A ‘segmented’ sex industry in New Zealand: sexual and personal safety of female sex workers

2001 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Libby Plumridge ◽  
Gillian Abel
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Personal Safety ◽  
Female Sex

Selling Sex as an Edgework: Risk Taking and Thrills in China’s Commercial Sex Industry

2018 ◽  
Vol 63 (8) ◽  
pp. 1306-1329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eileen Yuk-ha Tsang
Keyword(s):  
Risk Taking ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Female Sex Worker ◽  
Sex Worker ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Selling Sex

Academic discussions of the sex industry need to consider sex worker’s experience within the conceptual framework of “edgework.” Edgework is voluntary risky activity that combines danger with excitement and emotional pleasure. This article argues female sex worker must weigh possible outcomes in terms of the resulting benefits or consequences. The notion of edgework articulated by Stephen Lyng proposed there is a fine line for risky behavior going from pleasurable and manageable to turning dangerous and chaotic. This description of edgework applies to female sex workers, and needs to be extended to individualization in the Chinese context. Research data collected from two distinct ethnographies in Dongguan (195 sex workers) and Hong Kong (39 sex workers). The research findings provide insights into the experiences and motivations of an underexamined niche segment of sex workers. A significant number of sex workers embody the perspective of edgework to maintain self-esteem in difficult circumstances. For example, edgework explains several aspects of sex work including notions of excitement and personal pleasure, developing skills within the craft, developing interpersonal networks with peers, and gaining personal happiness through fulfilling sexual desire.

scholarly journals A Systematic Review of Factors Influencing Condom Use among Female Sex Workers

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlin McLachlan ◽  
Tinashe Dune
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Condom Use ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Perceived Risk ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Future Research ◽  
High Risk Population ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
Male Clients

A systematic review of research published in English was conducted across seven electronic databases in public health, social and psychological sciences. The aim was to ascertain the factors that influence condom use among female sex workers in the commercial sex industry globally. The perspectives and experiences of 29,112 female sex workers (FSWs) and 1,792 male clients of FSWs with regards to condom use are represented across the 47 studies included in this review. Key themes comprised of Perceived self-efficacy, Relationship Types, Condom use and Attitudes, Violence and Abuse, Location and Support, Knowledge and Perceived Risk, Perception and Perspectives of Male Clients, Drug and Alcohol use, Criminalisation and Price and Payment. Female sex workers are defined as a high-risk population for HIV/AIDS. Condoms were used less frequently in situations where structural and cultural determinants heavily impacted the experiences and decisions of FSWs. Cultural contextual factors also heavily impacted on the perspectives and perceptions of male clients and their attitudes towards condom use. Criminalization and anti-sex work legislation in many of the countries where these studies were conducted meant that FSWs were a socially marginalised and ostracized population. Recommendations are explored for theory, practice and education and future research.

scholarly journals Ethical and Safety Issues in Doing Sex Work Research: Reflections From a Field-Based Ethnographic Study in Kolkata, India

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 893-908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunny Sinha
Keyword(s):  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Safety Issues ◽  
Female Sex

While much has been said about the risks and safety issues experienced by female sex workers in India, there is a considerable dearth of information about the difficulties and problems that sex work researchers, especially female researchers, experience when navigating the highly political, ideological, and stigmatized environment of the Indian sex industry. As noted by scholars, there are several methodological and ethical issues involved with sex work research, such as privacy and confidentiality of the participants, representativeness of the sample, and informed consent. Yet, there has been reluctance among scholars to comment on their research process, especially with regard to how they deal with the protocols for research ethics when conducting social and behavioral epidemiological studies among female sex workers in India and elsewhere. Drawing on my 7 months of field-based ethnographic research with “flying” or non-brothel-based female sex workers in Kolkata, India, I provide in this article a reflexive account of the problems encountered in implementing the research process, particularly the ethical and safety issues involved in gaining access and acceptance into the sex industry and establishing contact and rapport with the participants. In doing so, it is my hope that future researchers can develop the knowledge necessary for the design of ethical and non-exploitative research projects with sex workers.

Prevalence of sexual difficulties among female sex workers and clients attending a sexual health service

2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 613-616 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thiloma Munasinghe ◽  
Richard D Hayes ◽  
Jane Hocking ◽  
Jocelyn Verry ◽  
Christopher K Fairley
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Health ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Satisfaction With Life ◽  
Demographic Characteristics ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
Sexual Health Service ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Overall Life Satisfaction

The objective of this study was to determine the proportion of sex workers and non-sex workers with sexual difficulties. Consenting female sex workers (93) and non-sex worker clients (178) attending the Melbourne Sexual Health self-answered an anonymous questionnaire about demographic characteristics, sexual behaviour, prevalence of sexual difficulties with private partners, distress regarding one's sex life, and physical pleasure, emotional satisfaction with sex and overall satisfaction with life. The demographic characteristics, sexual behaviours, prevalence of painful sex (34% versus 42%), orgasmic difficulty (43% versus 40%), vaginal dryness (45% versus 36%) and performance anxiety (28% versus 37%), physical pleasure and emotional satisfaction with sex and overall life satisfaction among sex workers was similar to that of non-sex workers, respectively. Sex workers were more likely to experience sexual disinterest (odds ratio 1.9, (95% confidence interval 1.1, 3.2) and less likely to report being distressed about their sex life ( P = 0.04). The prevalence of sexual difficulties, other than desire was similar to those of non-sex workers. These findings may be relevant only to sex workers operating in a highly regulated sex industry.

