tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/sex-work-3235/articlesSex work – The Conversation2024-02-12T14:14:27Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2221682024-02-12T14:14:27Z2024-02-12T14:14:27ZKenya’s sex workers have solutions to their problems, but international NGOs aren’t hearing them<p>In Kenya, rights organisations run by sex workers have gone into numerous partnerships with international organisations over the past decade. In <a href="https://research.vu.nl/en/publications/making-noise-sex-worker-led-organising-and-knowledge-politics-in-">recent research</a>, I set out to understand whether these relationships worked in favour of the sex workers and their organisations. My research focused on an organisation in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, that supports male sex workers. </p>
<p>Kenya’s laws punish activities related to <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Migration/CallEndingImmigrationDetentionChildren/CSOs/RefugeeConsortium_of_Kenya_Annex2.pdf#page=57">sex work</a> and <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/Migration/CallEndingImmigrationDetentionChildren/CSOs/RefugeeConsortium_of_Kenya_Annex2.pdf#page=59">same-sex relationships</a>. These laws, along with societal prejudice, force the men in my study to <a href="https://www.northumbriajournals.co.uk/index.php/IJGSL/article/view/1264">operate in the shadows</a>. </p>
<p>This exposes them to various types of violence. In response to their everyday experiences, more than 70 Kenyan organisations led by sex workers are doing what they can to achieve social justice. </p>
<p>Following interviews and conversations with 99 sex workers between 2018 and 2022, I found that in most cases, sex workers’ knowledge – based on their daily experiences – was sidelined. Donor organisations, despite having good intentions, sometimes fell short of their objectives because they didn’t draw on the knowledge held by marginalised communities. </p>
<p>By ignoring sex workers’ knowledge, development partnerships keep power imbalances unchanged. This leaves many issues that sex workers face – including insecurity, poverty and mental health – unresolved.</p>
<p>My findings illustrate that policies, services and support should include sex workers’ experiential knowledge and needs. </p>
<h2>The research</h2>
<p>Between 2018 and 2022, I conducted a 10-month study as part of my PhD project. I investigated how international NGOs worked with a community-based organisation led by Kenyan sex workers. Their collaborations were aimed at improving health and human rights outcomes. </p>
<p>My focus was how more powerful organisations, such as international NGOs, include sex workers’ knowledge and expertise in these partnerships.</p>
<p>I identified two primary issues affecting the relationship. </p>
<p>Firstly, international development agencies prioritised their own expertise over that of the communities they set out to help. This was despite NGO employees believing they had taken the perspectives of sex workers into account. They didn’t realise they weren’t listening to what sex workers were telling them. </p>
<p>Secondly, because it relied on statistics and frameworks, the development aid system made it difficult to incorporate other kinds of knowledge into intervention programmes. </p>
<h2>The gaps</h2>
<p>Development partnerships tend to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/dech.12758">sideline the perspectives of sex workers</a>. </p>
<p>For example, NGOs asked the sex workers in my study to provide input on outreach strategies for HIV prevention. But they had already decided what they thought would work best – peer educators and a drop-in centre.</p>
<p>As one respondent in my research put it:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>(We ask them), ‘How do you plan to do outreach work; how do you plan to make the DICE (drop-in centre) more attractive to peer educators?’. And then we work around that. So, they get the idea, and then we fine-tune it with the team.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This approach limits sex workers to providing local contacts rather than shaping the agenda based on their priorities. </p>
<p>This tokenistic approach leaves sex workers frustrated. They recognise their crucial role in the success of programmes but <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13691058.2020.1842499?role=tab&tab=permissions&scroll=top">are excluded</a> from the decision-making. </p>
<p>This has led to a strong programmatic focus on sex workers’ sexual health and HIV. But they’d like to address other issues too, like insecurity and mental health. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Can the community get more services on mental health … condoms and lubes we can buy; you have empowered us enough. Now get to know our story, our sad moments, the violence we have faced and how it has affected us. How trying to make a living, get a job, a house has been the struggle and how we cope. That’s what we need.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The focus on scientific evidence, professional knowledge and statistical data makes it difficult to discover and share what sex workers know. This knowledge comes from the experience of what it means to do sex work and <a href="https://theconversation.com/queerphobia-in-kenya-a-supreme-court-ruling-on-gay-rights-triggers-a-new-wave-of-anger-against-the-lgbtiq-community-204575">live as queer in Kenya</a>. </p>
<p>One respondent said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Now, most (of what) they are doing is health services, but you see the sex worker has been beaten, has been raped, so still the HIV prevalence wouldn’t really go down … They are talking about how to reach targets but this sex worker is still being violated, still being raped, still being beaten.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s difficult to integrate such perspectives into the evidence-based policies typical of the international development aid system. Interviews with NGO employees illustrate that requirements for accountability add to the challenge.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>They (headquarters) have set out goals and strategies towards epidemic control and everything we do is guided in that context. We work within the context … and then we try … to take into account the more structural issues.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>What can be done</h2>
<p>The sex workers in my study wanted their knowledge to be included in development partnerships. They identified three things they’d want development organisations to consider.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Take sex workers’ experiential knowledge more seriously. Acknowledge that their insights are as important as academic and professional knowledge. </p></li>
<li><p>Acknowledge the leadership, creativity and expertise of marginalised communities. Allow these groups to design programmes based on their unique desires and needs. <a href="https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/60520/9781000843309.pdf?sequence=1#page=58">Community-led research methods</a> can help make this a reality. Support communities to address what they – instead of others – consider important and liberating.</p></li>
<li><p>Recognise and disrupt the power dynamics in the international aid system. Dominant actors need to unlearn the power differences in their relationships with communities, which are often uncritically perceived as natural. Critically examine assumptions and practices. Question the legitimacy of the expertise of donors in community collaborations, and see whether there are gaps created by sidelining sex work-related knowledge.</p></li>
</ol><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222168/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lise Woensdregt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sex workers have a deep understanding of their needs but development partnerships tend to prioritise scientific knowledge.Lise Woensdregt, Assistant Professor in Sociology, Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2229482024-02-09T16:50:24Z2024-02-09T16:50:24ZModern slavery: how the UK government’s 2023 reforms made it harder for victims to prove they are being exploited<p>As many as <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/modern-slavery-commissioner-home-office-b2491348.html">130,000 people</a> in the UK are trapped in modern slavery, according to the recently appointed independent anti-slavery commissioner, Eleanor Lyons. These people are forced to work in a variety of <a href="https://www.antislavery.org/slavery-today/slavery-uk/#:%7E:text=Criminal%20exploitation%20is%20often%20driven,forced%20labour%20in%20cannabis%20production.">exploitative situations</a>, ranging from cannabis farms to building sites to sex work. </p>
<p>Lyons has been <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/modern-slavery-commissioner-home-office-b2491348.html">raising concerns</a> that the government has cut her budget by almost a fifth, but there have also been serious issues with the system for assessing modern-slavery complaints. Known as the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/human-trafficking-victims-referral-and-assessment-forms/guidance-on-the-national-referral-mechanism-for-potential-adult-victims-of-modern-slavery-england-and-wales">national referral mechanism</a>, it was reformed by the government in <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/modern-slavery-how-to-identify-and-support-victims/modern-slavery-statutory-guidance-for-england-and-wales-under-s49-of-the-modern-slavery-act-2015-and-non-statutory-guidance-for-scotland-and-northe">January 2023</a> to try and take some administrative pressure away from the Home Office and speed up decision-making. </p>
<p>From <a href="https://business.leeds.ac.uk/research-innovation/dir-record/research-blog/2213/an-update-on-modern-slavery-trends-in-the-uk-analyses-of-uk-national-referral-mechanism-nrm-statistics">our analysis</a> of the data, however, these reforms made the situation for potential victims considerably worse. </p>
<h2>The reforms</h2>
<p>The referral process begins when a potential victim notifies an authority, such as a police force or a charity, that they are in an exploitative work situation. The authority makes an online referral to the Home Office, which then decides whether there are reasonable grounds to believe modern slavery is taking place. </p>
<p>If so, the victim becomes entitled to things like financial assistance and temporary protection from deportation, while the Home Office also instructs the relevant police force to take appropriate action against those being accused of exploitation. </p>
<p>It used to be that the authority, known in <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/modern-slavery-how-to-identify-and-support-victims/modern-slavery-statutory-guidance-for-england-and-wales-under-s49-of-the-modern-slavery-act-2015-and-non-statutory-guidance-for-scotland-and-northe">the guidance</a> as the “first responder”, made the referral purely based on a victim’s story. But following the reforms, they additionally had to provide “objective evidence” such as other eyewitness testimonies or findings from a police investigation. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://nwgnetwork.org/nrm-newsletter-nationality-and-borders-act-2022/">government’s thinking</a> was that this would mean the Home Office wouldn’t need to keep going back to first responders for more information. However, we see several concerning trends. </p>
<p>Until 2022, the number of “reasonable grounds” decisions by the Home Office was steadily increasing. During 2023, it is on course to have declined, as shown by the the chart below (only the first three quarters are available so far). </p>
<p><strong>‘Reasonable grounds’ decisions per year, 2014-23:</strong></p>
<p>The proportion of positive decisions has fallen after years of holding steady, particularly in relation to adult claims, though children are down too. </p>
<p><strong>Positive ‘reasonable grounds’ decisions by age group (%), 2014-23:</strong></p>
<p>The lead time for positive decisions has greatly increased. Decisions previously took four to six days, roughly in line with a Home Office <a href="https://www.local.gov.uk/publications/council-guide-tackling-modern-slavery">target commitment</a> of five working days. It rose to 21 days in the second quarter of 2023 and then 47 days in the third quarter. </p>
<p>This seriously affects potential victims, because without a positive decision, they can only access limited support like emergency accommodation and emergency medical assistance. Managing these increased emergency requirements has also been an added burden for first responders and councils. </p>
<h2>Final-stage decisions</h2>
<p>Once a positive “reasonable grounds” decision has been made, the Home Office needs to make a final decision on a claim. Over the past decade, these “conclusive grounds” decisions have been far slower than initial decisions. In 2019, for instance, there were 9,290 “reasonable grounds” decisions but only 3,615 final decisions (including pending decisions from previous years). The average decision time increased from 105 days in 2014 to 369 days in 2018, then 539 days in 2022. </p>
<p>To reduce the backlog, the Home Office has hired extra staff. This has led to a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/modern-slavery-national-referral-mechanism-and-duty-to-notify-statistics-uk-january-to-march-2023/modern-slavery-national-referral-mechanism-and-duty-to-notify-statistics-uk-quarter-1-2023-january-to-march">significant increase</a> in the number of final-stage decisions since 2022.</p>
<p><strong>Final-stage decisions 2014-23:</strong></p>
<p>The Home Office <a href="https://nwgnetwork.org/nrm-newsletter-nationality-and-borders-act-2022/">has also blamed</a> decision speed on “timely sharing of information” by first responders and potential victims. The 2023 reforms sought to address this not only by increasing the initial referral threshold but also by setting a deadline of 14 days for responders and potential victims providing additional information. </p>
<p>It’s unclear whether this has helped. The average decision time was 566 days in the first quarter of 2023, 451 days in the second quarter and 530 days in the third quarter. That looks like a stabilisation, though we’re still far from the Home Office’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/modern-slavery-how-to-identify-and-support-victims/modern-slavery-statutory-guidance-for-england-and-wales-under-s49-of-the-modern-slavery-act-2015-and-non-statutory-guidance-for-scotland-and-northe">30-day target</a>. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the proportion of positive final decisions dropped. It’s unclear whether this is due to the higher referral threshold, the 14-day deadline or because first responders don’t have the capacity to help victims. </p>
<p>Whatever the case, it’s particularly bad news for immigrant victims, since they can only be given temporary leave to remain in the UK if they have a positive final decision.</p>
<p><strong>Positive final decisions 2014-23 (%)</strong></p>
<h2>Reforms to the reforms</h2>
<p>Within months of the reforms, the government faced <a href="https://hopeforjustice.org/news/uk-home-office-withdraws-harmful-reasonable-grounds-rules-after-legal-challenge/">several legal challenges</a> by slavery claimants who had received negative decisions. The claimants argued that this was despite having made credible cases.</p>
<p>The government responded by agreeing with the legal challenge and <a href="https://www.helenbamber.org/resources/latest-news/new-test-reasonable-grounds-decisions-modern-slavery-guidance-withdrawn">clarifying its guidance</a> in July 2023, in what amounted to a partial U-turn. It emphasised that the Home Office could consider all forms of evidence including the victim’s account, and that in some cases there would be no need for additional evidence. It also made clear that it is the Home Office and not the first responder’s responsibility to collect all available information.</p>
<p>The clarifications probably mean that the lead times for initial and final decisions has peaked. However, a major reversal seems unlikely, and time will tell whether the rate of positive final decisions will return to previous levels. </p>
<p>The government also climbed down over an additional rule introduced as part of the reforms that potential victims with convictions for murder, manslaughter or terrorism-related activities couldn’t benefit from a slavery decision. Instead they were to receive a Home Office <a href="https://nwgnetwork.org/nrm-newsletter-nationality-and-borders-act-2022/">public-order disqualification</a>, terminating <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/63d7ab6fe90e0773d50c752e/Adults_at_risk_Detention_of_victims_of_modern_slavery.pdf">their needs-assessment process</a>. </p>
<p>Between January and September 2023, 334 disqualifications were issued. Again, the policy became the subject of a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jul/26/home-office-ordered-to-change-rules-that-restrict-help-for-trafficking-victims">judicial review</a>, amid concerns that potential victims <a href="https://www.matrixlaw.co.uk/news/high-courts-orders-no-public-order-disqualifications-of-slavery-victims-may-take-place-without-a-risk-assessment-pending-trial/">might have been</a> forced by their exploiter to commit the crimes in question. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/modern-slavery-national-referral-mechanism-and-duty-to-notify-statistics-uk-july-to-september-2023/modern-slavery-national-referral-mechanism-and-duty-to-notify-statistics-uk-quarter-3-2023-july-to-september">government duly stopped</a> issuing disqualifications, though it didn’t help the 334 people excluded under the reforms. The government has also <a href="https://modernslaverypec.org/assets/downloads/Modern-Slavery-PEC-Explainer-Illegal-Migration-Act-v.2.pdf">since introduced</a> new grounds for disqualifications for illegal immigrants. </p>
<p>To see how these changes affect modern slavery decisions in the UK, we’ll be watching the new data closely as it becomes available. In the meantime, the 2023 data reveals the price that potential victims of modern slavery paid for the government’s reforms. It was clearly a policy that did much more harm than good.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222948/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In early 2023 the evidence threshold for making complaints about modern slavery increased. New findings show how it has affected victims’ chances of success.Ying Zhang, Research Assistant in Human Rights, University of LeedsChee Yew Wong, Professor of Supply Chain Management, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2139482023-09-25T20:58:22Z2023-09-25T20:58:22ZSex workers’ rights: Governments should not decide what constitutes good or bad sex<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/sex-workers-rights-governments-should-not-decide-what-constitutes-good-or-bad-sex" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>An Ontario Superior Court justice has dismissed <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/sex-workers-1.6970016">a constitutional challenge to Canada’s sex work laws</a>, saying that the <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/annualstatutes/2014_25/page-1.html">Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA)</a> does not violate sex workers’ Charter rights. </p>
<p>A coalition of 25 sex workers’ rights groups organized a challenge to the legislation, arguing that sex workers are <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/superior-court-hearing-decriminalization-of-sex-work-canada-1.6604546">harmed by the partial criminalization of sex work</a>. Anti-prostitution groups argued that the law discourages men from buying sex and reduces commercial sex, in line with the goals of the <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/debating-sex-work-9780190659899">Nordic or Equality Model</a> of sex work. </p>
<p>The judge ruled that while he believes the laws don’t violate the Charter — which is what he was asked to rule on — <a href="https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/ontario-court-dismisses-sex-workers-charter-challenge">regulation and decriminalization might be better policy options</a>. But, he wrote, it is up to Parliament to make those decisions, not the judiciary. And it is about time the government did so.</p>
<h2>Canada’s laws on sex work</h2>
<p>The current law was developed by the Conservative government of Stephen Harper. PCEPA makes buying sex illegal while selling sex is legal in some circumstances. This asymmetrical model still leaves sex work in a legal grey area because one side of the transaction is legal and the other is not. </p>
<p>Much research has been done on the benefits of decriminalizing sex work, including work done by <a href="https://www.amnesty.ca/womens-rights-gender-justice/blog-setting-the-record-straight-on-protecting-the-human-rights-of-sex-workers/">Amnesty International</a> and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/09/18/eu-harmful-prostitution-resolution-passes">Human Rights Watch</a>. These are not fly-by-night organizations. They based their stance on solid research about the harms of criminalization. They are against trafficking and against the abuse of sex workers and they have policies against both. </p>
<p>There is also <a href="https://www.wsanz.org.nz/journal/docs/WSJNZ312Schmidt35-49.pdf">the example of New Zealand</a>, which has decriminalized sex work and uses health and labour laws to regulate the industry. I won’t reiterate the <a href="https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/publications/ten-reasons-decriminalize-sex-work">arguments</a> here in favour of <a href="https://www.aclu.org/news/topic/its-time-to-decriminalize-sex-work">decriminalization</a> because there is <a href="https://www.ubcpress.ca/red-light-labour">so much research</a> already <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007%2Fs13178-021-00636-0">out there</a>. </p>
<p>What I want to discuss in this article is the very conservative (perhaps unconscious) sexual beliefs that underlie many people’s negative view of sex work. The issue is a complicated one, and I recognize how it can be easier to believe that all female sex workers are victims and all male clients are predators, instead of taking a more nuanced view. </p>
<p>That was certainly my opinion before I did <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/slut-shaming--whorephobia--and-the-unfinished-sexual-revolution-products-9780228006657.php">interviews with working escorts</a>. Meeting women who sell sex and do so with respect and dignity changed the way I viewed sex work.</p>
<h2>Conservatism and sex</h2>
<p>Sex has historically been separated into “good sex” and “bad sex” because of what is called the heterosexual conjugal bond, or more colloquially, traditional marriage. Those who defined what was good and bad sex <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/sexuality-a-very-short-introduction-9780199298020?cc=ca&lang=en&">were often men</a>.</p>
<p>Traditional socially conservative views see acceptable sex as being with one person, only after marriage, heterosexual and relational, meaning that even masturbation was taboo. Scholars have outlined the detrimental effects of the <a href="https://canadianscholars.ca/book/politics-and-sex/">heterosexual conjugal bond</a> on women and sexual minorities. </p>
<p>Canada has liberalized its laws significantly since <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/david-allyn/make-love-not-war/9780316039307/">the 1960s sexual revolution</a>. Gay sex, premarital and extramarital sex and polyamory are more acceptable than they once were, but the vestiges of this conservative ideology remain. Recent protests against sex and gender identity education <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9972437/anti-lgbtq2-rallies-canada-counter-protests/">in the school system</a> illustrate this. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-parental-rights-movement-gave-rise-to-the-1-million-march-4-children-213842">How the 'parental rights' movement gave rise to the 1 Million March 4 Children</a>
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<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549839/original/file-20230923-17-skg2pr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two pairs of feet on a bed." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549839/original/file-20230923-17-skg2pr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549839/original/file-20230923-17-skg2pr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549839/original/file-20230923-17-skg2pr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549839/original/file-20230923-17-skg2pr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549839/original/file-20230923-17-skg2pr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549839/original/file-20230923-17-skg2pr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549839/original/file-20230923-17-skg2pr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Personal moral beliefs about what constitutes good sex should not determine public policy regarding sex work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>Most feminists would reject the idea that they are complicit with ideas that harm women or LGBTQ+ people because they have no problem with gay sex, premarital sex or extramarital sex. But anti-prostitution activists draw the line at commercialized sex for essentially moral reasons. Sex work remains bad sex.</p>
