scholarly journals Del paradigma higienista a las teorías de la interseccionalidad. La construcción social de la ocupación de trabajadoras sexuales

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Teodora Hurtado Saa
Keyword(s):  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Alternative View ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
The Social ◽  
Colombian Women ◽  
Las Mujeres ◽  
Trabajadoras Sexuales ◽  
Sex Market

Resumen: Este artículo versa sobre el actual estado    de la teorización, de la terminología y del conocimien- to empírico relativo a la producción social y ejercicio del trabajo sexual, con atención especial a las teorías    y conceptos que estructuran el tema de la participación diferenciada de las mujeres en general, y de las muje- res con características étnicas/raciales subalternizadas en particular, en el mercado del sexo. Se delinea una postura alternativa a los planteamientos convenciona- les higienistas, criminalistas o victimistas desde donde tradicionalmente se ha analizado la cuestión. Adicio- nalmente, se reflexiona sobre el crecimiento, expansión y modernización de la industria del sexo, en la que algu- nos países post-industrializados asumen la condición de demandantes y los países en vía de desarrollo, la de ofer- tantes de mano de obra para el consumo de experiencias sexuales de diferente índole. De igual modo, se delibera sobre la importancia que tiene la comercialización del sexo, para el desarrollo económico de algunos países y el trabajo sexual como estrategia de “rebusque” frente a los embates de la vida cotidiana. Asimismo, describimos las formas de explotación y de ejercicio del oficio de tra- bajadoras del sexo.Palabras claves: Mercado global del sexo, construcción de la ocupación, interseccionalidad, trabajo sexual, mu- jeres afrocolombianas, sexualidades disidentesFrom the Hygienist Paradigm to Intersectionality. The Social Construction of Sexual WorkAbstract: The present article deals with the current state of the theorizing, the terminology and the empirical knowledge about the social production and exercise of sex work, with special attention to theories and concepts that structure the subject of the different participation in the sex trade of women in general, and of women with subalternized ethnic/racial features in particular. It de- lineates an alternative view to conventional hygienist approaches, or criminal or victimization approaches, traditionally used to analyze the issue. In addition, this paper reflects on the growth, expansion and moderniza- tion of the sex industry, in which some post-industrialized countries provide the demand and developing countries provide the supply of labor for the consumption of sexual experiences. Similarly, it discusses the importance of the commercialization of sex for the economic development of some countries and of sex work as a strategy of look- ing for informal work while coping with the ravages of everyday life. It also describes the forms of exploitation of sex workers in the exercise of their profession. Key words: global sex market, occupation, intersection- ality, sex work, Afro-Colombian women, dissident sexu- alities

scholarly journals Ocuparse en la industria del sexo: ¿Una estrategia de supervivencia frente a la crisis?

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra María Ríos Marín
Keyword(s):  
Sex Workers ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
Labor Rights ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Migrant Women ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Social ◽  
Trabajadoras Sexuales ◽  
El Estigma