Saving 'face' and 'othering': getting to the root of barriers to condom use among Chinese female sex workers

Sexual Health ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenifer Chapman ◽  
Claudia S. Estcourt ◽  
Zhou Hua
Keyword(s):  
Hiv Prevention ◽  
Condom Use ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Chinese Women ◽  
Sexual Transmission ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
Cultural Systems ◽  
Semistructured Interviews

Background: China has one of the most rapidly expanding HIV epidemics in the world with sexual transmission between female sex workers (FSW) and clients accounting for a rising fraction of new infections. Successful HIV prevention relies on the delivery of relevant, culturally appropriate messages to influence behaviour change. However, the cultural systems that give rise to barriers to condom use among Chinese FSW have been poorly examined. A better understanding of these barriers is fundamental to global HIV prevention efforts particularly considering increasing international migration of Chinese women who go on to engage in sex work in their migrant country. Methods: We conducted semistructured interviews with 23 FSW incarcerated in a re-education and detention centre in Shenzhen, China in July to August 2004. Results: All respondents were internal economic migrants who had entered the sex industry in pursuit of greater financial reward. Respondents explained that they would ‘lose face’ if they returned from their migration penniless. Women’s distinction between commercial and non-commercial partners was very subtle; the nature of ‘boyfriend’ relationships was diverse and these were often transactional. Condom use was influenced by gender norms, familiarity, a desire to ‘save’ and ‘give’ face and, in transactional relationships, whether more money was offered. Women felt HIV was a disease of ‘others’; only two women felt personally at risk. Conclusions: The present study has highlighted the importance of unique cultural structures in Chinese FSW sexual decision-making, an understanding of which will enhance the success of HIV-prevention efforts globally.

Rethinking China's HIV/STI Epidemics: Fieldnotes from the Sex Industry in Southern China, Summer 2011

2012 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 19-23
Author(s):  
Luyi Xu
Keyword(s):  
Sex Workers ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Middle Aged ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
Women's Lives ◽  
Town Center ◽  
The Town ◽  
Main Streets

I remember following the ethnographer down a long and narrow alley that led towards a neighborhood concealed right behind the town center. The loud traffic on the main streets gradually faded away, and I started to see lodges stretching out in rows. In front of almost every door sat a woman, young or middle-aged, fanning herself in the heat as she waited. Some were nicely dressed up, some wore heavy make-up; some, however, looked just like most women out on the street. If a man passed by, these women would stand up, warmly wave to him, and ask him to stay. We made a turn, and I saw more lodges and more women; we made another turn, and I saw even more. This was how I started my summer internship in Beach City, 1 a small urban town in southern China. In the following 12 weeks, I repeatedly returned to these lodges; with each turn of that long and narrow alley I unveiled slightly more of an entirely different world, and each visit added to my discoveries about the women's lives here. It was the biggest site of the low-tier sex industry in the town, where more than 100 female sex workers (FSW) worked as freelancers in rented lodges.

Risk factors for HIV infection among sex workers in Johannesburg, South Africa

2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 256-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
K L Dunkle ◽  
M E Beksinska ◽  
V H Rees ◽  
R C Ballard ◽  
Ye Htun ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Hiv Infection ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Sexually Transmitted ◽  
Female Sex

Our objective was to determine the prevalence and risk factors for HIV infection among female sex workers in Johannesburg, South Africa. A cross-sectional survey of female sex workers was conducted using interviewer-administered questionnaires. Prevalent sexually transmitted infections including HIV were evaluated through standard laboratory testing. HIV infection was identified in 137 (46.4%) of 295 subjects tested. Increasing frequency of condom use was significantly negatively associated with HIV infection (odds ratio [OR] for moderate use = 0.21; 95% confidence interval [CI]: [0.09, 0.50]; OR for high use = 0.14; 95% CI: [0.06, 0.34]). Sex workers aged ≥29 years reported significantly different patterns of behaviour than younger workers. Among women aged ≥29, a negative association with HIV infection (OR = 0.16; 95% CI: [0.07, 0.38]) was found, but only among those not infected with Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Older women in the Johannesburg sex industry may have adaptive behavioural strategies besides condom usage which reduce their risk of acquiring HIV. However, older sex workers with gonorrhoea constitute a high-risk subgroup.

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