<p>As the director of an anti-trafficking group <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/slut-shaming--whorephobia--and-the-unfinished-sexual-revolution-products-9780228006657.php">said to me</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I don’t believe that every aspect of being a human being can be reduced to labour, to work. I think human sexuality is that part of ourselves, that part of being human that should not be for sale, should not be turned into a commodity that can be bought or sold, so on that front we don’t recognize sex as work so we don’t call anyone a sex worker.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>In this view, sex should not be commercialized. And to many people that is common sense. If you are raised in any kind of organized religion, you are likely to believe that sex is special and should be limited to heterosexual marriage. But that is a moral argument based on personal views of sex, and not necessarily what we should base public policy on. </p>
<h2>The value of sex work</h2>
<p>The sex workers I interviewed saw the value in sex work. They felt they were helping people, and providing a service and giving others pleasure was a part of that.</p>
<p>This is vehemently rejected by anti-prostitution activists. As one such activist <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/slut-shaming--whorephobia--and-the-unfinished-sexual-revolution-products-9780228006657.php">told me</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“If you are disabled or in some way unable to have a normal, sexual relationship with another person, so you think that the right way is to buy it? Well, my answer to you is that unfortunately due to your illness and your disability you cannot have sex with another person.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>So those who might have problems accessing sex because of disability, age or physical attractiveness are simply out of luck. </p>
<p>But if there are women and men who get meaning out of their sex work and see value in what they do, why are we preventing them from doing this work? Why are we creating laws in a way that makes it less safe for them to do so? </p>
<p>If anti-prostitution activists don’t acknowledge that many women do choose to engage in sex work, they are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95947-1">denying the agency those women clearly have</a> and this speaks to a paternalism and saviourism that needs to be faced. </p>
<p>Protections must, of course, be in place for those who don’t consent to sex work and harsh penalties should be taken in place for traffickers. But we do not need to criminalize consenting adults and their expressions of sexuality. We already have laws against sexual assault, trafficking, force, fraud and coercion. We should not want personal morality and religious beliefs being imposed on our public policy.</p>
<p>Many women can and do sex work with respect and dignity. Governments should be looking at those conditions and ensuring that those who sell sex, female and male, cis and transgender, are doing so under the safest possible conditions. </p>
<p>Whether it is a <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-sex-workers-plan-co-op-brothel-1.681434">co-op brothel, as was tried in British Columbia</a>, or women working together in their homes or working online, there are many ways to work safely. <a href="https://www.wsanz.org.nz/journal/docs/WSJNZ312Schmidt35-49.pdf">New Zealand has shown through their health and safety regulations</a> how governments can make sex work safer. If the current courts are unwilling or unable to make sex work safer, then Parliament needs to do so.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213948/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meredith Ralston has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>Laws regarding sex work should not be legislated based on personal moral beliefs. They should prioritize the safety of sex workers and their clients.Meredith Ralston, Professor of Women's Studies and Political Studies, Mount Saint Vincent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2115752023-08-15T15:56:34Z2023-08-15T15:56:34ZAdults: how a sex play about boomers v millennials brings both together<p>Kieran Hurley’s new play <a href="https://www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on/event/adults-festival-23">Adults</a> brilliantly illuminates an intergenerational clash that should leave <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2008/06/25/baby-boomers-the-gloomiest-generation/">boomers</a> (born between 1945 and 1964) and <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/01/17/where-millennials-end-and-generation-z-begins/">millennials</a> (born between 1981 and 1996) in the audience with a little more empathy for each other.</p>
<p>It all starts entertainingly when a strawberry milkshake bursts open in the face of Iain (Conleth Hill) just as he arrives early at the flat of thirtysomething Zara (Dani Heron). Zara is a sex worker who runs her business from home “collectively and ethically”.</p>
<p>Iain, in his 60s, married with two grown-up daughters, is completely out of his comfort zone and there to have sex with a young man: Zara’s business partner, Jay (Anders Hayward), who is running late.</p>
<p>As Iain wipes the pink goo from his face, Zara recognises him as her former teacher Mr Urquhart. And so Hurley sets up his character triangle. For the next 80 minutes, the audience has the pleasure of watching Zara, Iain and Jay argue with, blackmail, and eventually simply hold each other across the generational divide.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/apr/29/millennials-struggling-is-it-fault-of-baby-boomers-intergenerational-fairness">spat</a> between boomers and millennials has been rumbling on for the last few years, pitting the former against their children’s/grandchildren’s generation who are viewed as whiny, lazy snowflakes with an overinflated sense of entitlement.</p>
<p>Conversely, millennials view boomers as the generation that took everything, ruined everything, and have left very little for those who came after. As journalist David Barnett has succinctly <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/millenials-generation-x-baby-boomers-a7570326.html">pointed out</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Boomers live in the past and have ransomed the future. Millennials fear the future and are ignorant of the past.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Envy, resentment, misunderstanding</h2>
<p>Disappointed expectations and repressed resentment bubble up during Zara’s and Iain’s initial confrontation, which plays out in her small one-bedroom flat while she matter-of-factly turns her living space into a brothel, replete with dildo collection (set and costume design: Anna Orton).</p>
<p>Zara, a literature graduate now earning money through sex work, begrudges the older generation their safe careers and settled lifestyles, and resents her teacher for instilling in her the bogus belief she could do anything with her life. Iain, meanwhile, feels trapped and envies the younger generation their seeming freedom, abandon and sexual confidence.</p>
<p>Both are deliberately ignoring the fact that the object of their envy is a fantasy. Iain is oblivious to the fact that the carefreeness of the younger generation (the young men he watches in his videos) is largely performed for a capitalist market that values only these qualities.</p>
<p>Zara’s resentment, meanwhile, doesn’t take into account that the apparent safety of her teacher’s generation came at the expense of not pursuing other, maybe more exciting or fulfilling alternatives.</p>
<p>Their debate treads the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/apr/29/millennials-struggling-is-it-fault-of-baby-boomers-intergenerational-fairness">familiar territory</a> of millennial precarity versus boomer affluence, but is nonetheless supremely entertaining. Spontaneous applause rewards Zara’s viciously eloquent takedown of Iain’s cherished memories of reading his kids Thomas the Tank Engine, which, according to Zara, is simply “pseudo-imperialist nostalgic colonial nonsense … some big nostalgic cry-wank for a lost idea of Britain”. </p>
<p>However, once Jay arrives, with his infant daughter screaming in the pram, the stakes are raised considerably. While Zara berates him for bringing his daughter to work, he insists that she owes him money, thus revealing her talk of an ethical and “non-hierarchical business practice” as hypocritical.</p>
<p>Jay needs money to secure shared custody of his daughter. And when the little one finally goes to sleep, he puts all his expertise into performing the willing, lascivious little “twink” to seduce the inhibited Iain and earn his money.</p>
<h2>Comedy and tragedy</h2>
<p>Hayward and Hill (who played Varys, Master of the Whisperers, in Game of Thrones) excel in this seduction scene that alternates beautifully between moments of physical comedy and verbal exchanges that reveal profound sadness. Hill’s Iain, a sexually inexperienced older man who has never explored his desires, gradually develops into a tentative, then enthusiastic punter who enjoys roleplay – only to revert to the condescending, middle-class teacher who judges Jay for how he earns his money and is scathing about his parenting.</p>
<p>Hayward’s Jay writhes seductively on the floor, performs the invested listener and works his literal butt off, but draws the line at being insulted. When he vindictively posts a compromising picture of Iain on Facebook, the secrets that Iain and Zara have kept from their families are revealed.</p>
<p>Roxana Silbert’s confident direction lets the play text breathe and leaves room for her actors to insert some well-timed physical comedy – Hill sliding/falling off various bits of furniture hits the spot every time. </p>
<p>In the end, Iain, shocked but also relieved that he has nothing more to lose, comes clean to his wife in the face of his very public outing. The humbled Zara acknowledges in yet another reference to children’s literature, this time <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-lorax/dr-seuss/9780007455935">The Lorax by Dr Seuss</a>, that she just might be a “Once-ler” too – meaning to “accept that the world you’re passing on is in a worse state than when you inherited it”.</p>
<p>Before the lights go out, we see Jay, the overwhelmed millennial father, lying on the bed holding the sobbing Iain, while offstage the voice of his crying baby clamours for attention to the coming generation.</p>
<p>With Adults, Hurley, a millennial author himself, seems to appeal to his own generation to let go of their rage, be more understanding of their elders, and accept that, one day, they too will to be blamed for the future. Because as it turns out, confirms Iain: “Everyone always grows up thinking it’s the end of the world.”</p>
<p><em>Adults is showing until August 27 at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh</em></p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/536131/original/file-20230706-17-460x2d.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em>Looking for something good? Cut through the noise with a carefully curated selection of the latest releases, live events and exhibitions, straight to your inbox every fortnight, on Fridays. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/something-good-156">Sign up here</a>.</em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211575/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ann-Christine Simke is affiliated with the theatre company Stellar Quines. She is a member of the board for the company.</span></em></p>Kieran Hurley’s new play treads the familiar debate of millennial precarity versus boomer affluence with verve and insight.Ann-Christine Simke, Lecturer in Performance, University of the West of ScotlandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2096562023-07-16T11:56:48Z2023-07-16T11:56:48ZHalifax lawsuit shows why sex workers need legal protections<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537379/original/file-20230713-15-r2hlss.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=227%2C375%2C3067%2C1822&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Being in a legal grey area means sex workers are at a disadvantage when they have been the victim of a crime or defrauded.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/halifax-lawsuit-shows-why-sex-workers-need-legal-protections" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>A sex worker in Halifax has successfully sued a client who <a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-nova-scotia-sex-worker-wins-in-small-claims-court/">refused to pay for her services</a>. The defendant had tried to argue that because purchasing sex work is illegal in Canada, denying payment was not fraud because a contract <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/former-sex-worker-small-claims-court-national-precedent-1.6896597">cannot be enforceable</a>.</p>
<p>However, the court found in favour of the sex worker. The case sets a historic precedent for sex workers to be able to enforce contracts for sexual services, even if paying for sex in Canada is illegal.</p>
<p>This case demonstrates that a contract is a contract. <a href="https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/news/hrm-sex-worker-wins-case-against-client-who-wouldnt-pay-for-services-100870815/">As court adjudicator, Darrell Pink wrote</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“If civil aspects of federal tax law are applied to sex workers regarding their business earnings, as they are for all businesses, then the full range of legal principles applicable to a business, including the law of contract, apply to sex workers, along with the remedies for a breach of commercial or contractual obligations.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>If sex workers have to pay taxes and have all the other burdens of business and employment, then surely their contracts have to be honoured as well.</p>
<h2>Flawed legal system</h2>
<p>The ruling also demonstrates how fundamentally flawed Canada’s asymmetrical sex work laws continue to be. The <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/other-autre/c36fs_fi/#:%7E:text=Bill%20C-36%2C%20the%20Protection%20of%20Communities%20and%20Exploited,children%2C%20from%20the%20harms%20caused%20by%20prostitution%3B%20and"><em>Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act</em> (PCEPA)</a> was brought in by the Conservative government in 2014. It makes it legal to sell sex, but illegal to pay for sex. This means the law still ensures that sex work itself is in a grey area of criminality. </p>
<p>Being in that grey area means sex workers are at a disadvantage when they have been the victim of a crime or defrauded. It is this grey area that allowed the defendant in this lawsuit to claim there was no contract because <em>his</em> activity is illegal.</p>
<p>However, the adjudicator ruled that the client <a href="https://www.saltwire.com/atlantic-canada/news/hrm-sex-worker-wins-case-against-client-who-wouldnt-pay-for-services-100870815/">had accepted</a> the sex worker’s terms. “What was agreed upon was the payment of $300 per hour for the time the claimant spent with the defendant.” The sex worker stayed approximately seven hours and was therefore owed $2,100. At the time, the client paid her only $300 but has since paid her the remainder.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537377/original/file-20230713-17-nnjdgj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People holding placards protest outside a building" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537377/original/file-20230713-17-nnjdgj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/537377/original/file-20230713-17-nnjdgj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537377/original/file-20230713-17-nnjdgj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537377/original/file-20230713-17-nnjdgj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537377/original/file-20230713-17-nnjdgj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537377/original/file-20230713-17-nnjdgj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/537377/original/file-20230713-17-nnjdgj.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sex workers and their supporters gather outside the Ontario Superior Court during the launch of their constitutional challenge to Canada’s sex work laws on October 3, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/ Tijana Martin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Sex workers stereotyped</h2>
<p>The contents of this particular contract might surprise some people who are not aware of the lived realities of many sex workers, particularly escorts. Sex workers are often all portrayed as survival sex workers who are desperate and victimized. Trafficking is a serious issue and does occur in Canada, however, <a href="https://nyupress.org/9780814794630/legalizing-prostitution">the majority of sex workers in the western world</a> do sex work voluntarily. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.mqup.ca/slut-shaming--whorephobia--and-the-unfinished-sexual-revolution-products-9780228006657.php">I interviewed about thirty escorts</a> as part of my research on sex work in North America. Far from being victims, as assumed by Canada’s current laws, the escorts I interviewed had agency, made good money and wanted sex work for consensual adults to be decriminalized fully. They argued laws on prostitution make their lives harder because their so-called “victimhood” is based on a false dichotomy.</p>
<p>As Lucy, an escort from the U.S. midwest, stated: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I think the unfortunate part of the public perception of sex work is based on two factors and that’s what they see sensationalized either through the trafficking stories and the horrific stories of women or children, you know, being forced to do things against their will or the glamorized, sensationalized, high dollar, hottie, call girl specials, exposes or scandals with politicians… And those are the spectrums, the bottom end and the high end of it, and there’s this huge area in between that we never see.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Lucy has many ways of ensuring her agency, safety and payment. She has strict protocols about potential clients. Most are regulars and she has a rigorous screening process involving the client’s personal and credit card information.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I plan in advance and if somebody calls me out of the blue and wants to get together for a date, I don’t accommodate those types of clients… From a liability standpoint, I feel that it’s less likely to have problems with law enforcement if I am scheduling in advance and making them schedule in advance, send me a deposit, that kind of stuff, because most of the time law enforcement is looking for desperate low hanging fruit and they’re looking for people who are going to make mistakes in their screening and usually that’s done at the last minute.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Notice that her main worry is law enforcement. That was also a common concern among other sex workers I interviewed. Because sex work is in a legal grey area, sex workers do not feel they can go to the police when there is a violent or fraudulent client and they worry about police officers themselves. </p>
<p>As another escort I interviewed, Amanda, explained: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Two plainclothes police officers called me and another girl to their hotel room, they had adjoining rooms. I had sex with the first person and then they said, ‘hey, you know, you can make an extra couple hundred dollars if you want to switch.’ So we switched and then we were both arrested afterwards. That is illegal… you don’t get to have sex and arrest me, that’s such a violation of my human rights. But it happens all the time.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Decriminalization</h2>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1678234888389169152"}"></div></p>
<p>Many scholars have argued in favour of <a href="https://www.ubcpress.ca/red-light-labour">decriminalizing adult, consensual sex work</a>. However, the federal Liberals (<a href="https://www.nswp.org/news/canadas-liberal-party-votes-support-the-decriminalisation-sex-work">who argued against PCEPA while in opposition</a> because the act replicated the harms of previous laws struck down by the Supreme Court) have little incentive to support decriminalization because of the <a href="https://catwinternational.org/press/an-open-letter-to-prime-minister-justin-trudeau/">vocal opposition of anti-prostitution activists</a>. </p>
<p>There is also little incentive for change because the public only hears the litany of negative stereotypes about sex work. As Lucy said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We’re conducting adult business behind closed doors in the privacy of our own bedrooms and it’s nobody else’s business. But beyond that, because of the stigma of it, of course we’re also not allowed to talk about it. So even for those of us that have a great working experience… there’s not a lot of opportunities or outlets for us to talk about that publicly with people that are not involved in sex work itself and talk about that honestly. And so no one hears those stories.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Stories like those of Lucy and Amanda need to be told so that sex workers’ rights to bodily autonomy and their right to work are respected. This case will hopefully encourage the government to revise Canada’s prostitution laws to allow all workers the same rights and protections, including sex workers.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/209656/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meredith Ralston receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. </span></em></p>If sex workers have to pay taxes and have all the other burdens of business and employment, then surely their contracts must be honoured as well.Meredith Ralston, Professor of Women's Studies and Political Studies, Mount Saint Vincent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2045752023-05-02T09:28:01Z2023-05-02T09:28:01ZQueerphobia in Kenya: a supreme court ruling on gay rights triggers a new wave of anger against the LGBTIQ+ community<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/523226/original/file-20230427-16-icyfbv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A demonstrator at Queer Republic protests in Nairobi, Kenya. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Ochieng/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The Kenyan supreme court recently struck down a government decision to ban the registration of an LGBTIQ+ community rights organisation, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/3/15/how-an-lgbtq-court-ruling-sent-kenya-into-a-moral-panic">sparking new homophobic rhetoric</a> in the country. Kenya is one of <a href="https://database.ilga.org/criminalisation-consensual-same-sex-sexual-acts">32 African countries</a> that criminalises homosexuality. Those who identify as part of the LGBTIQ+ community are often discriminated against, harassed and assaulted. Lise Woensdregt and Naomi van Stapele, who have researched queer experiences in Kenya for nine years, explain the impact of this ruling.</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>What is the significance of the recent Kenyan supreme court ruling on a gay rights organisation?</h2>
<p>The Kenyan supreme court ruled on 24 February 2023 that <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/10OYaKTuvDvkpBUB5GFLXcf8fmrGFr645/view">the government was wrong</a> to ban the LGBTIQ+ community from registering the <a href="https://nglhrc.com/">National Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission</a>. The commission provides legal aid, and works to change the law and policy around LGBTIQ+ persons in Kenya. The commission <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-64491276">celebrated this court ruling</a> as a small but significant affirmation of its place in Kenyan society.</p>
<p>The ruling, however, didn’t alter the <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/05/24/kenya-court-upholds-archaic-anti-homosexuality-laws">Kenyan penal code</a>, which criminalises sexual acts “<a href="https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/28595/115477/F-857725769/KEN28595.pdf#page=62">against the order of nature</a>”. This, in effect, criminalises same-sex sexual acts. Those found guilty <a href="https://icj-kenya.org/?smd_process_download=1&download_id=5018">face</a> up to 14 years in prison.</p>
