scholarly journals The Invisible Women: Migrant and Immigrant Sex Workers and Law Reform in Canada

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (14) ◽  
pp. 90-116
Author(s):  
Jamie Chai Yun Liew
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Legal Reform ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Legal Institutions ◽  
Parliamentary Debates ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Invisible

This article examines how migrant and immigrant sex workers have been rendered invisible before the courts and parliament in the reform of laws regarding sex work in Canada. A discourse analysis of the expansive legal record in the Bedford case and the transcripts of Parliamentary debates and testimony before Standing Committees confirm the lack of nuanced discussion on how criminal law reform could impact migrant and immigrant sex workers. As such, while the case of Bedford and the resulting change in the law made by Parliament have been celebrated as a win for some sex workers as an acknowledgment, recognition and judicial validation of experiences by legal institutions of sex workers, a sub-group of women – migrant and immigrant sex workers – remain in the shadows. This article examines how law excludes migrant and immigrant sex workers; it is a starting point for research on how migrant and immigrant sex workers may participate in future legal reform.

Born unto Brothels—Toward a Legal Ethnography of Sex Work in an Indian Red-Light Area

2008 ◽  
Vol 33 (03) ◽  
pp. 579-629 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prabha Kotiswaran
Keyword(s):  
Sex Work ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Red Light ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Market Structures ◽  
Light Area

The global sex panic around sex work and trafficking has fostered prostitution law reform worldwide. While the normative status of sex work remains deeply contested, abolitionists and sex work advocates alike display an unwavering faith in the power of criminal law; for abolitionists, strictly enforced criminal laws can eliminate sex markets, whereas for sex work advocates, decriminalization can empower sex workers. I problematize both narratives by delineating the political economy and legal ethnography of Sonagachi, one of India's largest red-light areas. I show how within Sonagachi there exist highly internally differentiated groups of stakeholders, including sex workers, who, variously endowed by a plural rule network—consisting of formal legal rules, informal social norms, and market structures—routinely enter into bargains in the shadow of the criminal law whose outcomes cannot be determined a priori. I highlight the complex relationship between criminal law and sex markets by analyzing the distributional effects of criminalizing customers on Sonagachi's sex industry.

Stigma, decriminalisation, and violence against street-based sex workers: Changing the narrative

Sexualities ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 1288-1308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynzi Armstrong
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Worker Safety ◽  
Worker Rights ◽  
Sex Worker ◽  
Multiple Risks ◽  
Ongoing Work ◽  
Starting Point

It is well documented that sex workers manage risks in their work – such as the potential for violence and the multiple risks associated with stigma. While sex workers are commonly understood to be a stigmatised population, few studies have considered in depth how stigma operates in different legislative contexts, how it relates to sex-worker safety, and how it may be reduced. Stigma is understood to be exacerbated by the criminalisation of sex work, which defines sex workers as deviant others and consequently renders them more vulnerable to violence. However, as full decriminalisation of sex work is still relatively rare, there has been little in-depth exploration into the relationship between this legislative approach, risks of violence, and stigma. Drawing on the findings of in-depth interviews with street-based sex workers and sex-worker rights advocates, in this article I explore the links between stigma and violence, and discuss the challenges of reducing stigma associated with sex work in New Zealand, post-decriminalisation. I argue that while decriminalisation has undoubtedly benefited sex workers in New Zealand, stigma continues to have a negative impact – particularly for street-based sex workers. Decriminalisation should therefore be considered an essential starting point. However, ongoing work must focus on countering stigmatising narratives, to enable a safer society for all sex workers.