Introducción: El artículo presentado forma parte de un estudio más amplio sobre el trabajo en prostitución por mujeres migrantes extranjeras en la provincia de Almería, España. El objetivo particular del artículo es analizar los diferentes discursos de las personas trabajadoras sexuales, que encuentran en esta actividad una estrategia económica frente a la crisis y un medio para alcanzar sus objetivos migratorios, a pesar de las desigualdades sociales que enfrentan.Método: La investigación de carácter etnográfico, se desarrolló en diferentes escenarios de desempeño de la industria sexual (clubes, pisos privados, bares, asentamientos de migrantes y prostitución de calle), entre 2009 y 2012 en el marco del programa de “Reducción de Daños y Promoción de la Salud” de la organización no gubernamental Médicos del Mundo (MDM). Los instrumentos de investigación han sido las entrevistas estandarizada y en profundidad, a las trabajadoras sexuales y la observación en escenarios de la industria sexual, dentro la provincia de Almería.Resultados: La industria sexual en la provincia de Almería la dinamizan mujeres, varones, y transexuales de diversos orígenes -África, Europa y Latinoamérica; siendo mayor la representación del colectivo femenino, el cual acumula una serie de desigualdades sociales que dificultan la inserción laboral en otros sectores productivos de la provincia. Enfrentadas a las duras circunstancias personales y sociales, en las cuales trascurren sus trayectorias migratorias, tengan o no permiso de residencia y trabajo, emplearse en la industria del sexo, dentro de la provincia, constituye también una estrategia de supervivencia para algunas mujeres migrantes extranjeras que no encuentran otra fuente de empleo.Discusión o Conclusión: El estado alegal de la prostitución en algunos países de la Unión Europea, incluyendo España, fomenta la explotación laboral y agudiza la vulnerabilidad de este colectivo. La prostitución no está prohibida ni reconocida como trabajo, por lo tanto, los derechos sociales y laborales de las personas trabajadoras del sexo no son reconocidos, lo que tiene consecuencias directas en otros factores de vulnerabilidad, tales como: la estigmatización, el acoso policial y el aislamiento social. Ocuparse en la industria del sexo: ¿Una estrategia de supervivencia frente a la crisis? Revista Internacional de Estudios Migratorios, ISSN: 2173-1950, 2016, Vol.6 (2), pp. 269-291. - 271 - Las trabajadoras sexuales son mujeres con capacidad de agencia, con capacidad de transformación, aunque encorsetadas por el estigma social que las margina y excluye. Introduction: The paper presented is part of a larger study on work in prostitution by foreign migrant women in the province of Almeria, Spain. The main objective of this article is to analyze the different discourses of individuals engaged in sex work who use this activity, as an economic strategy and an alternative against financial crisis and means to achieve their immigration goals, despite the social inequalities they face.Method: Ethnographic research, developed in different stages and at different settings where the individuals working on the sex industry perform (clubs, private homes, bars, settlement of migrants and street prostitution), between 2009 and 2012 under the program "Harm Reduction and Health Promotion "of the Non-Governmental Office Doctors of the World. The research instruments were the in-depth and standardized interview with individuals working on the sex industry and observation of different sex industry scenarios within the province of Almeria.Results: The dynamics of the sex industry in the province of Almeria is comprised by women, men, and transgender people from diverse backgrounds-Africa, Europe, and Latin America; however, the greater representation still comes from women's collective, this group accrues a range of social inequalities that hinder employment in other productive sectors of the province. Challenged by the harsh personal and social circumstances in which their migratory paths elapse, with or without residence and or work permits and being employed in the sex industry in the province, also constitutes a survival strategy for some foreign migrant women who have no other source of employment. Alexandra Mª Ríos Marín - 272 - Revista Internacional de Estudios Migratorios, ISSN: 2173-1950, 2016, Vol.6 (2), pp. 269-291.Discussion or Conclusion: The lawless state of prostitution in some countries of the European Union, including Spain, promotes labor exploitation and increases the vulnerability of this group. Prostitution is not prohibited or recognized as work, therefore, social and labor rights of people working on the sex industry are not recognized, which has direct consequences for other vulnerabilities, such as stigmatization, police harassment, and social isolation. Sex workers are women capable of agency, with processing capacity, though corseted by the social stigma that marginalized and excluded them.

scholarly journals Labouring in the Sex Industry: A Conversation with Sex Workers on Consent and Exploitation

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 86
Author(s):  
Francine Tremblay
Keyword(s):  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Service Industry ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Cultural Symbol

Sex work in all its forms is an occupation that belongs to the service industry, and like any other work, sexual labour is open to exploitation. However, the reason why sex work is seen to be different from other forms of labour is that it betrays the socially accepted rules of love and intimacy and is exercised within a criminalised environment. As a cultural symbol, sex work remains steadfastly linked to aberration and dangerousness. This article juxtaposes the legal and lay definitions of consent and exploitation based on conversations with fourteen Canadian sex workers. The objective of this exploratory article is to delve within two ill-defined and highly contested notions related to the sex industry—consent and exploitation.

scholarly journals Precarious or Protected? Evaluating Work Quality in the Legal Sex Industry

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 173-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Orchiston
Keyword(s):  
Sex Work ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Industry Regulation ◽  
Regulatory Model ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Legal Sex

Decriminalising (or legalising) sex work is argued to improve sex workers’ safety and provide access to labour rights. However, there is a paucity of empirical research comparing how different regulatory approaches affect working conditions in the sex industry, especially in relation to venues that are managed by third parties. This article uses a mixed methods study of the Australian legal brothel sector to critically explore the relationship between external regulation and working conditions. Two dominant models of sex industry regulation are compared: decriminalisation and licensing. First, the article documents workplace practices in the Australian legal brothel sector, examining sex workers’ agency, autonomy and control over the labour process. Second, it analyses the capacity of each regulatory model to protect sex workers from unsafe and unfair working conditions. On the basis of these findings, the article concludes that brothel-based sex work is precarious and substantively excluded from the protective mantle of labour law, notwithstanding its legality. It is argued that the key determinant of conditions in the legal brothel sector is the extent to which the state enforces formal labour protections, as distinct from the underlying regulatory model adopted.