<p>The law has <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/3/15/how-an-lgbtq-court-ruling-sent-kenya-into-a-moral-panic">fuelled stigma and discrimination</a> against queer individuals, making them more vulnerable to violence. </p>
<p>We have been <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13691058.2020.1842499">studying</a> queer experiences <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13178-018-0337-x">in Nairobi</a>, working closely with LGBTIQ+ self-led organisations. Those involved in <a href="https://northumbriajournals.co.uk/index.php/IJGSL/article/view/1264">our research</a> have been experiencing mounting violence in recent years. The ruling <a href="https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2023-03-16-gay-people-fear-for-their-lives-escape-mombasa-over-planned-demos/">triggered fears</a> among members of the LGBTIQ+ community across Kenya of increased violence.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1636702221743079425"}"></div></p>
<h2>What have the political responses been?</h2>
<p>A backlash against progress in gender and sexual rights is not uncommon. Pushing for progress in these areas can <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-07-27-the-pink-line-the-worlds-queer-frontiers-the-new-book-from-mark-gevisser/#gsc.tab=0">evoke hate and counter-offensives</a>. </p>
<p>The Kenyan government has joined churches and mosques in their vitriol condemning not only the supreme court judges, but also LGBTIQ+ activists, organisations and citizens. For example, a member of parliament declared that being LGBTIQ+ is <a href="https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2023-03-01-lgbtq-is-worse-than-murder-for-us-farah-maalim/">worse than murder</a>. He described homosexuality as </p>
<blockquote>
<p>a foreign practice from the West that’s not aligned with African cultures and as such, severe punishment should be meted out on offenders. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Kenya’s deputy president Rigathi Gachagua added that the government wouldn’t “<a href="https://twitter.com/rigathi/status/1631244014744739841?s=20">condone</a>” same-sex relations, a sentiment shared by president William Ruto. The president <a href="https://www.africanews.com/2023/03/02/we-shall-not-condone-any-attempts-to-legitimise-lgbtq-kenya-deputy-president-warns//">has previously said</a> that unemployment and hunger are the “real” issues, not LGBTIQ+ concerns, and that tradition must be respected. </p>
<p>Kenya’s first lady, <a href="https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2023-03-06-first-lady-to-lead-prayers-against-lgbtq-onslaught-on-family/">Rachel Ruto</a>, has also claimed that LGBTIQ+ people are a threat to the institution of the family. Another member of parliament, Peter Kaluma, recently submitted a <a href="https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2023-04-08-details-of-kalumas-bill-on-criminalising-lgbtq/">family protection bill</a> that includes provisions to criminalise LGBTIQ+ organising, funding and, what is ominously termed, “behaviours”. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/kenya-should-decriminalise-homosexuality-4-compelling-reasons-why-203767">Kenya should decriminalise homosexuality: 4 compelling reasons why</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Amid all this, LGBTIQ+ self-led organisations <a href="https://www.galck.org/">have struggled</a> to offer a safe space for individuals to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17450101.2022.2146526?src=">find belonging, acceptance and recognition</a>, and to work towards social, political and economic justice collectively. Some, including those that <a href="https://theconversation.com/kenya-should-decriminalise-homosexuality-4-compelling-reasons-why-203767">provide HIV services</a>, have <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O89qRCvXDVU&t=4s">had to close</a> for fear of attacks. </p>
<h2>Based on your research, what have you learnt about what it’s like for LGBTIQ+ people in Kenya?</h2>
<p>Over our nine years of research into queer experiences, we’ve worked closely with grassroots LGBTIQ+ organisations and activists. We are continuously in touch with queer activists, who we speak with as part of our ongoing engagement with and support for queer self-led organisations in Kenya. They have told us that the recent supreme court decision was a step towards decriminalising same-sex sexual acts and was cause for celebration. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, the ruling <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/3/15/how-an-lgbtq-court-ruling-sent-kenya-into-a-moral-panic">unleashed vicious anti-LGBTIQ+ attacks</a> targeting organisations, activists and citizens. One young queer activist* told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is more dangerous now. Our friends are evicted (from their houses). Some have been beaten in the streets. In WhatsApp groups with family or work, people write anti-queer things, and you need to stay silent not to out yourself. You can lose everything if you are found out. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another queer activist* told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>In the WhatsApp group with parents from school, parents write how to warn our children (against) recruitment by LGBTIQ+ people, and I am in that app. I can’t say anything because it will harm my son. </p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>*Those we interviewed are anonymous for safety reasons</em></p>
<h2>What can be done to empower queer individuals and groups in Kenya?</h2>
<p>Many Kenyan LGBTIQ+ self-led organisations collaborate with government agencies – such as the <a href="https://nsdcc.go.ke/about-us/">National Syndemic Diseases Control Council</a> and the <a href="https://www.nascop.or.ke/about-us/">National AIDS and STIs Control Programme</a>. They also <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13178-018-0337-x">work with</a> several national and international civil society organisations on health, women rights, sexual and reproductive rights, and social justice. The silence of LGBTIQ+ partners is deafening. As one queer activist told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>They eat with us, but when things get tough, we stand alone.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Eating together here refers to the funds many such organisations receive from donors to work with LGBTIQ+ self-led organisations. </p>
<p>The silence of civil society, including those who collaborate with LGBTIQ+ groups in Kenya and receive funding for this, and the international media is concerning. This silence sends a dangerous message to the government and religious organisations: they can freely target queer individuals and groups without facing resistance or solidarity from the broader community.</p>
<p>The fight for equality and safety for the LGBTIQ+ community requires sustained effort from national and international organisations and governments. On an individual level, financial support is needed as it can empower individuals who identify as LGBTIQ+, providing them with resources, such as the ability to relocate to safer locations. </p>
<p>In our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13691058.2020.1842499">research</a>, several members told us of the risks they face in Nairobi’s low-income settlements where they live. In these settings, traditional patriarchal masculinity practices – breadwinner-ship, heterosexuality and dominance over women – are celebrated. Not being able to pass as heterosexual is perceived as risky.</p>
<p>Promoting safe spaces and access to stable incomes on a collective level can create a foundation that empowers queer individuals and groups to fight for dignity and respect. </p>
<p>The voices of those affected by anti-LGBTIQ+ violence must be heard and amplified by those who seek a more just and equal world. Only through collective action and solidarity can the LGBTIQ+ community be protected, valued and celebrated.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/204575/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Naomi van Stapele is affiliated with Minority Womxn in Action — MWA, a queer activist organisation in Kenya. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lise Woensdregt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A backlash against progress in gender and sexual rights is common.Lise Woensdregt, PhD Candidate in Sociology, Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamNaomi van Stapele, Professor in Inclusive Education, Hague University of Applied SciencesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2018102023-03-20T19:43:09Z2023-03-20T19:43:09ZSex workers are left out in the cold by Ottawa’s unjust conviction amendments<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515815/original/file-20230316-16-jzc793.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4438%2C3218&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino speaks during a news conference on the government's plan to enable expungements for convictions under the Criminal Code for bawdy house, indecency-based and abortion-related offences in Ottawa in March 2023. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The federal government recently announced its intention to amend the <em>Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act</em> to <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/public-safety-canada/news/2023/03/government-of-canada-takes-another-step-towards-righting-historically-unjust-convictions0.html">expand the list of offences Canadians can apply to have struck from their criminal records.</a> The list now includes abortion-related offences and indecent acts in a bawdy house.</p>
<p>We are a group of gay and lesbian historians who study the criminalization of queer communities in Canada. While we applaud changes that allow women and abortion providers to apply to have their records expunged, we question the partial and historically faulty way the government has added bawdy-house offences to the act.</p>
<p>Sex workers charged with bawdy-house offences, for example, remain excluded from accessing the expungement process. </p>
<p>In other words, if a bawdy-house conviction was only about indecency, people can now apply to have their records expunged. But if there are any allegations of sex work related to their convictions, they cannot.</p>
<p>However, police often alleged both indecency and sex work were taking place inside the bawdy houses.</p>
<p>And so in the government’s view, bawdy-house laws may now be historically unjust, but only for some.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A rap sheet lists alleged offences after an arrest of a gay man in 1981." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515848/original/file-20230316-26-dndima.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515848/original/file-20230316-26-dndima.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515848/original/file-20230316-26-dndima.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515848/original/file-20230316-26-dndima.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=357&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515848/original/file-20230316-26-dndima.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515848/original/file-20230316-26-dndima.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515848/original/file-20230316-26-dndima.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1981 rap sheet shows how police described a bawdy house arrest.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Toronto Police via Freedom of Information request</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Flawed act, limited uptake</h2>
<p>In 2018, the federal government passed Bill C-66, which established a process to expunge the records for those who had been convicted of historically unjust offences. This was part of Prime Minister <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/homosexual-offences-exunge-records-1.4422546">Justin Trudeau’s apology to queer people in Canada.
</a></p>
<p>During debate on the bill, <a href="https://sencanada.ca/Content/Sen/Committee/421/RIDR/briefs/2018-02-05_C-66_Historians_e.pdf">we argued that it failed to fully carry out the prime minister’s apology</a> because it included only two offences — buggery/anal intercourse and gross indecency, a small fraction of the Criminal Code provisions that have historically targeted queer people. </p>
<p>It left out bawdy-house laws, indecency, vagrancy and criminalization for HIV non-disclosure. We also argued the application process was too onerous.</p>
<p>Turns out, we were right. In the first three years of the act, <a href="https://theconversation.com/pride-and-prejudice-with-only-9-lgbtq-criminal-record-expungements-whats-to-celebrate-161308">a paltry nine expungements were granted</a>. This represents an exceedingly small number of those who have been unjustly charged. </p>
<p>According to updated Parole Board information recently emailed to us, the Record Suspension Division has received 70 applications for expungement, with still only nine granted. Sixty applications have been refused, primarily because the convictions were not on the list of eligible offences for expungement.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/pride-and-prejudice-with-only-9-lgbtq-criminal-record-expungements-whats-to-celebrate-161308">Pride and prejudice: With only 9 LGBTQ criminal record expungements, what’s to celebrate?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>History of criminalization</h2>
<p>The recent changes amend Bill C-66 to broaden the range of expungable offences by adding, in addition to abortion, “indecent acts” committed in bawdy houses. This is possible because the bawdy-house law was repealed in June 2019, <a href="https://www.ourcommons.ca/Content/Committee/421/JUST/Brief/BR10002313/br-external/HooperTom-e.pdf">something we argued for at the time</a>. </p>
<p>Why, then, has it taken the government so long to add this to the list of expungable offences? </p>
<p>The government decision to specifically exclude sex workers from expungement ignores the fact that in 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the bawdy house law in relation to sex work. It’s also a serious misunderstanding of how marginalized sexual and gender communities have been criminalized and policed historically.</p>
<p>In 1917, <a href="http://activehistory.ca/2016/03/bath-raid-victims-should-also-be-pardoned/">the Criminal Code definition of a bawdy house was expanded</a> to encompass not just prostitution but also other “indecent acts.” This set the stage for the police to use the bawdy-house law to both punish sex workers and arrest men caught up in bathhouse raids.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A black-and-white photo shows a man with blood on his face scuffling with a group of police officers." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515822/original/file-20230316-22-iegt45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515822/original/file-20230316-22-iegt45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515822/original/file-20230316-22-iegt45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515822/original/file-20230316-22-iegt45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=369&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515822/original/file-20230316-22-iegt45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515822/original/file-20230316-22-iegt45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515822/original/file-20230316-22-iegt45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=464&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A man with blood streaming down his face scuffles with police outside the Ontario legislature in 1981 after about 1,000 gay rights demonstrators marched to protest the arrests of men in four city steam baths.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/UPC/Gary Hershorn</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite the long historical overlap in the policing of sex workers and gay men, the government is making a distinction between the indecency clause of the bawdy-house law and the parts of the law that pertained to the exchange of sex for money. </p>
<p>As historians, we have a deep appreciation for the historical links in the policing and criminalizing of sex workers and gay men. This shared history informs our criticism of the government’s attempt to single out gay men as worthy of expungement while leaving sex workers out in the cold.</p>
<h2>New divisions, old problems</h2>
<p>Because the arrest records of men charged with indecent acts in a bawdy house often include police allegations of sex work in their records, their applications for expungement would be ineligible. </p>
<p>This sets up another division between the deserving and undeserving — between men whose historically unjust conviction makes no reference to sex work and those whose records do, accurately or not.</p>
<p>In addition, those wishing to clear a record of “indecency” must prove the indecent act took place in a bawdy house. However, <a href="https://torontoist.com/2017/03/cruising-history-policing-gay-sex-toronto-parks/">the vast majority of indecency convictions stem from police entrapment of men in public parks and washrooms</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A beach is framed by a willow tree branch." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515826/original/file-20230316-18-cof9tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/515826/original/file-20230316-18-cof9tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515826/original/file-20230316-18-cof9tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515826/original/file-20230316-18-cof9tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515826/original/file-20230316-18-cof9tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515826/original/file-20230316-18-cof9tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/515826/original/file-20230316-18-cof9tb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Marie Curtis Park in west-end Toronto was a frequent site of police surveillance of gay men.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Even though men take great care to construct privacy for themselves so as not to bother others, none would qualify for an expungement because the indecency took place in “public” and not in a bawdy house. </p>
<p>The government’s very narrow definition of indecency fails to include most people charged with this offence.</p>
<p>On top of these newly created problems with the Expungement Act, many obstacles in the existing process remain. For example, people who were convicted but received a discharge at sentencing are not eligible for expungement, despite the fact their records continue to hang over them. </p>
<p>What’s more, all the onerous requirements of the expungement application, which place the burden of proof on the applicant, also remain.</p>
<h2>Justice for all</h2>
<p>Back in 2018, the Senate Committee on Human Rights urged that as soon as the Expungement Act was passed, <a href="https://sencanada.ca/en/committees/RIDR/Report/56562/42-1">the government should consult with community members and experts to review remaining discriminatory historical laws</a>. The committee specified “prostitution-related offences.”</p>
<p>Five years later, the government has still not consulted with those who know this history best. Instead, it introduced changes that are historically unfounded, extremely limited in scope and seek to divide sexual and gender communities.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1633507750612279440"}"></div></p>
<p>As historians of sexuality, we argue that the historical record supports <a href="http://sexworklawreform.com/media-statement-amendments-to-the-expungement-act-liberals-once-again-pay-lip-service-to-equality/">sex workers’ organizations and their demand that the government include bawdy-house convictions related to prostitution</a> in expungement legislation. These convictions disproportionately affect women of colour, Indigenous women and transgender people.</p>
<p>And so, in 2023, we once again call upon the federal government to provide meaningful access to criminal record expungement for all — queer people, sex workers, trans and non-binary people — who have been convicted of historical offences for consensual sex.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201810/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Experts on the history of sexuality in Canada say recent changes to the Expungement Act don’t go far enough, and they urge Canadians to reject attempts to divide marginalized communities.Steven Maynard, Adjunct Associate Professor of History, Queen's University, OntarioGary Kinsman, Professor Emeritus, Sociology, Laurentian UniversityPatrizia Gentile, Professor, Sexuality Studies/Human Rights & Social Justice, Carleton UniversityTom Hooper, Sessional Assistant Professor in Critical Human Rights, Department of Equity Studies, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1951262023-03-10T15:57:19Z2023-03-10T15:57:19ZUncovering the secret religious and spiritual lives of sex workers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/511468/original/file-20230221-16-jwylk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2683%2C575%2C3082%2C3073&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Tanya* is telling me just how important her <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/methodist_1.shtml">Methodist Christianity</a> is to her. We’re chatting over a video call, and I can see Tanya’s living room in the background. This also happens to be her workspace because Tanya, who is 50, is a full-time phone and cam sex worker. For Tanya, earning her living through sex work does not conflict with her religious beliefs at all. Tanya tells me that she had a client who talked to her about his enjoyment of wearing women’s clothing. He confided in her because they both shared the same religious identity. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>He [the client] started talking more and more … he said I listen … he told me he goes to church every Sunday and was a church elder and he opened up. I also said to him … that I used to go to Sunday school every week and so we connected … because I am not going OMG when he told me. And he asked me if I still go to chapel now, and I said no but I still pray and believe in God, and he said that’s nice.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Tanya reassured her client that there was “no need to feel guilty”, that what they were doing wasn’t “wrong”. She even told him: “I bet there are other people in the church who do it”.</p>
<p>Tanya was one of 11 sex workers I spoke to who all had spiritual and religious beliefs. I wanted to discover how these two seemingly opposite life choices could interconnect and coexist. I discovered people like Tanya, who spoke to their clients about God and religion, but I also spoke to women who used religion as a kink to arouse their clients or as a tactic to earn more money or, in some cases, protect themselves when they felt threatened.</p>
<p>I found out that rather than being incompatible, religion and spirituality can create unique connections and meaningful experiences for both sex worker and client. Tanya’s story shows how sex work experiences are not one dimensional, and are not only about selling sex for money. They can hold multiple meanings. As the journalist Melissa Gira Grant suggests in <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/1568-playing-the-whore">her book</a>, sex work is a role where social skills and empathy are regularly performed. </p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><strong><em>This article is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> derived from interdisciplinary research. The team is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects aimed at tackling societal and scientific challenges.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>My PhD research attempts to shine a light on the realities of the everyday lives of religious sex workers, which include positive experiences as well as distressing ones. I spoke with sex workers who were <a href="https://christianity.org.uk/article/what-is-a-christian-1">Christian</a>, <a href="https://www.christianity.com/church/denominations/what-is-catholicism.html">Catholic</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-do-muslims-believe-and-do-understanding-the-5-pillars-of-islam-155023">Muslim</a>, <a href="https://www.routesnorth.com/language-and-culture/norse-paganism/#:%7E:text=Sometimes%20known%20as%20heathenry%2C%20Norse,realms%20extending%20out%20from%20it.">Norse Pagan</a> and <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25646996/">spiritual</a>. All the women were over the age of 18 and were consensual sex workers. </p>