The representation of sex work in the Greek Press

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-194
Author(s):  
Christos Sagredos
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Corpus Linguistics ◽  
Negative Stereotypes ◽  
News Discourse ◽  
The Press ◽  
Huge Impact ◽  
The Media

Abstract The representation of sex work in the media has received little to no attention in the field of linguistics and discourse analysis. Given that news discourse can have a huge impact on public opinions, ideologies and norms, and the setting of political agendas and policies (van Dijk 1989), the study adopts a Corpus-Assisted Critical Discourse Analysis (CACDA) approach (Baker, Gabrielatos, KhosraviNik, Krzyżanowski, McEnery & Wodak 2008), seeking to explore whether journalists reproduce or challenge negative stereotypes vis-à-vis sex work. Examining 82 articles published in three Greek newspapers (Kathimerini, TA NEA, Efimerida ton Syntakton) in 2017, this paper considers the lexico-grammatical choices that are typically involved in the representation of sex work and sex workers in the Press. Drawing on Systemic Functional Linguistics, the Discourse Historical Approach and corpus linguistics, the analysis links the textual findings (micro-level context) with the discourse practice context (meso-context) as well as the social context in which sex work occurs (macro-context). Findings illustrate that although sex work in Greece has been legalised for about two decades, traces of abolitionist discourses can be found in the Press, building barriers in the emancipatory efforts of sex workers who stand up for having equal civil and labour rights as their fellow citizens.

Chile's Criminal Law Reform: Enhancing Defendants' Rights and Citizen Security

2012 ◽  
Vol 54 (03) ◽  
pp. 65-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lydia Brashear Tiede
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Legal Institutions ◽  
Fixed Effects Model ◽  
Pretrial Detention ◽  
Democratic Development ◽  
Citizen Security ◽  
Number Of Individuals

AbstractMany democratic governments in Latin America have implemented broad judicial reforms, some of which are aimed at making criminal law and legal institutions more transparent and modern. Although such reforms are important for democratic development, scholars debate whether the reforms result in more rights for defendants and whether they jeopardize citizens' perceptions about security. Using two original datasets and a fixed-effects model, this study shows that groundbreaking criminal law reforms in Chile have improved certain aspects of defendants' rights by decreasing the number of individuals in pretrial detention. Chileans' perceptions about crime and violence in regions where the reforms were implemented also have improved. Chile's success appears to be due to the government's commitment to the reforms, as well as to concerted and consistent efforts by the police to fight crime. These results have implications for other countries implementing similar significant reforms.

Representatie van sekswerk in Nederland: een vergelijking tussen Jojanneke in de prostitutie en Filemon op de Wallen

2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 166-184
Author(s):  
Linda Duits ◽  
Floor Boschhuizen
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Red Light ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Red Light District ◽  
Restrictive Policy

Abstract Representation of sex work in the Netherlands: a comparison between Jojanneke in de prostitutie and Filemon op de Wallen Since 1999, sex work in the Netherlands has been partly legalized. Despite a reputation of tolerance, Dutch media represent sex workers as victims, opening the door to more restrictive policy. In this article, we report on a discourse analysis of two documentary series, Jojanneke in the prostitution (2015) and Filemon in the Red Light District (2017). We show that stigmatizing discourses dominate the former: sex work is brought as a gruesome, criminal practice, that even as a chosen profession is unattractive, where Dutch natives and escorts are the exception to the rule and where women lack agency. The latter title is more ambivalent. Discourses of sex work as work dominate, but it also emphasizes that sex work is an unattractive profession where Eastern-European workers are naive victims and that is inextricably related to crime. Recommendations for journalists to counter stigma are made.

Regulating and representing camming: Strict limits on acceptable content on webcam sex platforms

2021 ◽  
pp. 146144482110591
Author(s):  
Hanne Marleen Stegeman
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Sexual Expression ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Digital Platforms ◽  
Sexually Explicit

This article analyses the discursive construction of the limits of webcamming in terms of service agreements by BongaCams, LiveJasmin and Chaturbate, three of the world’s most popular webcam sex platforms. Through this analysis, the moderation practices in the webcamming industry are examined. Regulation of sexual platforms and its implications for representations of online sex work are still largely unclear. Through a critical discourse analysis of seven webcam platform terms of service documents, this article scrutinises the norms for camming as dictated by industry leading platforms. This analysis shows that these platforms, for legal and financial reasons, reject the idea of camming as sexually explicit or as (sex) work. Such a construction of camming limits sexual expression online, obstructs online sex workers’ labour rights and perpetuates sex work stigma. This article sheds light on how digital platforms can establish and maintain norms which regulate users’ online expressions, working conditions and representations.

