenders actually tested seropositive (Clements-Nolle et al. 2001). Studies with MTF sex workers, such as one with 55 participants conducted in Atlanta, have found over fifty percent (50%) of samples infected with HIV (Boles and Elifson 1994).

scholarly journals When Sex Work Becomes Your Everything

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 373-386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela M. Bayer ◽  
Mijail Garvich ◽  
David A. Díaz ◽  
Hugo Sánchez ◽  
Patricia J. García ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Urban Neighborhoods ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Male Sex Workers ◽  
Transmitted Infection ◽  
Sti Prevention ◽  
Sexually Transmitted ◽  
Need Support

In Peru, there are few studies on male sex workers (MSWs), and existing studies explore limited subgroups or offer limited information about MSWs’ perspectives. This study provides in-depth perspectives from 40 MSWs who work in downtown Lima ( Cercado) and in surrounding urban neighborhoods (non- Cercado) through interviews on their identities, lives, and HIV/STI (sexually transmitted infection) risks and vulnerabilities. Findings are that entry into sex work links economy and affection, particularly among Cercado MSWs. Continued sex work cements this link, making it difficult to exit sex work and establish goals. Ties between economics and affections influence MSWs’ perceived HIV/STI risks, vulnerabilities, and prevention practices. Although Cercado MSWs report higher HIV/STI risks and vulnerabilities than non- Cercado peers, they report fewer prevention practices given inability to buy condoms and acceptance of client offers of higher payment, especially clients they feel affection for. MSWs need support to strengthen their self-perceptions and define and pursue their goals in order to improve their HIV/STI prevention practices, health, and well-being.

scholarly journals Increased burden of suicidality among young street-involved sex workers who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. e152-e157
Author(s):  
Brittany Barker ◽  
Scott E Hadland ◽  
Huiru Dong ◽  
Kate Shannon ◽  
Thomas Kerr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Multivariable Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Estimating Equation ◽  
Elevated Risk ◽  
Generalized Estimating Equation ◽  
At Risk Youth ◽  
Youth Study ◽  
Health And Well Being

AbstractBackgroundThe risks of suicidality among street-involved youth who use drugs and engage in sex work are not well described. This study sought to evaluate if street-involved youth who engage in sex work were at an elevated risk for attempting suicide.MethodsData were derived from the At-Risk Youth Study, a prospective cohort of street-involved youth who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada. Multivariable generalized estimating equation analyses were employed to examine whether youth who engaged in sex work were at elevated risk of attempting suicide, controlling for possible confounders.ResultsBetween September 2005 and May 2015, 1210 youth were recruited into the cohort, of whom, 173 (14.3%) reported recently attempting suicide at some point during the study period. In multivariable analysis, youth who engaged in sex work were significantly more likely to report a recent suicide attempt (adjusted odds ratio = 1.93; 95% confidence interval: 1.28–2.91).ConclusionsStreet-involved youth who engage in sex work were observed to be at a significantly higher risk for suicidality. Systematic discrimination and unaddressed trauma may contribute to the observed increased burden of suicidality among this population. Interventions that support the mental health and well-being of street-involved youth who engage in sex work are urgently needed.

scholarly journals At the Intersection of COVID-19 and Sex Work in the United States: A Call for Social Work Action

Affilia ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 088610992098513
Author(s):  
Nicole F. Bromfield ◽  
Meg Panichelli ◽  
Moshoula Capous-Desyllas
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Community Action ◽  
Sex Trade ◽  
The Impact

The emergence of COVID-19 in the United States in early 2020 has severely disrupted the lives of most Americans, and people engaged in sex trade are no exception. People in sex work encounter multiple challenges when trying to access the services they need, particularly as they fear arrest, stigma, and pathology related to their work. These barriers have been amplified during the global COVID-19 pandemic, as sex trade workers may further lack access to crucially needed health care and may not have a mechanism for generating a basic income to meet their daily survival needs. Using an intersectional feminist lens, in this article, we discuss the impact of COVID-19 on people in sex work while highlighting sex workers’ resiliency and community action in the face of the pandemic. We highlight empowerment work led by black and brown sex worker communities. As authors and advocates, we call for critical feminist social work action that situates social workers as advocates for the human rights, well-being, and health of individuals in sex work, with a focus on centering the voices of those with lived experience and a focus on harm reduction, during and in the lingering aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

scholarly journals Tracing Contradictions of Neoliberal Governmentality in Tijuana’s Sex Industry

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Hofmann
Keyword(s):  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Main Concern ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
Neoliberal Governmentality ◽  
Intention To Move ◽  
Mexico Border ◽  
Selling Sex

My main concern in this article is to illustrate contradictions that neoliberal governmentality produces in the context of sex work in Tijuana. Neoliberal governmentality is a practice of ruling people that interweaves aspirations of individuals with the demands of the market. By theorising governmentality in the context of sex work in Tijuana, it is my intention to move beyond the limited discussion of voluntary versus forced prostitution, in order to stress that sex work has become entangled in ambiguous and simultaneous processes: on the one hand, it can generate personal empowerment and agency, and on the other hand, it demands the individual’s subjection to a neoliberal market regime. The article will explain the liberties allowed by Tijuana’s sex industry, and elucidate why sex workers prefer managerial sex-work arrangements to personalistic ways of selling sex based on pimps as intermediaries. Despite challenges of selling sex, the income generated from sex work at the US–Mexico border allows many women to create new lifestyles. Sex work is used as a strategic means to realise a project of self-actualisation, which is linked to the desire for economic well-being and upward social mobility. Drawing attention to the complicated entanglements of personal strategies and aspirations of sex workers in this particular locale with neoliberal governmentality, the article demonstrates that sex work can simultaneously be a site of oppression and exploitation, and a stepping-stone to personal advancement.

The Role of Place in the Lives of Sex Workers: A Sociospatial Analysis of Two International Case Studies

Affilia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 274-293
Author(s):  
Alison Grittner ◽  
Kathleen C. Sitter
Keyword(s):  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Geographic Location ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Spatial Justice ◽  
Place Theory ◽  
Material Environment

This article conceptualizes how place-based analysis can generate innovative understandings of sex work and spatial justice, including ways in which stigma, well-being, and marginality are embodied in sex work places. Focusing on three interconnected dimensions of place—geographic location, material environment, and sociopower structures—this article examines the unexplored realm of place and sex work. Beginning with an analysis of existing sex work literature and knowledge relating to dimensions of place, we explicate the role of feminist ideologies, juridical contexts, and the built environment as the conceptual and analytic groundwork for a place-based understanding of sex work. Architectural spatial methods then generate a place-based analysis of two case study exemplars: the Residence in Western Canada and the Strichtplatz in Zurich, Switzerland. We conclude by considering avenues to incorporate place theory into sex work research and the social work discipline, ultimately advocating for research, policy, and practice that concomitantly address sex workers’ social and spatial oppression.

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