<h2>Religion, sin and ‘morality’</h2>
<p>So, what do different religions say about sex work? Research by independent scholar Benedikta Fones, <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-04605-6_11">suggests</a> that in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament representations of sex workers are typically negative. That perhaps doesn’t come as too much of a surprise. The stereotypical “religious” view of sex before marriage is that it is immoral, so why should sex work be any different? Fones argues that these religious ideas, about sex work being “unacceptable”, then spread into wider culture.</p>
<p><a href="https://ourarchive.otago.ac.nz/handle/10523/13618">Research shows</a> that sex work is generally considered an immoral act within Christianity, Judaism and Islam. </p>
<p>That said, there are some religious organisations or charities that do provide essential support for some sex workers. But there are also “saviour charities”, whose existence gives further insight into the complex relationship between sex work and religion.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A stained glass window depicting Adam and Eve." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512018/original/file-20230223-3777-c8nmnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512018/original/file-20230223-3777-c8nmnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512018/original/file-20230223-3777-c8nmnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512018/original/file-20230223-3777-c8nmnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=352&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512018/original/file-20230223-3777-c8nmnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512018/original/file-20230223-3777-c8nmnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512018/original/file-20230223-3777-c8nmnb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Adam and Eve expelled from the Garden of Eden on a stained glass window in the cathedral of Brussels, Belgium.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/brussels-belgium-july-26-2012-adam-391219801">Shutterstock/Jorisvo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As the sociologist <a href="https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/sociology-social-policy-and-criminology/staff/gemma-ahearne/research/">Gemma Ahearne</a> has <a href="https://plasticdollheads.wordpress.com/2019/08/18/sex-workers-and-faith/">written</a>, some religiously motivated groups aim to stop people working in the sex industry and aim to eradicate sex work entirely. </p>
<p>And it’s not just religious doctrines which find sex work to be immoral – some religious sex workers do too, as <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282705375_The_Role_of_Religion_among_Sex_Workers_in_Thailand">a research project</a> in Thailand discovered in 2015. But the women I spoke with rejected that narrative of religious condemnation. For them, religion and sex work can co-exist and both were a meaningful part of their lives. </p>
<h2>Using religion to earn more</h2>
<p>One of my first discoveries was how some sex workers use religion to earn more money. One example of this was how one sex worker had decided to capitalise on her Muslim heritage to boost her “brand”.</p>
<p><strong>Zahra and Islam</strong></p>
<p>Zahra is a 26-year-old British Muslim. Zahra was inspired by other women who use the hijab when sex working. From this, she created her alter ego, where she wore the hijab when she made online sexual content and when working as an escort. She said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>On Twitter … I networked with this one girl, she wears a hijab, not in her real life but using it to make more money and mix it up and she is like earning 150k, she’s up there with celebrities and stuff and so, yeah I decided I would have an alter ego, my “hoejabi”, that’s what I called it and I made content wearing a head scarf and like that and I had jobs coming through from that.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So Zahra utilised the hijab and, in her own words, “made a lot of money from it”. </p>
<p>However, this coexistence of identities – as sex worker and religious person – is not simple, and must be managed by a process of constant internal negotiation. Zahra spoke to me at length about the requests she has had from clients which she turned down, because to agree with them would have challenged her religious values and morals.</p>
<p>She added: “I have had clients go, ‘can you sit on the Qur’an and cum or can I bring a Qur’an and ride it whilst saying this and that’, and I say no. That is too extreme for me.” </p>
<p>So although Zahra uses her religion to earn more money by sexualising Islamic symbols like the hijab, she is still a Muslim woman. She believes in Allah in her private life. She set boundaries within her work to ensure that she doesn’t go against her own religious beliefs. </p>
<p>But sexualising religion in this way can come with risks. In 2015, the former porn actor Mia Khalifa starred in a porn film while she was wearing the hijab. She received death threats as a result and was strongly criticised by some people in Muslim communities. Some claimed she was <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-30721981">letting down the Islamic faith</a> (although Khalifa herself was raised Catholic). </p>
<p>But despite – or perhaps because of – the controversy around her film, Khalifa became one of the most searched-for stars on the adult movie site Porn Hub.</p>
<p>Being a Muslim and sex worker may be risky - but for Zahra, it was empowering and positive. And she is not alone. There is a Muslim group called <a href="https://twitter.com/FullDecrim">Muslims for Full Decrim</a> whose members are also current and former sex workers who support the decriminalisation of the sex industry. Clearly, religious communities like Islam are diverse and this is reflected in how people feel about their religion and sex work. </p>
<p><strong>Maya, yoga and spirituality</strong></p>
<p>Another sex worker I met used elements of her spiritual life to increase interest from clients. Maya, a 25-year-old British woman showed me her bedroom over a video-call. Maya, like Tanya, is a cam sex worker, so her bedroom is also her workspace. But Maya’s bedroom is also the space where she practises yoga. She told me that she performed yoga on camera for her clients:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Good spiritual link, customers have said they find it relaxing to watch. Yeah, I don’t know why I didn’t mention that! I think it’s even like, called a subculture … I sent a video of myself into the site proving I can do it [yoga], you add it to your list of specialities so people can find you for specifically doing that. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>For Maya, yoga can be relaxing and a way to connect with her spiritual identity. But it is also a way to make money and it shows how religion and spirituality are becoming more diverse and less bound by <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Researching-New-Religious-Movements-Responses-and-Redefinitions/Arweck/p/book/9780415277556">traditional religious</a> rules and doctrines. Maya was managing her beliefs flexibly. This was also true for Zahra.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Silhouette of woman doing a yoga pose." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512023/original/file-20230223-730-v9q6v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512023/original/file-20230223-730-v9q6v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512023/original/file-20230223-730-v9q6v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512023/original/file-20230223-730-v9q6v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512023/original/file-20230223-730-v9q6v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512023/original/file-20230223-730-v9q6v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512023/original/file-20230223-730-v9q6v9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Woman practising yoga in a studio.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-woman-practicing-yoga-studio-upward-318285245">Shutterstock/Luna Vandoorne</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Maya’s and Zahra’s stories show the evident demand from some clients for religion when they are paying for sex. Zahra and Maya sexualise their religion and spirituality when sex working – meeting the desires of clients who get off on that. </p>
<p><strong>Khan, a trans Norse Pagan</strong></p>
<p>But there were other women I met who needed religion to help them belong.
Khan, a 41-year-old transgender woman, was raised Christian but now has a Norse Pagan religious identity. She told me how she changed her religious path because she felt conflicted between her gender identity, sex work identity and, specifically, her Christian identity.</p>
<p>She said that being a transgender woman created challenges to being a Christian and that Christianity would not accept her occupation as an escort. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I don’t think there is a way to reconcile the sex work with Christianity.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It is these kinds of religious ideas about the immorality of sex work that meant Khan looked for and found a religion – Norse Paganism – which better suited her feelings and identities. Norse Pagan practices are diverse and people engage with the religion differently. An introduction to <a href="https://www.spiritualityhealth.com/norse-paganism-for-beginners">Norse Paganism</a> on spiritualityheath.com states that it “is an inclusive spiritual practice, open to all who are moved toward it”. </p>
<p>The inclusivity offered by this religion seems to enable people with diverse and marginalised identities to feel accepted within it – in other words, it is a religious community free from judgement. For Khan, it was a welcoming religion. It helped her to overcome the challenges she had experienced as a transgender woman sex worker within the Christian faith.</p>
<p>Khan’s story supports the idea that religious beliefs are becoming more fluid and that people are able to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272160042_Lived_Religion_Faith_and_Practice_in_Everyday_Life">tailor religion</a> to better align with their “self”.</p>
<p>But, as Tanya’s story showed, there are Christian sex workers who do not feel conflicted in the way that Khan did. Religious beliefs – even those within mainstream religions like Islam and Christianity – are diverse and one size does not fit all. </p>
<h2>Enhancing sexual pleasure</h2>
<p>Another topic I was keen to examine was whether sex workers themselves experience sexual pleasure while working. This point is <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1363460716665781">seldom addressed</a>. But according to a number of the women I interviewed, they not only enjoyed sex with some of their clients, but religion and spirituality sometimes increased that pleasure and led to more of a connection.</p>
<p><strong>Amy and spiritual vibes</strong></p>
<p>Take Amy, for example. Amy is a 23-year-old American porn actor who has a spiritual identity. Our interview lasted nearly three hours. She explained to me how being a sex worker and being spiritual were not at “odds with each other”. She described how they are two separate things within her life. However, she also told me that sometimes her sexual encounters (for example, when she is creating pornography) can be a spiritual experience. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Sex can still be spiritual for me … And even if you don’t have, like, a connection with the person and you’re not gonna see them again or don’t care about them, or whatever, you can still enjoy … the moment.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Amy told me that sex could “turn her brain off” and “that’s kind of like a spiritual experience”. Amy’s spirituality concerns <a href="https://lonerwolf.com/low-or-high-vibration-signs/#:%7E:text=High%20vibrations%20are%20generally%20associated,%2C%20fear%2C%20greed%20and%20depression.">“high vibes”</a>, which are positive qualities such as love, and “low vibes” associated with negative qualities such as hatred. So for Amy, although sex work and spirituality are separate, there was also a blurring of lines between them, and some sexual experiences when making porn gave her “high vibes”. </p>
<p><strong>LRE, astrology</strong></p>
<p>Another sex worker I spoke to said that the sex part of her work could become especially enjoyable when she and her client connected over a shared love of astrology and star signs.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An ancient clock showing zodiac signs." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512025/original/file-20230223-1458-dycuhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512025/original/file-20230223-1458-dycuhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512025/original/file-20230223-1458-dycuhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512025/original/file-20230223-1458-dycuhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512025/original/file-20230223-1458-dycuhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512025/original/file-20230223-1458-dycuhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512025/original/file-20230223-1458-dycuhu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Zodiac signs on ancient Torre dell'Orologio clock in St Mark’s Square, Venice, Italy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/astrological-zodiac-signs-on-ancient-clock-1120931675">Shutterstock/Viacheslav Lopatin</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>LRE is a 22-year-old British woman who works part-time as an escort and sexual content creator. Like Amy, LRE’s spiritual identity could sometimes enhance her sexual pleasure with clients. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Oh, he was a Sagittarius [client]… we did bits and then halfway through he was like, what star sign are you? I was like, ‘you are my new favourite person ever’ … he was like laughing and smiling and I was like ‘no seriously, I love that you asked me that’ … and I thought … this is why there is such sexual chemistry.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Although the stories of Amy and LRE have some things in common, their spiritual identities were present in their sex work in different ways. In Amy’s case, her spiritual identity was not necessarily known to the fellow porn actor she had sex with. But for LRE, her spiritual identity was known and openly discussed with her client. </p>
<h2>Belief as a coping strategy</h2>
<p>Despite the many empowering and sex-positive stories I heard, there was sometimes a reminder that not all sex worker experiences are positive. </p>
<p><strong>Lilly, Christian Orthodox</strong></p>
<p>Lilly is one such example. Lilly was a 25-year-old escort, originally from Romania. She is Christian Orthodox and lives in the UK. She told me how she prays in her head when she is with a client who makes her feel uncomfortable:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If I have a problem or think something is wrong with this guy, I start to pray in my head, and it helps me not to think because if they feel I am scared, they will take advantage. So, when I start to pray, I forget I am scared and go away from those feelings and so, he will be quiet as he doesn’t feel like this. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Safety challenges are an occupational hazard for sex workers. It is important to say, though, that for Lilly at least, feeling unsafe with a client was not a regular occurrence. </p>
<p>Lilly told me that sex work provides her with greater opportunities to earn more compared to other jobs available to her. I did feel concerned that Lilly, at times, was made to feel scared by her clients. But it was also clear to me that, for Lilly, these negative experiences do not outweigh the positive benefits she says she gains from being an escort. </p>
<h2>Decriminalisation</h2>
<p>One way to keep sex workers like Lilly <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13178-021-00636-0">safer</a> is to decriminalise the sex industry. Those who oppose decriminalisation seem to be under the misconception that all sex workers are coerced, <a href="https://comparativemigrationstudies.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40878-020-00201-5">trafficked</a> or exploited. Although this is true for some, it is not true for most and the misconception that all sex workers are victims is itself, as research shows, a result of stigma and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4730391/">lack of knowledge</a> about the industry. </p>
<p>It is also important to differentiate between criminalised, legalised and decriminalised sex industries. Criminalisation of the sex industry makes all sex work-related practices illegal. Legalisation of the sex industry is where sex work is legal under specific state defined conditions.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Protestors hold a banner that reads: 'Decriminalise sex work safety first'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512031/original/file-20230223-630-hw1m62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512031/original/file-20230223-630-hw1m62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512031/original/file-20230223-630-hw1m62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512031/original/file-20230223-630-hw1m62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512031/original/file-20230223-630-hw1m62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512031/original/file-20230223-630-hw1m62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512031/original/file-20230223-630-hw1m62.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Protest in London in July 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/protest-against-trumpinspired-law-that-would-1227159718">Shutterstock/Koca Vehbi</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For example, under legalisation laws <a href="https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/prostitution-and-exploitation-prostitution">within the UK</a> (except for Northern Ireland, who have adopted the <a href="https://prostitutescollective.net/briefing-no-nordic-model/">Nordic Model</a>) sex work practices are predominantly legal. However, some engagements with sex work such as soliciting on the street and working with another sex worker within the same house (as this is considered a brothel) are <a href="https://prostitutescollective.net/know-your-rights/">criminalised</a>. </p>
<p>Decriminalisation is where sex work is stripped of regulations and sex workers can operate freely. I support the <a href="https://decrimnow.org.uk/the-facts/">decriminalisation</a> of the sex industry globally because it is under these conditions that sex workers can best protect themselves and it is the first step in abolishing stigma. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1748895814523024">Research</a> has also <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002680">shown</a> it is the best strategy for <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13178-021-00636-0">harm reduction</a>. </p>
<h2>Stigma heightens risks</h2>
<p>Although it is not the belief of all sex workers, the women I spoke to argued strongly for the decriminalisation of the sex industry. Stories told to me by Khan and LRE, who are both escorts, are cases in point. </p>
<p>Khan lives and works in a US state where escorting is illegal. So, if she has a violent client, she will tell staff and security at the hotel where she is working that she is on a date that has gone wrong. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>… God forbid, something does happen, like there’s staffed or security and I will say I was on a date and this guy went crazy … </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Khan is forced to hide her sex work from staff when she is in potential danger due to fear of prosecution. LRE faces similar issues in the UK. She told me how she has to hide her income around her hotel room when she is escorting to reduce the likelihood of theft and violence. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>… If you get money, put like £100 in the safe and then anything else, just stash it around the room …</p>
</blockquote>
<p>All the women I spoke to informed me they do not report violence from clients or thefts to the police. This is not surprising, <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-28441-1">given evidence</a> that women, men and transgender sex workers are all at heightened risk of police sexual misconduct in comparison to non-sex workers. </p>
<h2>Not ‘just’ sex workers</h2>
<p>I think my interviews show that sex workers are not just sex workers – they have complex and multifaceted identities. You absolutely can be a sex worker and be religious or spiritual. But it is not necessarily easy to always get a balance. It is the result of constant and skilful identity management. The stories of women like Tanya, Maya, Zahra, LRE, Amy, Lilly and Khan underline how important it is to recognise the sheer diversity of people who work in this industry. </p>
<p>Although there are negative experiences in the sex industry, the women I spoke to, on the whole, felt empowered by their profession. They saw it as providing great opportunities for earning money and offering them positive experiences. </p>
<p>And, importantly, it didn’t get in the way of their religious and spiritual beliefs. As Zahra told me at the end of our discussion: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>…I do believe in God and believe in Allah and in my private life. I believe in it. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>So whether it was Tanya consoling a church elder, or Zahra finding a way to utilise her Muslim faith, these women were opening up new discussions about what it means to be a sex worker. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>All names have been changed to protect the identities of those involved.</em></p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Interviews with religious and spiritual sex workers examine how these seemingly opposite life choices can interconnect and coexist.Daisy Matthews, PhD candidate in Sociology, exploring the lives of religious and spiritual sex workers, Nottingham Trent UniversityJane Pilcher, Associate Professor of Sociology, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1987422023-03-01T13:35:41Z2023-03-01T13:35:41ZSex work in South Africa: why both buying and selling should be legal<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509181/original/file-20230209-24-3kfqso.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of the African Christian Democratic Party protesting against the decriminalisation of sex work in South Africa.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brenton Geach/Gallo Images via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>It is illegal to buy or sell sex in South Africa. But this may soon be a thing of the past if a recently published draft bill to decriminalise sex work is passed. Researchers and activists Marlise Richter and Monique Huysamen set out what’s in the new law, what’s good about it and what still needs work.</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>What’s envisaged under the proposed new law?</h2>
<p>If the <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/invitations/20221208-CriminalLawSexualOffences-%20AmendmentBill.pdf">Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Bill 2022</a> is passed, South Africa will become only the third country in the world to fully decriminalise sex work. It would no longer be illegal to buy or sell sex. New Zealand and <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2022/06/02/belgium-decriminalizes-sex-work_5985486_4.html">Belgium</a> are the other countries where this is the position.</p>
<p>The draft law proposes the removal of the criminalisation of buying and selling of sex. It also proposes to clear the criminal records of those who have been prosecuted for buying or selling sex.</p>
<p>Predictably, various groups have pushed back against the bill, mostly on moral grounds. Opponents of the bill recommend that either: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>the current law that fully criminalises all aspects of sex work remains in place; or</p></li>
<li><p>that sex workers are decriminalised but that clients remain criminalised.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>This last idea is drawn from what’s called the “Nordic model” – an approach followed by <a href="https://www.nswp.org/sex-work-laws-map?colour_value%5B0%5D=2">some Nordic countries</a>, including Sweden. </p>
<h2>Why is full decriminalisation in South Africa so important?</h2>