scholarly journals Homophobia and Homonationalism: LGBTQ Law Reform in Canada

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Smith
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Legal Reform ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Sex Behavior ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Criminal Convictions ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
Liberal Government ◽  
The One

This article explores the tensions and contradictions between the recognition of same-sex relationships and the development of legal prohibitions against discrimination on the one hand versus the ongoing symbolic and actual criminal regulation of gay sex on the other hand. I describe these tensions as they have unfolded over the last 40 years through the most recent attempts by the Liberal government of Justin Trudeau, elected in 2015, to reform the criminal law, to expunge the record of past criminal convictions for same-sex behavior, and to apologize and compensate lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) communities for past discrimination. I argue that this bifurcated pattern of public policy change and legal reform demonstrates the persistence of political homophobia alongside of homonationalist celebration of queer normativity. By considering the federal government’s long-standing failure to reform criminal laws that encapsulate formal-legal inequality of LGBTQ people, the article highlights the persistence of homophobic public policy alongside homonationalist policy discourse and genuine progress in the legal recognition of queer rights. I conclude by considering the implications of this mix for theorizing homophobia and homonationalism in law and policy.

scholarly journals The Continued Criminality of Selling Sex: A Trajectory of South African Sex Work Law Reform

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Amanda Spies
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Constitutional Rights ◽  
The South ◽  
Sex Work Policy ◽  
Rights Discourse

Abstract This article explores the regulation of sex work in South Africa and follows the trajectory of the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC) in investigating whether sex work should be decriminalized. The legal regulation of sex work is a hotly contested topic. South Africa currently criminalizes the selling and buying of sex, but policy reform has been on the cards since the SALRC launched its project on the topic in the early 2000s. As most sex work policy responses are grounded in feminist theory, the article analyses the main theoretical ideologies and questions the influence of these ideologies in structuring sex work law reform in the South African context. The author calls for a more inclusive understanding of feminism and sex work, and the need to acknowledge the importance of rights discourse in furthering political growth and protecting sex workers’ constitutional rights.

scholarly journals Governing Sex Work Through Crime

2017 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Graham
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Sex Work ◽  
Criminal Law ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
The State ◽  
Border Control ◽  
England And Wales ◽  
And Control

This article uses Jonathan Simon’s concept of ‘governing through crime’ as a framework to argue that the state has framed sex work, and its surrounding problems, as issues of crime. There has been a privileging and proliferation of criminal justice responses to sex work in England and Wales, at the expense of more social or welfare-based responses and at the expense of creating safer environments for sex workers to work. Criminal law is used to manage and control sex work, to reinforce other policies, such as immigration and border control, and to appear to be doing something about the ‘problem’ of sex work without providing rights to sex workers. By framing sex work as an issue of crime, with sex workers being both the perpetrators of crime and the potential victims of exploitative crime, the state is able to legitimise its actions against sex workers, while ignoring the harm done to sex workers by the state.

scholarly journals How Sex Worker Activism Influenced the Decriminalisation of Sex Work in NSW, Australia.

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 50-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eurydice Aroney ◽  
Penny Crofts
Keyword(s):  
Sex Work ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
New South ◽  
Law Reform ◽  
Select Committee ◽  
Amnesty International ◽  
Sex Worker ◽  
South Wales ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of

In 2015, Amnesty International joined over 200 sex worker organisations in the call for nations to decriminalise sex work. Despite this, only two jurisdictions in the world, New Zealand and New South Wales (NSW; Australia), have adopted this approach. This article examines the role that sex worker activists played in sex work law reform in NSW through their representative organisation, the Australian Prostitutes Collective (APC). The APC produced and submitted groundbreaking research to the Select Committee of the NSW Legislative Assembly on Prostitution (1983–1986) whose recommendations laid the foundation for the decriminalisation of sex work in NSW. This article contributes to a developing history of the contribution of sex worker activism to law reform. It explores why it is so important that sex worker voices are included in the process of reform, and how meaningful consultation with sex workers helped shape and invoke a radical policy and legal transformation.

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