Migration, Agency, and the Sex Industry: Practitioners’ Perspectives on Foreign Sex Workers in Turkey

2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (10) ◽  
pp. 2954-2981
Author(s):  
Omur Kaya ◽  
Edna Erez
Keyword(s):  
Sex Workers ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Sociocultural Factors ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Legal Reforms ◽  
Sex Market ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Depth Interviews

The article presents the political, economic, and sociocultural factors that make Turkey an attractive destination for foreign sex workers, and reviews trends in official statistics of arrested traffickers, rescued victims, and deportation of migrant illegal sex workers. In-depth interviews of 20 law enforcement and nongovernmental organizations staff members, who in the course of their work come into close contact with foreign sex workers, shed light on the statistics. The interview data provide insights into the structure of the Turkish sex market, the factors that bring foreign women to work in this market, and the impact of legal reforms on the circumstances of foreign sex workers. The article concludes with the implications of the findings for public policy.

scholarly journals Female Subversion through Sex Work: Transgressive Discourses

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-137
Author(s):  
Marta Olasik
Keyword(s):  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Gender And Sexuality ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
Lesbian Studies ◽  
The One

The main objective of this article is to provide a multi-faceted and spatially-sensitive reflection on sex work. Taking as a point of departure subversive feminist politics on the one hand and the much contingent notion of citizenship on the other, I intend to present various forms of prostitution as potentially positive and empowering modes of sexual and emotional auto-creation. Informed by the leading research of the subject, as well as inspired and educated by Australia-based Dr Elizabeth Smith from La Trobe University in Melbourne, who had researched and presented female sex workers as self-caring and subversive subjects who make own choices and derive satisfaction from their occupation, I wish to seek academic justice for all those women (and men or trans people, for that matter) in the sex industry who feel stigmatized by political pressure and ultra-feminist circles across Europe. Translating Dr Smith’s significant research into European (and Polish) social realities would be a valuable contribution to the local discussions on gender and sexuality, and axes they intersect with. More importantly, however, a framework of a conceptual interdisciplinary approach needs to be adopted—one in which a specific queer form of lesbian feminist reflection is combined with human geography, both of which have much to offer to various strands of sociological theory and practice. Therefore, as a queer lesbian scholar based in Poland, I would like to diverge a bit from my usual topic in order to pay an academic and activist tribute to the much neglected strand of sociology of sex work. However, my multi-faceted and interdisciplinary academic activity allows me to combine the matter in question with the field of lesbian studies. Both a female sex worker and a lesbian have been culturally positioned through the lens of what so-called femininity is, without a possibility to establish control over their own subjectivities. Hence, on the one hand the article is going to be an academic re-interpretation of sex work as such, but on the other, methodological possibilities of acknowledging and researching lesbian sex workers will be additionally considered with special attention to feminist epistemologies and praxis. While a sensitivity to a given locality is of utmost importance when dealing with gender and sexuality issues, I would like to suggest a somewhat overall approach to investigating both female empowerment through sex work and lesbian studies inclusive of sex workers. Importantly, the more common understandings of the sex industry need to be de-constructed in order for a diversity of transgressive discourses to emerge.

scholarly journals Female street sex work in Belgrade as risk environment for a syndemic production: A qualitative study

2017 ◽  
Vol 145 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 611-617
Author(s):  
Bojan Zikic ◽  
Milos Milenkovic
Keyword(s):  
Social Environment ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Medical Conditions ◽  
Risk Environment ◽  
Environment Factors ◽  
The Social ◽  
Street Sex Work ◽  
Syndemic Theory

Introduction/Objective. Although female street sex workers are contextually vulnerable to numerous health-endangering factors, they also contribute in re-producing them. This synergetic production is approached by syndemic theory developed within medical anthropology. The objective of the study is to present an analysis of the results of a qualitative ethnographic study conducted in Belgrade, Serbia in 2015, and reflect upon social environment factors influencing syndemic development of medical conditions. Methods. The risk environment factors enhancing possibilities of developing particular medical conditions were investigated by applying qualitative anthropological methodology, emphasizing semi-structured in-depth interviews, a standard qualitative sample, and respondents? self-reporting. Results. Social environment of sex work, generally considered risky due to sexually and blood-transmitted diseases, in this study also proved as receptive for many other illnesses, whose syndemic character has been insufficiently addressed. The study confirmed the syndemic nature of street sex work. Conclusion. The social science perspective should be used in health policy conceptualization and implementation not only during latter stages, i.e. in the interpretation of the social conditions influencing medical related issues, but during early stages of understanding how those conditions and issues circularly constitute each other.