<p>Women in South Africa face very high levels of gender-based violence. Female sex workers are even more exposed than other women. A recent <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666560321000128">study</a> showed that 70% of female sex workers had experienced violence in the past year. More than half had been raped by intimate partners, police, clients or other men. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/dec/11/criminalisation-of-sex-work-normalises-violence-review-finds">Criminalisation normalises violence</a> in the sex work context.</p>
<p>Another argument for decriminalisation relates to health. HIV prevalence of between <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lanhiv/PIIS2352-3018(22)00201-6.pdf">39% and 89%</a> has been documented among female sex workers across different areas of South Africa in the last decade. This is extremely high when compared to the country’s <a href="https://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0302/P03022021.pdf">national HIV prevalence rate of 13.7%</a>.</p>
<p>Sex workers are <a href="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/77745/9789241504744_eng.pdf;jsessionid=3D4FC895B2108AE64D1EED482E817C23?sequence=1">particularly vulnerable to HIV</a> infection because of the many dangers associated with sex work in a criminalised context. Sex workers typically have many sexual partners. Their working conditions are precarious and unsafe. And the unequal power relationship between sex worker and client makes it very hard to consistently negotiate safer sex. </p>
<p>The social stigma attached to sex work also means that some healthcare providers hold <a href="https://ritshidze.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Ritshidze-State-of-Healthcare-for-Key-Populations-2023.pdf">prejudiced and vindictive views against sex workers</a>. These views can drive sex workers away from health services, including HIV prevention, treatment and support.</p>
<p>The repeal of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19962126.2009.11865199">outdated apartheid-era laws</a> would have a far-reaching, positive impact on <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13178-022-00779-8">individual sex worker health and well-being</a> and therefore also public health. </p>
<p>If sex work was not a crime, clients <a href="http://www.sweat.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Policing-Report.pdf">and police</a> wouldn’t have the power to abuse sex workers. Sex workers would be able to regularly negotiate safe sex. Police would have to take their complaints seriously. Sex workers would also feel more confident to report discrimination and disrespectful healthcare workers. </p>
<p>Under decriminalisation, sex work would be recognised as work. Occupational health and safety and fair labour principles would apply. Decriminalisation is particularly important for the dignity of poor black sex workers from working class backgrounds, who currently <a href="https://www.pins.org.za/pins/pins57/huysamen-boonzaier.pdf">bear the brunt of the stigma</a> associated with the criminalisation of sex work. </p>
<h2>What is the Nordic model?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://nwac.ca/assets-knowledge-centre/CLES-What-We-Know-About-the-Nordic-Model.pdf">Nordic model</a> is a legal framework adopted by several Nordic countries, including Sweden and Norway.</p>
<p>According to this approach, selling sex should be decriminalised, but buying sex remains a crime. </p>
<p>The model <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/3039-revolting-prostitutes">assumes</a> that criminalising the clients of sex workers would dissuade people from buying sexual services, and thus end the demand for sex work. </p>
<p>Research in countries that have adopted this shows that it <a href="https://www.nswp.org/resource/nswp-publications/advocacy-toolkit-the-real-impact-the-swedish-model-sex-workers">has not made sex work safer for sex workers, nor has it eradicated sex work</a>. Evidence also shows that criminalisation of clients is <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002680">bad for sex workers’ health</a>. </p>
<p>If buying sex is illegal, sex workers have less time <a href="https://bhekisisa.org/health-news-south-africa/2023-01-31-decriminalising-sex-work-can-protect-sex-workers-and-everybody-else-from-gbv/">to screen out dangerous clients</a> and clients can put pressure on sex workers to agree to risky transactions in compromising situations. </p>
<p>South Africans have had painful lessons about why the state has <a href="https://www.groundup.org.za/article/where-the-criminal-law-has-no-place-sex-work/">no business in people’s bedrooms</a>. The apartheid-era state prohibited sex across “colour” and “same-sex” configurations which South Africa subsequently strongly rejected under democracy. Yet this same law still survives for adult, consensual sex work.</p>
<h2>Why arguments against criminalising clients should be resisted</h2>
<p>Our research shows that while most of the <a href="https://www.routledge.com/A-Critical-Reflexive-Approach-to-Sex-Research-Interviews-with-Men-Who-Pay/Huysamen/p/book/9780367554477">clients of sex workers in South Africa</a> are men, they are a diverse group from all walks of life. Some are <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22911711/">violent and abusive</a> towards sex workers. But many are not. Some sex workers report having <a href="https://genderjustice.org.za/publication/towards-harm-reduction-programmes-with-sex-worker-clients-in-south-africa/">mutually respectful interactions and contracts with clients</a>. </p>
<p>In our research, very few men self-reported perpetrating violence against sex workers. Most actively distanced themselves from the violence associated with men who pay for sex, making it clear that they <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00224499.2019.1645806">did not engage in or condone violence against sex workers</a>. </p>
<p>Based on our research and that of others, we <a href="https://genderjustice.org.za/publication/towards-harm-reduction-programmes-with-sex-worker-clients-in-south-africa/">believe</a> that the decriminalisation of clients would have positive spin-offs. </p>
<p>First, recruiting clients who have been identified by sex workers as non-violent and respectful as peer educators could instil and reinforce positive norms among clients.</p>
<p>Second, clients are well placed to serve as <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Paying-for-Sex-in-a-Digital-Age-US-and-UK-Perspectives/Sanders-Brents-Wakefield/p/book/9781138318731">whistle-blowers</a> when they notice human rights violations such as human trafficking or child exploitation in the sex industry. </p>
<p>Third, clients can be <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-south-africas-hiv-prevention-programmes-should-include-sex-worker-clients-157264">key to reducing HIV transmission</a>. Scaling up antiretroviral therapy among clients of sex workers would avert almost <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33533115/">one-fifth of new HIV infections</a> in South Africa over the next decade.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-south-africas-hiv-prevention-programmes-should-include-sex-worker-clients-157264">Why South Africa's HIV prevention programmes should include sex worker clients</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The Nordic model is flawed and demonises clients. Putting sex work clients in jail punishes them for buying a service. This is ultimately bad for everyone’s health. </p>
<p>The draft bill should be passed as it is and as quickly as possible.<br>
It will make sex work less risky and dangerous, and our society safer.</p>
<p><em>This article has been updated to reflect the fact that Belgium decriminalised sex work in 2022.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198742/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marlise Richter works for the Health Justice Initiative and is an associate with the African Centre for Migration & Society, university of the Witwatersrand. She served on the Sisonke Sex Worker Movement Board from 2017-2022.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Monique Huysamen is a Senior Research Associate at Manchester Metropolitan University and an Honorary Research Affiliate at University of Cape Town. Her research has been funded by The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), NRF, and Harry Crossley Research Foundation</span></em></p>The repeal of outdated apartheid-era laws would have a far-reaching, positive impact on individual sex workers’ health and well-being.Marlise Richter, Research fellow, African Centre for Migration & Society, University of the WitwatersrandMonique Huysamen, Senior Research Associate in Sexual and Reproductive health, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1979572023-01-26T20:04:57Z2023-01-26T20:04:57ZHorror comedy ‘The Menu’ delves into foodie snobbery when you’re dying for a cheeseburger<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505719/original/file-20230122-7984-2j898a.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=341%2C166%2C2281%2C1221&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Margot, played by Anya Taylor-Joy, is important because viewers without much experience with fine dining culture, or who empathize with criticisms of it, can relate to her. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Eric Zachanowich/Searchlight Pictures)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This story contains spoilers about ‘The Menu.’</em></p>
<p><a href="https://whatsondisneyplus.com/when-is-the-menu-coming-to-disney/">The Disney+ release of</a> horror/comedy <em>The Menu</em> marks the beginning of what is <a href="https://london.eater.com/23546160/worlds-best-restaurant-noma-closing-rene-redzepi-copenhagen">already shaping up to be a reckoning year for the world of fine dining</a>. </p>
<p>The film, released this past fall, is directed by Mark Mylod, known for <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/11/succession-director-mark-mylod-has-something-to-prove-with-the-menu">producing and directing the acclaimed series <em>Succession</em></a>, and satirizes the culture of high-end dining. </p>
<p>From the perspective of our <a href="https://niche-canada.org/2022/06/29/queer-vegan-pleasure/">combined expertise</a> in <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315726571">food and literary studies</a> and sexuality studies, we’re interested in how the film asks us to consider what’s left when even the most fundamental bodily pleasures are turned into commodities: things that can be marketed, bought and sold.</p>
<h2>Gory confrontation</h2>
<p><em>The Menu</em> depicts a gory confrontation between overworked restaurant workers and elite diners at the exclusive and remote restaurant, Hawthorn. The restaurant is presided over by its celebrated executive chef, Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes).</p>
<p>Reviews of <em>The Menu</em> often focus on <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/nov/16/the-menu-review-ralph-fiennes-celeb-chef-horror-comedy-cooks-nasty-surprises">Hawthorn’s wealthy customers swooning over food</a>, its highly <a href="https://www.vulture.com/article/the-menu-review-a-deliciously-mean-satire.html">trained and obedient staff</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-menu-ralph-fienness-new-film-shows-why-restaurants-are-a-ripe-setting-for-horror-195340">its meticulously and madly murderous chef</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C_uTkUGcHv4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption"><em>The Menu</em> official trailer.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While these characters are compelling, <a href="https://mashable.com/article/the-menu-review">they are also parodies</a>. The most extreme example of this is foodie Tyler (Nicholas Hoult), who is so desperate to experience the esteemed chef’s cooking that he goes to Hawthorn knowing that <a href="https://screenrant.com/why-tyler-went-to-chef-restaurant-death-menu-movie/">he (and all the others) will die there.</a></p>
<p>While Tyler is absurdly entertaining, the film follows the perspective of protagonist Margot, who isn’t familiar with the world of haute cuisine.</p>
<p>Margot is not just important because viewers who don’t have much experience with fine dining culture, or who empathize with criticisms of it, can relate to her. Her perspective is also crucial to understanding the film’s interesting and complicated treatment of <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203361160">eating, labour and pleasure</a>. </p>
<h2>Pretentious techniques</h2>
<p>From the beginning, Margot balks at the restaurant’s pretentiousness and avant-garde techniques, <a href="https://www.gourmetfoodworld.com/molecular-gastronomy-techniques-15249#:%7E:text=One%20of%20the%20more%20intricate,more%20solid%20and%20unpredictable%20format">like gelification</a>. </p>
<p>Viewers might identify with her eye rolls and impolite snickers, and may even do the same when, for example, a routine welcome speech delivered by the chef brings Tyler to tears. </p>
<p>These expressive responses from Margot add humour to the film and show the ridiculousness of Chef Julian’s plans for what he calls “the greatest menu ever created.” </p>
<h2>Giving and taking</h2>
<p>Unlike Hawthorn’s staff and regular diners, Margot doesn’t easily fit into the distinction the chef makes between <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/22/dining/the-menu-fine-dining.html">“those who give” (service workers) and “those who take” (wealthy customers)</a>.</p>
<p>As we come to learn, Margot is also working while at Hawthorn: she is a sex worker hired by Tyler, even though he knows that it will mean her death.</p>
<p>Like the restaurant staff, Margot is subjected to the whims and desires of insufferable (and dangerous) clients like Tyler, who have no regard for the lives of the workers whose services they employ. At the same time, Margot <em>is</em> a customer of the restaurant. She is the sole character who is both serving and being served.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman in a pale plum-coloured halter dress stands looking shocked." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506138/original/file-20230124-306-pxe4yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506138/original/file-20230124-306-pxe4yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506138/original/file-20230124-306-pxe4yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506138/original/file-20230124-306-pxe4yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506138/original/file-20230124-306-pxe4yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506138/original/file-20230124-306-pxe4yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506138/original/file-20230124-306-pxe4yr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Only Margot is both serving and being served in ‘The Menu.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Eric Zachanowich/Searchlight Pictures)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Eating and class status</h2>
<p>Margot is also distinct because she does not treat food as <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/the-menu-film-set-production-design-food-art-2244262">an art object or a subject to master</a>, nor does she eat to signal her <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/ca/culinary-capital-9780857854155/">class status</a>. Her relationship to eating is a more carnal and tactile kind of intimacy. Margot is hungry, and she demands to be fed.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-menu-ralph-fienness-new-film-shows-why-restaurants-are-a-ripe-setting-for-horror-195340">The Menu: Ralph Fiennes's new film shows why restaurants are a ripe setting for horror</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://www.eater.com/23473717/the-menu-movie-ending-spoilers-explained">Others have pointed out</a> how <em>The Menu</em> comments on labour conditions in the restaurant industry. This is certainly an important topic the film explores, and is <a href="https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/01/noma-restaurant-copenhagen-closing-fine-dining.html">especially relevant</a> as restaurants reckon with long-standing concerns around industry sustainability <a href="https://www.eater.com/22839584/book-excerpt-corey-mintz-the-next-supper-chefs-workers-restaurants">that were sharply exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic</a>.</p>
<p>For example, given these labour issues, there are questions about whether the fine dining industry should even exist in the future — questions that have become especially public with the recently announced closure of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jan/24/noma-is-closing-are-we-seeing-the-death-of-fine-dining">Noma, Copanhagen, named the “World’s Best Restaurant” in 2021</a>.</p>
<h2>Invested workers</h2>
<p>However, Hawthorn’s staff is not only reducible to working-class warriors taking revenge on their oppressors. They, too, are invested in the culture of fine dining and insist on a similar kind of perfection as their diners.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A bowl seen being served." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506649/original/file-20230126-17211-abi9e9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506649/original/file-20230126-17211-abi9e9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506649/original/file-20230126-17211-abi9e9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506649/original/file-20230126-17211-abi9e9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506649/original/file-20230126-17211-abi9e9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506649/original/file-20230126-17211-abi9e9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506649/original/file-20230126-17211-abi9e9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=516&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Servers at Hawthorn are invested in deadly perfection.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Eric Zachanowich/Searchlight Pictures)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In an absurdly hilarious and grim take on what fine dining has become, Hawthorn’s diners and staff perform their roles — serving and being served, cooking and eating — to their fiery (and gelatinous) deaths.</p>
<p>Margot understands the pleasures that have been stripped from both cooking and eating. </p>
<p>In a scene where Chef Julian asks Margot if she enjoys her work, she says she used to, but no longer does. Even so, unlike some of the others, she clearly still has a strong appetite for life and living. </p>
<h2>Hungering for pleasure</h2>
<p>By asking Chef Julian to make her a cheeseburger (because she’s “still fucking hungry”), Margot both leverages her position as a customer and reminds him of the pleasure of cooking a meal that someone genuinely wants to eat. </p>
<p>She’s the only character who actually fights for her life. It is because of these desires (to live and enjoy life) that she is the only person to leave Hawthorn alive, a delicious and fulfilling takeaway cheeseburger in tow.</p>
<p>Although the idea of being trapped on an island at the mercy of people skilled with butcher’s knives is a frightening thought, <em>The Menu</em>’s real horror comes from the ways food, eating, and cooking <a href="https://www.akpress.org/pleasure-activism.html">lose their carnal pleasures</a> under capitalism.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197957/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melissa Montanari receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) through a Doctoral Fellowship. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marika Avenel Brown has received funding from the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) program.</span></em></p>The Menu’s real horror comes from the ways food, eating, and cooking lose their carnal pleasures under capitalism.Melissa Montanari, PhD Candidate in English and Cultural Studies, McMaster UniversityMarika Avenel Brown, PhD Candidate & Teaching Fellow, McMaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1927472022-10-26T07:42:06Z2022-10-26T07:42:06ZLegal sex work in South Africa won’t create new problems, just help solve old ones<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491858/original/file-20221026-4292-7fl4wu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Activists hold placards as they call for the decriminalisation of prostitution.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">MATTHEW KAY/AFP via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africa’s post apartheid government has been toying with the idea of decriminalising sex work for almost two decades. But it has hesitated to act with the necessary courage to regulate the industry in a progressive way. </p>
<p>The reluctance to take bold action to decriminalise the sector has detrimental effects for sex workers. Decriminalisation would give sex workers access to labour rights and help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Most importantly, it would give sex workers more protection from <a href="https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/southafrica0819_web_0.pdf">violence</a>. The recent discovery of the bodies of six women, believed to be those of <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/were-under-siege-and-need-protection-sex-workers-as-man-accused-of-killing-6-women-appears-in-court-20221011">murdered sex workers</a>, in Johannesburg once again highlighted the dangers they face.</p>
<p>The incident has <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2022/10/11/decriminalise-sex-work-to-advance-human-rights-and-reduce-gbv-activists#:%7E:text=JOHANNESBURG%20%2D%20Activists%20are%20again%20calling,shop%20in%20the%20city%20centre">reignited the debate</a> on decriminalisation. </p>
<p>Based on my research into the subject – including my <a href="https://scholar.ufs.ac.za/bitstream/handle/11660/1390/BothaR.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">2006 PhD thesis</a> – my view is that progress on this issue is hampered by the government’s fears of what might follow. The two biggest fears are that it will lead to a <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/epdf/10.10520/ejc-genbeh_v19_n3_a17">spike in the sex work industry and the possibility of child prostitution</a>.</p>
<p>But these fears do not warrant inaction. Government needs to start drafting a legislative framework to regulate the industry and decriminalise sex work. This is the only way to protect sex workers from further abuse and violence.</p>
<h2>Misplaced fear</h2>
<p>Sex work is by no means a popular career choice. Decriminalisation is thus unlikely to cause an upsurge in sex work. </p>
<p>In the main, people are forced into sex work by socio-economic circumstances, including <a href="https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Book2008SellingSexInCT.pdf">poverty</a>, and a lack of alternatives. </p>
<p><a href="https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Book2008SellingSexInCT.pdf">Research indicates</a> that 76% of sex workers in Cape Town entered the industry as a result of financial need.</p>
<p>In relation to fears about children, the country already has clear and separate statutory provisions in place to combat child prostitution. These include sections 15, 16 and 17 of the <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/acts/2007-032.pdf">Sexual Offences Related Matters and Amendment Act 32 of 2007</a>. Perhaps the most important of these is section 17, which specifically prohibits the sexual exploitation of children.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/murder-of-johannesburg-sex-workers-shows-why-south-africa-must-urgently-decriminalise-the-trade-192686">Murder of Johannesburg sex workers shows why South Africa must urgently decriminalise the trade</a>
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<p>With these sections in place, the success of preventing an increase in child prostitution, once adult sex work was decriminalised, would depend on effective law enforcement.</p>
<p>A spike in child prostitution did take place in, for example, the Netherlands and parts of Australia, once they decriminalised the sex industry. Research shows that this <a href="https://scholar.ufs.ac.za/bitstream/handle/11660/1390/BothaR.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">was a result of ineffective law enforcement</a>.</p>
<h2>Exposure to violence</h2>
<p>South Africa is a hotbed of crime and has one of the <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/minister-bheki-cele-release-quarter-four-crime-statistics-202122-3-jun-2022-0000">highest incidences of violence</a> in the world.</p>
<p>Because of the illegal status of their work, sex workers are forced “underground”, which makes them <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/epdf/10.31920/2050-4284/2019/8n2a10">more susceptible to violence</a> than other citizens – who are already “at high risk”.</p>
<p><a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/ejc-genbeh_v19_n3_a7">Research</a> indicates that almost half (45%) of the South African sex workers who died in 2018 and 2019 were murdered. There are an estimated <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/epdf/10.10520/ejc-genbeh_v19_n3_a17">167,000</a> sex workers in the country.</p>