Introduction: The Cultural Study of Commercial Sex: Taking a policy perspective

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Hammond ◽  
Feona Attwood
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Study ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Commercial Sex ◽  
Policy Perspective ◽  
Cultural Life ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Sexual Commerce ◽  
Selling Sex

The transformation of the sex industry since 2000 has meant that the image of the ‘street prostitute’ touting for business on dark street corners is less representative of sex work or sex workers than it has ever been. Much of our knowledge about the sex industry, and about wider transformations of economic, intimate and cultural life, is out of date (Bernstein, 2007a), and policy processes are taking place within the context of limited or outdated knowledge. The growth in visibility, consumption and diversity of sexual commerce is now well recognised (Weitzer, 2000; Agustín, 2005; Scoular and Sanders, 2010) and commercial sex industries are known to operate across a variety of locations, and within specific modes of production and consumption, which are historically, contextually and culturally contingent and where ‘the meaning of buying and selling sex is not always the same’ (Agustín, 2005: 619).

scholarly journals Identifying human trafficking indicators in the UK online sex market

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Giommoni ◽  
Ruth Ikwu
Keyword(s):  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Female Sex Workers ◽  
Screening Process ◽  
Effective Screening ◽  
Female Sex ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Sex Market

AbstractThis study identifies the presence of human trafficking indicators in a UK-based sample of sex workers who advertise their services online. To this end, we developed a crawling and scraping software that enabled the collection of information from 17, 362 advertisements for female sex workers posted on the largest dedicated platform for sex work services in the UK. We then established a set of 10 indicators of human trafficking and a transparent and replicable methodology through which to detect their presence in our sample. Most of the advertisements (58.3%) contained only one indicator, while 3,694 of the advertisements (21.3%) presented 2 indicators of human trafficking. Only 1.7% of the advertisements reported three or more indicators, while there were no advertisements that featured more than four. 3, 255 advertisements (19.0%) did not contain any indicators of human trafficking. Based on this analysis, we propose that this approach constitutes an effective screening process for quickly identifying suspicious cases, which can then be examined by more comprehensive and accurate tools to identify if human trafficking is occurring. We conclude by calling for more empirical research into human trafficking indicators.

scholarly journals Psychiatric Morbidity and Social Exclusion among Sex Workers - A Review of Literature

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 312-322
Author(s):  
Anugraha Varghese
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Psychiatric Morbidity ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Commercial Sex ◽  
Sex Worker

Abstract: "Commercial sex workers" refers to those who engage in prostitution, and have been used in the literature on the subject over a period of time. The term has been adopted, which is free of the complex, derogatory and sexist connotations, which are often linked with the concept of a "slut". Sex work includes a wide variety of activities, including the exchange of foreign currency (or an equivalent) for the purchase of sex, and sexual services. Sex work has been attributed to several psychiatric issues, including physical violence as a child, sexual assault as a child, adult domestic discrimination, substance abuse, trauma etc. Commercial sex work, according to Medrano, and Gilchrist, is often correlated with the socio-demographic disadvantage such as ethnic minority, low-income, food and nutrition, and a lack of education and training. Sex workers may be exposed to the stigma of the action, and, therefore, have a high risk for psychiatric morbidity. There is indeed a scarcity of literature into how sex workers deal with mental health and stigma. The stigma of the sex industry would have a direct impact on the mental health of sex workers. The need to control, and the risk of selective disclosure of the sex work is the usual on-the-job. The objective of this review is to examine the current literature on sex workers, with a focus on health as well as other forms of social isolation such as disability, homelessness, and drug abuse. There aren't many articles dedicated to mental health, social isolation, or sex work. The paper is divided into three sections based on three major themes. The very first theme looks at the causes that lead to insecurity, social isolation, and sex work participation. The second topic examines how exclusionary mechanisms impact sex workers' mental health and the most common mental illnesses in the sex worker population. Finally, the third topic considers how exclusionary mechanisms impact the lives of sex workers, as well as the various degrees of social exclusion faced by different classes of sex workers. Sex workers, especially on-the-street, off-the-street, transient, and trafficked sex workers, face potential threats and sickness. Several of these impediments are connected to wider questions of social exclusion that go far beyond sex work. Keywords: Sex worker, psychiatric morbidity, social exclusion, sex work stigma, factors affecting entrance into sex workers.

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