<p>Sex workers are ideal targets of violence. Meeting clients in discreet places to hide their occupation leaves them exposed to violence from clients. They are also unlikely to report crimes against them if they fear being prosecuted themselves and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/southafrica0819_web_0.pdf">abused further by the police</a>. </p>
<p>The only way to stop violence against sex workers and protect their basic rights is to decriminalise sex work. The longer this reality is ignored, the more violence, including murders, will follow.</p>
<h2>The history</h2>
<p>Sex work in South Africa was originally criminalised in terms of section 20 (1A) of the apartheid-era <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/acts/1957-023.pdf">Sexual Offences Act, 1957</a>, which prohibits “unlawful carnal intercourse” or “acts of indecency” for reward. According to this statutory provision, the sex workers (<a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/epdf/10.31920/2050-4284/2019/8n2a10">mostly females</a>) are the perpetrators of the crime, and their clients are accomplices.</p>
<p>Both the sex worker and the client are liable for prosecution and the same punishment, which <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/acts/1957-023.pdf">includes</a> imprisonment for a maximum period of three years with or without a maximum fine of R6,000 (US$325). But in criminal law terms, the conduct of a perpetrator (in this case the sex worker) is considered more blameworthy than that of the accomplice.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sex-workers-in-nigeria-deserve-fair-treatment-from-the-media-183984">Sex workers in Nigeria deserve fair treatment from the media</a>
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</p>
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<p>A 2002 minority High Court <a href="http://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ZACC/2002/22.html">judgment</a> highlighted this distinction as indirect gender discrimination. The legislature then responded by introducing section 11 to the <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/acts/2007-032.pdf#page=16">Sexual Offences Related Matters and Amendment Act 32 of 2007</a>. The section provides that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A person (‘A’) who unlawfully and intentionally engages the services of a person 18
years or older (‘B’), for financial or other reward, favour or compensation to B or to a
third person (‘C’)-
(a) for the purpose of engaging in a sexual act with B, irrespective of whether
the sexual act is committed or not; or
(b) by committing a sexual act with B,
is guilty of the offence of engaging the sexual services of a person 18 years or older.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This wording simply shifts the “more blameworthy” role of being a perpetrator to the client, while the sex worker becomes the accomplice. Although this removes gender discrimination and is more compliant with the constitution, it is not a progressive step in the direction of decriminalisation.</p>
<p>Both the sex worker and client are still liable for prosecution and punishment and are forced to operate underground.</p>
<p>The South African Law Reform Commission <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/ejc-genbeh_v19_n3_a17#:%7E:text=The%20criminalization%20of%20sex%20work,et%20al.%2C%201999">first reviewed</a> the law banning sex work in 2006. It opted to continue with the approach of criminalising the sex industry.</p>
<p>Discussions continued <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/salrc/dpapers/dp0001-2009_prj107_2009.pdf">in 2009</a> and again <a href="https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/24533/">in 2017</a>. But nothing came of them. The opportunity to make changes was missed again recently when the Sexual Offences and Related Matters <a href="https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/acts/2021-013.pdf">Amendment Act</a> failed to decriminalise sex work.</p>
<h2>Looking forward</h2>
<p>Fearing what might follow decriminalisation does not justify continuing to criminalise sex work. It is here to stay, whether legal or illegal.</p>
<p>Criminalisation has been shown to be <a href="https://scholar.ufs.ac.za/bitstream/handle/11660/1390/BothaR.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">ineffective in eliminating sex work</a>.</p>
<p>In addition, it’s been shown that it forces it underground, exposing sex workers to violence, including murder.</p>
<p>It’s time South Africa took more progressive steps.</p>
<p>Decriminalisation will come with its own challenges and teething problems, but continuing to turn a blind eye to the plight of sex workers will mean that they live in danger.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/unequal-power-relations-driven-by-poverty-fuel-sexual-violence-in-lake-chad-region-185918">Unequal power relations driven by poverty fuel sexual violence in Lake Chad region</a>
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</p>
<hr>
<p>The government can learn valuable lessons from other countries, such as New Zealand, were sex workers are <a href="https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2003/0028/latest/DLM197815.html">regulated by law</a>. </p>
<p>They enjoy better protection against violence, have labour rights, can decline clients and have access to healthcare. Brothels are only allowed to <a href="https://www.nzpc.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Model">operate in certain areas</a> and <a href="https://obiter.mandela.ac.za/article/view/12620/17568">child prostitution remains a crime</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192747/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rinda Botha does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Regulating the sex work industry is the only way to protect sex workers from abuse and violence.Rinda Botha, Senior lecturer, University of the Free StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1837732022-08-08T18:48:42Z2022-08-08T18:48:42ZSex work is real work: Global COVID-19 recovery needs to include sex workers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474679/original/file-20220718-72671-6vg9qq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=64%2C0%2C7223%2C4811&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Globally, sex workers have been left to fend for themselves during the pandemic with little to no support from the government.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source"> (AP Photo/Bikas Das)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/sex-work-is-real-work--global-covid-19-recovery-needs-to-include-sex-workers" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>During the pandemic, business shifted from in person to work-from-home, which <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/timbajarin/2021/04/29/work-from-home-is-the-new-normal-for-workers-around-the-world/">quickly became the new normal</a>. However, it left many workers high and dry, especially those with less “socially acceptable” occupations. </p>
<p>The pandemic <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02124-3">has adversely impacted sex workers</a> globally and substantially increased the precariousness of their profession. And public health measures put in place made it almost impossible for <a href="https://items.ssrc.org/covid-19-and-the-social-sciences/covid-19-fieldnotes/the-covid-19-pandemic-endangers-sex-worker-health-and-safety-underscoring-need-for-structural-reforms/">sex workers to provide any in-person service</a>. </p>
<p>Although many people depend on sex work for survival, <a href="https://www.socialconnectedness.org/the-stigmatization-behind-sex-work/">its criminalization and policing</a> stigmatizes sex workers.</p>
<p>Research shows that globally, sex workers have been left behind and in most cases excluded <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F21501327211031760">from government economic support initiatives and social policies</a>. There needs to be an intersectional approach to global COVID-19 recovery that considers <em>everyone’s</em> lived realities. We propose policy recommendations that treat sex work as decent work and that centre around the lived experiences and rights of those in the profession. </p>
<h2>Sex work and the pandemic</h2>
<p>The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) recently reported that apart from income-loss, the pandemic has increased pre-existing inequalities for sex workers. </p>
<p><a href="https://esaro.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/pub-pdf/condom_programme_strategy_summary-ia.pdf">In a survey conducted in Eastern and Southern Africa</a>, the UNFPA found that during the pandemic, 49 per cent of sex workers experienced police violence (including sexual violence) while 36 per cent reported arbitrary arrests. The same survey reported that more than 50 per cent of respondents experienced food and housing crises. </p>
<p>Lockdowns and border closures adversely impacted <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/02/03/960848011/how-the-pandemic-has-upended-the-lives-of-thailands-sex-workers">Thailand’s tourism industry which relies partially on the labour of sex workers</a>.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sex-workers-are-criminalized-and-left-without-government-support-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic-141746">Sex workers are criminalized and left without government support during the coronavirus pandemic</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the <a href="https://www.nswp.org/news/impact-covid-19-sex-workers-asia-and-the-pacific">Asia Pacific</a>, sex workers reported having limited access to contraceptives and lubricants along with reduced access to harm reduction resources. Lockdowns also disrupted <a href="https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/334191/seajph2020v9n2p100-eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">STI or HIV testing services</a>, limiting sex workers’ access to necessary healthcare. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.nswp.org/es/node/8830">North America</a>, sex workers have been excluded from the government’s recovery response. And many began offering <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0020872820962202">online services to sustain themselves</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman stands backlit next to a dimly lit bus that reads 'Thailand' with green lighting." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474670/original/file-20220718-72671-s61tih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474670/original/file-20220718-72671-s61tih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474670/original/file-20220718-72671-s61tih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474670/original/file-20220718-72671-s61tih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474670/original/file-20220718-72671-s61tih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474670/original/file-20220718-72671-s61tih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474670/original/file-20220718-72671-s61tih.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sex workers stand in a largely shut-down red light area in Bangkok, Thailand on March 26, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Government vs. community response</h2>
<p>Globally, sex workers have been left to fend for themselves during the pandemic with little to no support from the government. But <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7385-6_15">communities themselves have been rallying</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.thestar.com/life/together/people/2021/06/13/why-elene-lam-founded-butterfly-a-grassroots-group-that-speaks-up-for-torontos-asian-and-migrant-sex-workers.html">Elene Lam</a>, founder of Butterfly, an Asian migrant sex organization in Canada, talks about the resilience of sex wokers during the pandemic. </p>
<p>She says organizations like the Canadian Alliance for Sex Work Law Reform are working in collaboration with Amnesty International to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872820962202">mobilize income support and resources to help sex workers</a> in Canada. </p>
<p>Organizations in the United Kingdom, Germany, India and Spain have also set up emergency support funds. And some <a href="https://www.nswp.org/sites/default/files/covid-19_sw_cg_prf01.pdf">sex worker organizations</a> have developed community-specific resources for providing services both in person and online during the pandemic.</p>
<h2>Global recovery needs to include sex workers</h2>
<p>The International Labour Organization’s “<a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/decent-work/lang--en/index.htm">Decent Work Agenda</a>” emphasizes productive employment and decent working conditions as being the driving force behind poverty reduction. </p>
<p>Sociologist Cecilia Benoit <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0950017020936872">explains that sex work</a> often becomes a “livelihood strategy” in the face of income and employment instability. She says that like other personal service workers, sex workers also should be able to practice without any interference or violence.</p>
<p>In order to have an inclusive COVID-19 recovery for all, governments need to work to <a href="https://www.social-protection.org/gimi/gess/ShowWiki.action?id=594">extend social guarantees to sex workers</a> — so far they haven’t. </p>
<p>As pandemic restrictions disappear, it is crucial to ensure that everyone involved in sex work is protected under the law and has access to accountability measures.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman stands wearing a mask with a safety vest on in front of a collage of scantily clad women and a sign that reads 'nude women non stop'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474673/original/file-20220718-68563-a8ro42.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474673/original/file-20220718-68563-a8ro42.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474673/original/file-20220718-68563-a8ro42.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474673/original/file-20220718-68563-a8ro42.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=426&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474673/original/file-20220718-68563-a8ro42.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474673/original/file-20220718-68563-a8ro42.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474673/original/file-20220718-68563-a8ro42.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A volunteer helps out at Zanzibar strip club during a low-barrier vaccination clinic for sex workers in Toronto in June 2021.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Recommendations</h2>
<p>As feminist researchers, we propose that sex work be brought under the broader agenda of decent work so that the people offering services are protected.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Governments need to have a legal mandate for preventing sexual exploitation. </p></li>
<li><p>Law enforcement staff need to be trained in better responding to the needs of sex workers. To intervene in and address situations of abuse or violence is critical to ensure workplace safety and harm reduction. </p></li>
<li><p>Awareness and educational campaigns need to focus on destigmatizing sex work.</p></li>
<li><p>Policy-makers need to incorporate intersectionality as a working principle in identifying and responding to the different axes of oppression and marginalization impacting LGBTQ+ and racialized sex workers. </p></li>
<li><p>Engagement with sex workers and human rights organizations need to happen when designing aid support to ensure that an inclusive pathway for recovery is created.</p></li>
<li><p>Globally, there needs to be a steady commitment towards destigmatizing sex workers and their services.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Despite the gradual waning of pandemic restrictions, sex workers continue to face the dual insecurity of social discrimination and loss of income support. Many are still finding it difficult to stay afloat and sustain themselves. </p>
<p>Societally, we need to recognize that sex workers have agency and deserve the same respect, dignity and aid as any other person selling their labour.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183773/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Societally, we need to recognize that sex workers have agency and deserve the same respect, dignity and aid as any other person selling their labour.Deeplina Banerjee, PhD Candidate, Gender, Sexuality and Women Studies, Western UniversityAndrea Burke, PhD Candidate, Gender Sexuality and Women's Studies, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1771972022-03-31T12:44:37Z2022-03-31T12:44:37ZTransgender women are finding some respect in India, but a traditional gender-nonconforming group – hijras – remains stigmatized<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455281/original/file-20220330-5792-b9nwvi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6559%2C4381&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Members of the Association of Transgender and Hijra at Bengal light a lamp to mark Transgender Day of Bengal in Kolkata, India, in 2017.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/IndiaTrangenders/150991d3665046a694f2f9d7c125ce8e/photo?Query=hijra%20india&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=15&currentItemNo=13">AP Photo/Bikas Das</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The confirmation of Rachel Levine, <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/dr-rachel-levine-becomes-first-openly-transgender-person-confirmed-senate-n1262000">the first openly transgender federal official in the U.S., as assistant secretary to Department of Health and Human Services</a>, showed the progress toward acceptance that transgender people have recently made in <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/latin-americas-trans-politicians-gain-ground-dangerous-region-2022-03-09/">many parts of the world</a>. </p>
<p>Despite <a href="https://theconversation.com/indiana-iowa-and-texas-advance-anti-transgender-agendas-part-of-a-longtime-strategy-by-conservatives-to-rally-their-base-178377">intense</a> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/19/hungary-votes-to-end-legal-recognition-of-trans-people">pushback</a>, trans people <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Trans-Lives-in-a-Globalizing-World-Rights-Identities-and-Politics/Ryan/p/book/9780367193348">all over the world</a> are finding more courage to live openly. </p>
<p>There is greater acceptance for transgender people in <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-biden-levine-lgbt/factbox-transgender-politicians-and-government-officials-around-the-world-idUSKBN2BH1U4">high-level government positions</a>, <a href="https://www.chronicle.com/package/diversity-in-academe-transgender-on-campus/">colleges</a> and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/30/us/boy-scouts-transgender-membership/index.html">extracurricular activities</a>, among other areas. </p>
<p>However, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243220932275">my ethnographic research on transgender identities in India</a> shows an intriguing paradox – claiming trans identities can <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/28/us/pride-identity.html">appear progressive</a> for some, but it can also marginalize other gender-nonconforming groups.</p>
<h2>Who are hijras?</h2>
<p>While conducting research in India, I found many people who identified themselves as transgender women. This surprised me, because India has a well-established category for gender-nonconforming people whose gender was assigned as male at birth – a group known as <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo3534006.html">hijras</a>. </p>
<p>The hijra community is said to go back to antiquity. Hijras created their own communities where they live and work together in <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Neither_Man_Nor_Woman.html?id=K1sbAAAAYAAJ">households known as hamaams</a>, as they are excluded from the mainstream society. They often <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo3534006.html">run away from their birth families as teenagers</a> because of abuse for their gender expression or perceived sexuality. Hijras often live in urban areas, but there are also <a href="https://www.fordhampress.com/9780823294718/hijras-lovers-brothers/">those who live in rural areas</a>. </p>
<p>Hijras usually do sex work and solicit money because they are excluded from other employment and educational systems. Among the mainstream public, hijras are perhaps best known for their <a href="https://www.foyles.co.uk/witem/lgbt-gender-studies/badhai-hijrakhwaja-siratrans,adnan-hossain-claire-pamment-jeff-roy-9781350174535">uninvited performances</a> at ceremonial occasions, like weddings and birth celebrations, where they request large donations. In 2014, <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/supreme-court-recognizes-transgenders-as-third-gender/articleshow/33767900.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst">India recognized</a> hijras and other gender-nonconforming people as part of a “third gender” category. However, despite the court ruling and outreach by nongovernmental organizations, hijras remain a <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/W/bo3534006.html">stigmatized and marginalized</a> community. </p>
<h2>Transgender women vs. hijras</h2>
<p>At the same time, throughout India, the number of people who identify themselves as transgender women is growing. Over 18 months, between 2009 and 2016, I spoke with over 75 trans women, hijras and other members of the sexual and gender minority community in Bengaluru. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Indians from the LGBTQ community in colorful dresses walking in a Queer Pride parade, while holding the six-color pride flag." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455051/original/file-20220329-19-1u838l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/455051/original/file-20220329-19-1u838l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455051/original/file-20220329-19-1u838l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455051/original/file-20220329-19-1u838l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455051/original/file-20220329-19-1u838l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455051/original/file-20220329-19-1u838l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/455051/original/file-20220329-19-1u838l5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">People from India’s LGBTQ community during a Delhi Queer Pride event in 2011.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/IndiaQueerPride/8c5b7a4629e0477a87d5a950a8829fce/photo?Query=india%20transgender%20women&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=19&currentItemNo=5">AP Photo/Saurabh Das</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Media <a href="https://www.shethepeople.tv/drafts/transgender-women-trailblazers-fields">representations</a> depict trans women as enjoying <a href="https://homegrown.co.in/article/44544/meet-7-of-indias-transgender-icons-thriving-despite-social-taboo">newfound</a> <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/first-transgender-police-officer-of-india-969654-2017-04-05">opportunity</a> and <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/list-of-transgenders-firsts-who-made-it-big-in-their-fields-1276415-2018-07-03">social progress</a>. By contrast, popular depictions of hijras show them associated with stigmatized jobs, poverty and backwardness.</p>
<p>Most trans women I spoke with, like hijras, were from working-class backgrounds. These trans women are pursuing the kind of upward mobility and respectability that’s often denied to hijras. They do this partly by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243220932275">emphasizing the ways they are different from hijras</a>. </p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=weekly&source=inline-weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Trans women position themselves as belonging to the respectable middle class, in contrast to hijras, who face entrenched stigmatization in society. They do this by adopting <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Globalisation-and-the-Middle-Classes-in-India-The-Social-and-Cultural-Impact/Ganguly-Scrase-Scrase/p/book/9780415596145">middle-class markers</a> like education and claims of being “modern.” </p>
<p>During one conversation, I asked a shy young person wearing a deep green sari if she was from the hijra community. Before she could answer, her friend jumped in, explaining, “The people who are … living in the hamaams, following the tradition of the hamaams, they are called hijras. She’s a modern girl; she’s educated, she’s literate. She’s called transgender.” </p>
<p>Many trans women that I spoke with discussed working in “office jobs,” referring to white-collar jobs, especially with NGOs. Office employment is important because it allows trans women middle-class respectability, which is not available to hijras.</p>
<p>Suma, a trans woman in her early 30s, explained how such employment connected with the desire for middle-class status. She observed, “Everyone has to work, but dignity is very important. Begging and sex work are not bringing you any dignity.” </p>
<h2>‘I am not a hijra’</h2>
<p>The distinction between claiming a trans woman identity or a hijra identity is perhaps most apparent in an online media photo series from 2016 titled “<a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/andreborges/15-beautiful-confident-transgender-indians-shut-down-stereot">I am Not a Hijra</a>.” The 16 photos in the series show primarily feminine trans people holding signs that claim trans identities and emphasize their difference from hijras. Like the trans women I spoke with, these trans people emphasize how their employment – and, thus, class – status is a key marker of this difference.</p>
<p>For these trans women, identifying as transgender, and not as hijras, is important for upward mobility. They want to be understood as different from hijras, because hijras are stigmatized and excluded. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, in their quest for respect, trans women end up reinforcing the stigma and inequalities suffered by hijras.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177197/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liz Mount received funding from The American Institute of Indian Studies to conduct this research. </span></em></p>A sociologist explains that the ability to claim transgender identities in India may appear progressive, but this can further marginalize historically stigmatized gender-nonconforming groups.Liz Mount, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Flagler CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1737062022-01-20T18:09:08Z2022-01-20T18:09:08ZJair Bolsonaro’s administration is hurting the lives of LGBTQ+ sex workers in Brazil<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441806/original/file-20220120-9530-1e4kucc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C0%2C5439%2C3637&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro gives a press conference in January 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Marcelo Chello) </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Brazil has achieved accomplishments related to the rights and visibility of marginalized communities in the last two decades — <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0169796X20963332">from social innovations to educational change</a>. However, LGBTQ+ sex workers of all genders are <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/brazil-sex-work-lgbtq-jair-bolsonaro-857050/">facing stigmatization and discrimination</a>. </p>
<p>A major cause for this is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/may/21/if-i-dont-have-sex-ill-die-of-hunger-covid-19-crisis-for-rios-trans-sex-workers">Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s far-right president</a>. When he was elected in 2018, the violence against LGBTQ+ sex workers began to be state endorsed, making it much harder for sex workers to do their jobs. </p>
<p>This discrimination is furthered because Brazil is a <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/brazils-conservative-revolution/">predominantly conservative society</a> with a fast-growing <a href="https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/faq/pentecostalism-brazil">fundamentalist Pentecostal population</a>. </p>
<p>According to Brazilian anthropologist and professor at Universidade Federal da Bahia, Luiz Mott, every 26 minutes an <a href="https://clubedeautores.com.br/livro/mortes-violentas-de-lgbt-no-brasil">LGBTQ+ person was murdered or took their own life</a>, in 2020. Brazil is dangerous <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/democraciaabierta/violencia-anti-lgbtq-brasil-en">for LGBTQ+ people</a>.</p>
<p>Bolsonaro has said some heinous things about LGBTQ+ people and sex workers. He publicly declared (translated from Portuguese) “<a href="https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/cotidian/ff1905200210.htm">I’m not going to fight or discriminate, but if I spot two men kissing in the street, I’ll beat them up</a>,” and that “<a href="https://www.cartacapital.com.br/politica/bolsonaro-em-25-frases-polemicas/">90 per cent of adopted boys are going to be gay and will be sex workers for the couple</a>.” He said in a TV interview on <em>Participação Popular</em> “<a href="https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/cotidian/ff2611201025.htm">[If] the kid begins to look gay-ish, you just beat him up really bad and this will fix him. Right?</a>” </p>
<p>Recently my research has led me to look into the shift occurring at venues where male sex workers, specifically men who have sex with men, labour in Rio de Janeiro and Recife. Rio de Janeiro is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2011/jul/11/rio-de-janeiro-gay-tourism">an international hub for gay tourism</a> and Bolsonaro’s voting home base. While Recife is becoming one of the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3150541/">major cities in the northeast for domestic gay tourism</a>, it is one of the cities with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/16/setback-for-bolsonaro-after-poor-results-in-brazil-local-elections">the largest number of anti-Bolsonaro votes</a>.</p>
<h2>Sex work in Brazil</h2>
<p>Sex work and soliciting sex are not criminalized in Brazil, but sex work in general is not regulated. The regulation has been sitting in the National Congress, waiting to be voted on since 2012. It comes in the form of <a href="https://journals.tulane.edu/ncs/article/view/1120">Bill 4211/2012, also called “<em>Projeto de lei Gabriela Leite</em>,”</a> and has been facing fierce resistance from conservative lobbyists in the house.</p>
<p>The debate about sex work regulation was sanctioned by the social demand for public policies during the governments of <a href="https://pt.org.br/mulheres-trabalhadoras-no-brasil-da-pandemia/">Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva</a>. Feminist and LGBTQ+ movements pushed this debate but were <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/28/world/americas/jair-bolsonaro-brazil-election.html">repressed with the election of Bolsonaro</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="LGBTQ in Brazil under Bolsonaro's administration" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437320/original/file-20211213-10093-6vtgga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=2%2C0%2C952%2C957&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437320/original/file-20211213-10093-6vtgga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437320/original/file-20211213-10093-6vtgga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437320/original/file-20211213-10093-6vtgga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=601&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437320/original/file-20211213-10093-6vtgga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437320/original/file-20211213-10093-6vtgga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437320/original/file-20211213-10093-6vtgga.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Wallace Louzada Hansen (pictured) is a sex worker and friend of the author, he has been negatively impacted by Bolsonaro’s administration.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Wallace Louzada Hansen)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The reality for sex workers in Brazil is grim. Through my research I’ve interviewed and met many male sex workers. One of the men I interviewed through previous research told me <a href="https://www.arca.fiocruz.br/handle/icict/7930">it was better to be undocumented, face racism and social invisibility in Canada than to be a sex worker in Rio de Janeiro</a>. </p>
<p>He explained that he left Brazil because he was exposed to sexual, physical and psychological violence at work. When I asked if he ever tried going to the police he replied “because the police are also the ones who could rape me at raids. So, I wanted nothing from them.”</p>
<p>Until Bolsonaro’s election win, sex workers had been gaining rights. His ultra-far-right, homophobic, racist and mysogynistic views have made the reality much worse. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.huckmag.com/perspectives/reportage-2/in-bolsonaros-brazil-sex-workers-are-in-serious-danger/">an interview with <em>Huck Magazine</em></a>, anthropologist Thaddeus Blanchette says brothels were on the decline before Bolsonaro came into power, but now they’re opening back up. Blanchette says: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“What that means is this whole structure of negotiations with the police, with the law and with judges has to be renegotiated. And of course, in this process the workers have no rights whatsoever. Instead, these brothels are a major income generator for Rio’s police and militia gangs.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Bolsonaro’s necropolitical agenda targeting LGBTQ+ people, sex workers and other marginalized people together <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/disa.12528">with the COVID-19 pandemic has been disastrous</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A half torso mannequin decorated with an orange veil hangs from a beam backdropped by donated items, a stove and fridge. The room is covered in grafitti." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440319/original/file-20220111-21166-7bkcgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440319/original/file-20220111-21166-7bkcgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440319/original/file-20220111-21166-7bkcgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440319/original/file-20220111-21166-7bkcgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440319/original/file-20220111-21166-7bkcgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440319/original/file-20220111-21166-7bkcgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440319/original/file-20220111-21166-7bkcgc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The squat known as Casa Nem is occupied by members of the LGBTQ+ community who are in self-quarantine as a protective measure against COVID-19 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2022, I will conduct research that I am sure will reveal a country devastated by the pandemic, with LGBTQ+ people facing social persecution. While the results will no doubt be painful, the research will be conducted during a crucial moment for Brazil.</p>
<p>This year, the country completes 200 years of independence and, more importantly, will have a federal election — <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/lula-retains-solid-lead-over-bolsonaro-2022-brazil-race-poll-shows-2021-09-17/">former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva leads all polls</a>. </p>
<p>The conservative reaction to the possible return of a socialist and LGBTQ+ friendly government is unpredictable and since male sex workers are not well organized — <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/power-of-putas-brazilian-prostitutes-movement-in-time/">unlike their female peers</a> — their vulnerability is a major concern. </p>
<p>Bolsonaro’s leadership has had detrimental impact on the LGBTQ+ community. I’m hopeful that a new government will be elected and the country will be able to get back on track when it comes to regulating sex work, implementing protective bills and improving the lives for sex workers across the country. Because sex work is work.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173706/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alberto C. B. de Souza does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Until Bolsonaro’s election win, sex workers had been gaining rights. His ultra-far-right, homophobic, racist and mysoginistic views have made the reality much worse.Alberto C. B. de Souza, PhD Candidate in Anthropology, Carleton UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1677672021-10-07T19:19:49Z2021-10-07T19:19:49ZStudent sex work is happening, and universities need to respond with health services<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424840/original/file-20211005-23-236nvb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C94%2C2348%2C1546&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Financial strain exacerbated by the pandemic could be driving increased student sex work, whether through apps like OnlyFans or other platforms and avenues.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Tali Arbel) </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As university and college semesters unfold, a small but increasing percentage of students will likely also be taking on a largely under-reported and overlooked form of part-time employment: sex work.</p>
<p>Over the past year, there have been multiple reports of a <a href="https://nypost.com/2021/04/14/onlyfans-covid-19-pandemic-have-spurred-a-new-sexual-revolution/">dramatic increase</a> in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/dec/23/everyone-and-their-mum-is-on-it-onlyfans-boomed-in-popularity-during-the-pandemic">content creators on OnlyFans — a platform that allows fans to pay creators directly for content, which has been popular with sex workers</a>. Some new users say they created accounts to <a href="https://www.insider.com/people-are-creating-onlyfans-accounts-after-losing-jobs-during-pandemic-2020-6">navigate financial hardship during COVID-19</a>. OnlyFans platform reported a huge uptick in users during the pandemic: from 7.5 million users in November 2019 to 85 million in December 2020.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rise-in-sugar-babies-mirrors-increase-in-student-sex-work-44377">Rise in 'sugar babies' mirrors increase in student sex work</a>
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<p>In Canada, the company Seeking, (formerly known as SeekingArrangement), which calls itself an “<a href="https://www.seeking.com/about-us">elite dating site</a>,” reported in January this year on a page headed “Sugar Baby University” that over 350,000 students in Canada have “<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20210111201458/https:/www.seeking.com/p/sugar-baby-university-2021/canada">chosen to elevate their university experience by joining SeekingArrangement and dating successful benefactors who help them avoid student debt and secure a better future</a>.” The company also said “the number of college Sugar Babies seeking Sugar Daddies on SeekingArrangement rose nearly three per cent from the previous year.” The company now discourages <a href="https://www.seeking.com/sugar-baby">use of the term “sugar baby.”</a></p>
<p>“Sugar dating” or “sugaring” is an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sugar-baby-relationship-sugar-daddy-what-its-like-2019-8">approach to dating in which one partner provides compensation</a> (often in the form of money or gifts) to the other; the person receiving the compensation is typically referred to as a “sugar baby.”</p>
<p>As we enter a new academic year, higher-education institutions need to take notice and respond.</p>
<h2>What is “sex work?”</h2>
<p>While people might be most likely to think of sex work as prostitution, the reality is that sex work is an increasingly broad occupation that encompasses <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Sex-For-Sale-Prostitution-Pornography-and-the-Sex-Industry/Weitzer/p/book/9780415996051">any form of sexual services being provided for compensation</a>. </p>
<p>While some students may engage in prostitution, they could also be participating in pornography, webcamming, working phone lines, dancing in clubs, sugar dating and so on. With the increase in platforms like OnlyFans and JustForFans, anyone can engage in sex work from their own home or dorm rooms.</p>
<h2>Why are students participating in sex work?</h2>
<p>While we do not know how many Canadian students are participating in sex work, international estimates suggest between <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19317611.2018.1491922">2.1 per cent</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0476-y">seven per cent</a> of students engage in sex work. </p>
<p>Students look to sex work for many reasons, often as an occupational choice. Sex work can offer an appealing choice for some because it provides a <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.2202/1940-7890.1039">flexible work schedule</a>, <a href="https://cjc-rcc.ucalgary.ca/article/view/60991">allows someone to be their own boss</a>, provides <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13676260500431669">higher wages than service-based industries like retail</a> or because it is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017016679331">enjoyable</a>. </p>
<p>Additionally, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2010.00494.x">increasingly liberal social attitudes</a> regarding sex and sexuality may make some students feel more comfortable participating.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman's manicured hands on a cellphone." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424821/original/file-20211005-27-9mpbaa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424821/original/file-20211005-27-9mpbaa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424821/original/file-20211005-27-9mpbaa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424821/original/file-20211005-27-9mpbaa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424821/original/file-20211005-27-9mpbaa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424821/original/file-20211005-27-9mpbaa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424821/original/file-20211005-27-9mpbaa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students experiencing mounting debts, including from higher education, may be particularly motivated to pursue sex work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Freestocks/Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For others, sex work may be less of a choice. Some students may have had negative work experiences elsewhere or <a href="https://cjc-rcc.ucalgary.ca/article/view/60991">lack viable employment options</a>. Others may have experienced <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6478.2010.00494.x">exploitation, abuse or abandonment</a>, which leads them to believe sex work is their only option. Students experiencing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13676260500431669">mounting</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-014-0476-y">debts</a>, including from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2012.744304">higher education</a>, may be particularly motivated to pursue sex work. </p>
<p>While there may be the instinct to criminalize sex work or challenge sex work-supportive attitudes based on these factors, the <a href="https://www.cpha.ca/sites/default/files/assets/policy/sex-work_e.pdf">Canadian Public Health Association</a>, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/08/07/why-sex-work-should-be-decriminalized">human rights experts</a>, <a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/8/2/20692327/sex-work-decriminalization-prostitution-new-york-dc">sex work</a> <a href="https://www.safersexwork.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/WhyDecrimisConsistentwith.pdf">advocates</a>, and <a href="https://www.understandingsexwork.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/Team%20Grant%20Working%20Paper%201%20CBenoit%20et%20al%20%20September%2018%202014.pdf">researchers</a> all highlight the potential <a href="https://www.actioncanadashr.org/news/2014-03-26-open-letter-300-researchers-call-decriminalization-sex-work-canada">harms of such a response</a>; our energy is best spent addressing the motivations for pursuing sex work than punishing those who participate.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/drop-tuition-fees-university-students-face-a-precarious-future-amid-covid-19-129285">Drop tuition fees: University students face a precarious future amid COVID-19</a>
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</em>
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<h2>International students</h2>
<p>International students may also be drawn to sex work to help pay their tuition fees, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=3710004501">which are three to five times higher than domestic students on average</a>. Despite stereotypes that international students come from wealthy backgrounds, studies find that many — particularly those who enrol in Canadian higher education <a href="https://thewalrus.ca/the-shadowy-business-of-international-education">seeking a pathway to immigration</a> — <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid19-affect-international-students-new-brunswick-1.5924808">often face economic precarity</a>, <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1113439">struggle with finding affordable housing</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19320248.2017.1393365">experience higher rates of food insecurity than their domestic peers</a>. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, their opportunities for off-campus employment are limited by their visa status, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13676260500431669">making sex work a potentially lucrative option</a>.</p>
<h2>Why consider student sex work in higher education?</h2>
<p>Despite becoming more common and mainstreamed, sex work also poses risks. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25617011">Sex-working students are more likely to report</a> more sex partners and a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19317611.2018.1491922">higher prevalence of sexually transmitted infections</a> than their non-sex-working peers, and are also more likely to report higher drug consumption or addiction. Additionally, sex-working students are <a href="http://www.thestudentsexworkproject.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/TSSWP-Research-Summary-English.pdf">more likely to seek out support services</a> — particularly counselling — than their non-sex-working peers.</p>
<p>Moreover, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25617011/">2SLGBTQ+</a><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19317611.2018.1491922">people</a> are over-represented in student sex worker populations, which raises questions about how we can best support 2SLGBTQ+ students in higher education. The <a href="https://www.cpha.ca/sites/default/files/assets/policy/sex-work_e.pdf">Canadian Public Health Association</a> also reports that First Nations, Inuit and Métis people are over-represented in sex worker populations more broadly in Canada due to the ongoing effects of colonization, and we might reasonably assume that student sex workers’ demographic breakdown could be similar.</p>
<p>While some student sex workers may feel comfortable disclosing their work to peers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460720922733">and may do so as a way of managing stigma and having control</a>, others may avoid doing so due to stigma against the sex industry, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2202/1940-7890.1039">leading to social isolation and potential dissonance in their identity</a>. It is worth considering how community and cultural values might also influence a student sex worker’s choice to disclose their work, and in turn whether they might open up to student services professionals.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A genderqueer student talks with a health professional." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424820/original/file-20211005-27-1kpcd3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/424820/original/file-20211005-27-1kpcd3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424820/original/file-20211005-27-1kpcd3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424820/original/file-20211005-27-1kpcd3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424820/original/file-20211005-27-1kpcd3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424820/original/file-20211005-27-1kpcd3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/424820/original/file-20211005-27-1kpcd3q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Student wellness centres must factor student sex workers into how they design and implement services.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(The Gender Spectrum Collection)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Legal context</h2>
<p>The legal context of sex work in Canada is a bit of a grey zone. Although Bill C-36, the <a href="https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/other-autre/c36fs_fi/">Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act</a>, does not criminalize the act of selling one’s own sexual services, it does criminalize the purchasing of another person’s sexual services. </p>
<p>This creates quasi-criminalized status for sex work where every time a sexual service is provided for compensation, a crime is taking place, even if student sex workers themselves are not culpable. Bill C-36 raises questions for higher education institutions in terms of what to do should sex work be taking place on campus (such as in a residence) or through institutional resources (advertising sexual services while using the institution’s internet).</p>
<p>Higher education institutions may also have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10755-018-9443-1">legal responsibilities or liabilities if sex trafficking</a> is happening on campus. However, it is important <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/london-ontario-safe-space-sex-work-not-human-trafficking-1.4984323">not to conflate sex work</a> — a consensual sexual experience and form of work — with sex trafficking, in which someone is forced or coerced into sexual service.</p>
<h2>Harm-reduction approach</h2>
<p>The Canadian Public Health Association advocates <a href="https://harmreduction.org/issues/sex-work/">for a harm-reduction approach to sex work</a>, focusing on addressing the reasons why people may choose to pursue sex work and ensuring that those who do engage in the profession are able to access appropriate supports for their well-being. </p>
<p>This means it is essential that student wellness centres factor student sex workers into the design and implementation of their services, including mental health, substance abuse and sexual health. Similarly, supports that sex workers are likely to access must also be culturally sensitive to 2SLGBTQ+ students and campus supports for 2SLGBTQ+ students must have an understanding of sex worker needs.</p>
<p>As students navigate the costs of higher education in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, we must begin taking steps to address the needs of our student sex workers. From the lens of health and well-being, we need to ensure student sex workers are factored into health promotion programming and responsive health services in higher education.</p>
<p><em>Student sex workers looking for support or more information are encouraged to reach out to <a href="https://www.maggiesto.org/">Maggie’s Toronto</a> or <a href="https://www.butterflysw.org/">Butterfly Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167767/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Higher education institutions should also consider how to respond should sex work take place on campus, such as in a residence.Aaron Brown, PhD Student, Higher Education, University of TorontoElizabeth Buckner, Assistant Professor of Higher Education, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1659902021-10-03T12:58:31Z2021-10-03T12:58:31ZWhat the remastered queer film classic ‘Working Girls’ can teach us about sex work today<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423464/original/file-20210928-18-1pislmg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=32%2C215%2C4317%2C2132&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Feminist queer filmmaker Lizzie Borden’s 1986 indie hit has been re-released by the Criterion Collection. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lizzie Borden/Alternate Current Productions</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Working Girls,</em> the 1986 indie hit film, was re-released by the <a href="https://www.criterion.com/films/31084-working-girls">Criterion Collection</a> in July. The film was made by queer feminist American filmmaker <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lizzie-Borden-American-filmmaker">Lizzie Borden</a> at the height of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118663219.wbegss434">feminist sex wars</a>. It staked out bold territory by showing sex work as mundane and tedious, but also a viable job choice for some women.</p>
<p>The remastered edition provides a beautifully restored high-definition digitization of the film, a director’s commentary track and several conversations between Borden and others. It also brings the film back into public dialogue as sex work activists in Canada are preparing for yet <a href="https://sexworklawreform.com/sex-worker-human-rights-groups-launch-constitutional-challenge/">another Supreme Court challenge</a> to the laws criminalizing commercial sex. </p>
<p>The timely re-release of <em>Working Girls</em> is a powerful rejoinder to <a href="https://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/2629.htm">how poorly sex workers have often been represented</a> on screen — and a reminder of how the moralization of sex work in our society has obscured <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24243929">urgent questions about the labour conditions</a> that sex workers face.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OKDIcqv3Kdk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Trailer for ‘Working Girls’ Criterion Collection re-release.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Neither glorification nor condemnation</h2>
<p><em>Working Girls</em>, as Borden told me in an interview last spring, was in part a response to the Canadian documentary <em><a href="http://onf-nfb.gc.ca/en/our-collection/?idfilm=13558">Not a Love Story: A Film About Pornography</a></em> (1981). Representing commonly held feminist ideas at the time, <em>Not A Love Story</em> was both anti-pornography and anti-sex work. <em>Working Girls</em>, however, is neither a glorification nor a condemnation of sex work. </p>
<p>Rather, it is a sober depiction of gender and sexual relations in late 20th-century capitalist societies. The script was <a href="https://filmmakermagazine.com/111980-i-could-only-shoot-when-i-had-increments-of-200-to-spend-lizzie-borden-on-working-girls-harvey-weinstein-and-changing-perceptions-of-sex-work/#.YUM9Ep1KjIU">based on the real-life experiences of brothel workers</a> whose stories Borden stitched together into a feature film.</p>
<p><em>Working Girls</em> portrays a day in the life of a university-educated artist named Molly (Louise Smith) who funds her photography by working at a middle-class brothel in Manhattan. Viewers first see her, a white woman in her late 20s, preparing for her day in her apartment with her lover Diane (Deborah Banks), a similarly aged Black woman, and Diane’s child. They wake up, eat breakfast, brush their teeth and start the morning commute like everyone else. We soon see that Molly’s commute leads her to her day-time job as a brothel worker whose clientele are well-paying businessmen. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A lesbian couple, one white woman and one Black woman, embrace in bed" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422507/original/file-20210921-15-1pz4b2m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/422507/original/file-20210921-15-1pz4b2m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422507/original/file-20210921-15-1pz4b2m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422507/original/file-20210921-15-1pz4b2m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422507/original/file-20210921-15-1pz4b2m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422507/original/file-20210921-15-1pz4b2m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/422507/original/file-20210921-15-1pz4b2m.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Molly and Diane embrace before getting out of bed to start their day.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Lizzie Borden/Alternate Current Productions)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Methodical rituals, witty banter</h2>
<p>Throughout the day, Molly repeatedly performs the methodical rituals of hygiene and copulation. This includes showing kindness to and interest in her clients before and after each session. </p>
<p>Viewers are also let in on the behind-the-scenes banter and camaraderie between the day-shift workers. Sometimes the women trick clients into paying more for services they don’t receive, laugh at clients’ odd kinks and cook the books to hide income from Lucy (Ellen McElduff), the controlling yuppie madam who runs the brothel.</p>
<p>The first third of the film takes place during a relatively uneventful and collegial day shift. The money is good, the clients are predictable and the women are friendly with one another. The middle third is marked by the arrival of Lucy, who is highly demanding, micromanages the women and makes the workplace atmosphere decidedly less pleasant. Here, the film showcases the sex workers <a href="https://www.sundance.org/initiatives/womenatsundance/four-decades/working-girls">as being involved in ordinary labour-management tensions</a> that happen across all sectors of work. </p>
<p>The final third of the film is set during the evening-shift where Lucy has pressured Molly into working a double shift. During the night shift, the brothel grows increasingly claustrophobic, the boss acts progressively more controlling and the clients get pushier. </p>
<p>The camaraderie among the women is further strained by workplace homophobia, racism, ageism, a lack of child care and increasing competition for less and less desirable clients. By the end of the double shift, Molly is faced with the decision of continuing to work for Lucy, striking out on her own or quitting the industry entirely.</p>
<h2>Perspective rarely seen in cinema</h2>
<p>Borden’s film is a relative anomaly for its time, but it continues to stick out from the many sex-work-themed films made before and after its release. Catherine Deuneuve in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061395/"><em>Belle de Jour</em> (1967)</a>, Jane Fonda in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067309/"><em>Klute</em> (1971)</a>, Barbara Streisand in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093660/"><em>Nuts</em> (1987)</a>, Julia Roberts in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100405/"><em>Pretty Woman</em> (1990)</a> and Charlize Theron in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0340855/"><em>Monster</em> (2003) </a> are all a far cry from Louise Smith’s portrayal of Molly.</p>
<p>By treating <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/lets-call-sex-work-what-it-work/">sex work as a job</a>, rather than framing commercial sex as a moral dilemma or social problem to solve, Borden offers moviegoers a perspective rarely seen in cinemas in earlier decades and now.</p>
<p><em>Working Girls</em> also avoids common stereotypes, like the <a href="https://variety.com/gallery/pretty-woman-25th-anniversary-12-hookers-with-hearts-of-gold/">hooker with a heart of gold</a> or the <a href="https://writingfrombelow.org/happiness/on-the-uses-of-the-happy-hooker-slyfox/">happy hooker</a>. </p>
<p>The film doesn’t use sex workers as mere plot devices either. There are no abused women to rescue from pimps or <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DisposableSexWorker">murders to solve</a>. And instead of psychologizing the women’s behaviour, the film assumes sex workers are rational people making reasonable economic choices given their options.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A woman in a white jacket holds a fold of bills while talking with another woman." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423466/original/file-20210928-26-1d7fmjh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423466/original/file-20210928-26-1d7fmjh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423466/original/file-20210928-26-1d7fmjh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423466/original/file-20210928-26-1d7fmjh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423466/original/file-20210928-26-1d7fmjh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423466/original/file-20210928-26-1d7fmjh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423466/original/file-20210928-26-1d7fmjh.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=453&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Molly pays Lucy, the madam, her cut out of Molly’s own earnings.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Lizzie Borden/Alternate Current Productions)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Work is work</h2>
<p>The middle-class expectation that people should love their jobs or find their work fulfilling fails to deal with the reality of work. Many <a href="https://thenewinquiry.com/work-sucks/">workers would rather be doing anything else</a> than the labour done in exchange for the money necessary to live. </p>
<p>While sex workers may choose to work in the industry for a variety of reasons, no one should expect anyone to love it or any other job. Work is work.</p>
<p>We can expect that sex work activists in Canada will surely argue again, as Borden did in <em>Working Girls</em>, that the harms associated with sex work are the result of <a href="http://sexworklawreform.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Executive-Summary.pdf">criminal law, social stigma and poor labour protections</a>, not the industry itself. The question remains, will lawmakers actually listen to sex workers this time?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165990/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ryan Conrad is a member of the Research Committee of the sex worker-led activist group Prostitutes of Ottawa-Gatineau Work Educate Resist (POWER). This is an unpaid volunteer commitment.</span></em></p>The timely re-release of ‘Working Girls’ by Lizzie Borden brings sex work into the public eye as activists in Canada prepare for another Supreme Court challenge to laws criminalizing commercial sex.Ryan Conrad, SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow, Cinema & Media Studies, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1671012021-09-02T05:08:43Z2021-09-02T05:08:43ZOnlyFans controversy highlights the bind facing most gig workers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419018/original/file-20210902-27-1oii5i5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5499%2C2824&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The saga over subscription-based social media platform OnlyFans, which announced <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-19/onlyfans-to-block-sexually-explicit-videos-starting-in-october?sref=ExbtjcSG">it would ban sexually explicit content</a> only to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/aug/25/onlyfans-scraps-plans-to-ban-sexually-explicit-material">reverse that decision</a> a week later, has highlighted just how quickly such a platform can move the goalposts for those relying on it for an income. </p>
<p>Yes, the most successful “content creators” on OnlyFans can reportedly make more than US$100,000 a month. But they are the minority. Most barely make enough to justify the hustle, with the median income estimated to be <a href="https://xsrus.com/the-economics-of-onlyfans">US$180 a month</a>. </p>
<p>Strip away the sexy marketing and what you have is just another digital platform facilitating another form of gig work, substantially no different to ride-share drivers or food-delivery couriers. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/onlyfans-funding-worth-billion-dollars-b1867560.html">increase in popularity</a> of OnlyFans during the COVID-19 pandemic is mirrored by the growth of the gig economy more generally. With the pandemic hitting other forms of part-time and casual work, the attraction of the income-earning activities provided by digital platforms <a href="https://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/cepcovid-19-012.pdf">has increased</a>. </p>
<p>Some of these activities outside of the traditional, long-term employer-employee relationship may even appear desirable, offering flexibility as child care and other demands have increased during lockdowns. </p>
<p>Though precise estimates are complicated by differences in definitions of work and the way statistics are counted, the data suggests at least <a href="https://www.gigeconomydata.org/basics/how-many-gig-workers-are-there">10% of the labour force</a> in industrialised economies now rely primarily on gig work for their income. They may be called freelancers, independent contractors, temporary workers or consultants. More than a quarter of the workforce participates in the gig economy in some capacity. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419017/original/file-20210902-21-1fnt3z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419017/original/file-20210902-21-1fnt3z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419017/original/file-20210902-21-1fnt3z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419017/original/file-20210902-21-1fnt3z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419017/original/file-20210902-21-1fnt3z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419017/original/file-20210902-21-1fnt3z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419017/original/file-20210902-21-1fnt3z4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">OnlyFans’ popularity has grown significantly during the pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">STRMX/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Gig work is rightly controversial. It continues to be accused of driving <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783319893754">inequities</a>, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10612-018-9416-9">exploitation</a> and issues around <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5374746/">workplace and occupational health safety</a>. While there have been a few significant legal wins this year for some gig workers over employment status and rights, platforms still largely have the whip hand.</p>
<h2>Shifting risks</h2>
<p>Key to platforms’ power is how they avoid responsibilities and transfer risks to gig workers, by positioning themselves legally as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/poi3.237">intermediaries between customer and service provider</a>.</p>
<p>This is achieved via the <a href="https://onlyfans.com/terms">terms and conditions</a> users agree to when they sign up. These terms and conditions can be changed at any time. While users are generally given notice, they are often unaware of changes because they don’t bother to read notifications before agreeing to updated terms.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rise-of-the-porntropreneur-even-hustlers-need-side-hustles-in-the-gig-economy-129067">The rise of the ‘porntropreneur’: even hustlers need side hustles in the gig economy</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In the case of OnlyFans, its “<a href="https://onlyfans.com/contract">standard contract</a>” gives subscribers permission to access content produced by a creator, and also implicitly obligates a creator to produce and provide content over time. The contract is just over 1,500 words — theoretically short enough to read, though it’s likely few do so entirely. </p>
<p>The contract does permit for the expiry of the licence where the creator removes content. It also includes a “no guarantees” clause that mostly protects the creator with regard to the removal or unavailability of content. These clauses superficially seem to give creators some protection from disgruntled fans. But in reality they are a trap for the unwary. </p>
<p>If things go wrong, consumer protection laws generally give customers rights that create liabilities for creators. For example, under Australian Consumer Law a court could <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consumer-rights-guarantees/consumer-guarantees">strike out the “no guarantees” clause</a> in the OnlyFans standard contract, making creators liable for non-delivery to fans. </p>
<p>Had OnlyFans banned sexually explicit content, subscribers could well have have been entitled to demand their money back from content creators. The platform would not have been liable. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/3-ways-algorithmic-management-makes-work-more-stressful-and-less-satisfying-166030">3 ways 'algorithmic management' makes work more stressful and less satisfying</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Future challenges</h2>
<p>The OnlyFans case thus highlights the precarity of gig work, and some interesting legal, social and governance challenges for the future. </p>
<p>2021 has delivered some landmark court rulings in <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-deal-for-uber-drivers-in-uk-but-australias-gig-workers-must-wait-157597">Britain</a>, the Netherlands <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-employee-not-a-contractor-unfair-dismissal-ruling-against-deliveroo-is-a-big-deal-for-australias-gig-workers-161173">and Australia</a> rolling back the ability digital platforms such as Uber and Deliveroo to dictate the terms by which they engage and pay drivers and riders. </p>
<p>But these were limited wins, not applicable to all gig workers even in those jurisdictions. There is still more work to be done.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167101/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah Steele receives funding from the Wellcome Trust via Bocconi University and the University of Cambridge. She consults for Australian National University's College of Law. She has worked on research funded by the John and Laura Arnold Foundation, but received no funds or grants directly from that organisation herself. She receives monies from various organisations and companies to provide active bystander training aimed at addressing sexual harassment and assault in workplace and institutional contexts, and is working with EdX to delivery this training worldwide.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dilan Thampapillai does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Strip away the sexy marketing and what you have is just another digital platform shifting legal responsibilities and risks.Dilan Thampapillai, Associate Professor, University of New South Wales, UNSW SydneySarah Steele, Senior Research Associate, Cambridge Public Health; Associate Research Fellow, Cambridge Centre for Applied Research into Human Trafficking; Deputy Director, Intellectual Forum, Jesus College, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1588522021-07-29T23:13:43Z2021-07-29T23:13:43ZSex trafficking isn’t what you think: 4 myths debunked – and 1 real-world way to prevent sexual exploitation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/413825/original/file-20210729-15-1wvkjnr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C7%2C5061%2C3389&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A billboard in Mounds View, Minnesota, put up by the nonprofit National Human Trafficking Resource Center. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com">Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The idea that sex trafficking is an urgent social problem is woven into American media stories, from reports of Republican U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz’s <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/23/politics/gaetz-probe-public-corruption-medical-marijuana/index.html">alleged trafficking of teenage girls</a> to debunked QAnon conspiracy theories about <a href="https://apnews.com/article/social-media-us-news-ap-top-news-conspiracy-media-9d54570ebba5e406667c38cb29522ec6">a sexual slavery ring run through online retailer Wayfair</a>.</p>
<p>The common perception of sex trafficking involves a young, passive woman captured by an aggressive trafficker. The woman is hidden and waiting to be rescued by law enforcement. She is probably white, because, as the legal scholar Jayashri Srikantiah writes, the “<a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/inlr28&div=23&id=&page=">iconic victim</a>” of trafficking usually is depicted this way. </p>
<p>This is essentially the plot of the “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0936501/">Taken</a>” movies, in which teenage Americans are kidnapped abroad and sold into sexual slavery. Such concerns fuel <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/california-ikea-trafficking/">viral posts</a> and <a href="https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/tiktok-sex-trafficking-hoax-bloodbathandbeyond/">TikTok videos</a> about alleged but unproven trafficking in IKEA parking lots, malls and pizza shops. </p>
<p>This is not how sex trafficking usually occurs.</p>
<p>Since 2013, I have <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=TVAdU9IAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">researched</a> human trafficking in the midwestern U.S. In interviews with law enforcement, medical providers, case managers, victim advocates and immigration lawyers, I found that even these frontline workers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/705237">inconsistently define and apply</a> the label “trafficking victim” – especially when it comes to sex trafficking. That makes it harder for these professionals to get trafficked people the help they request. </p>
<p>So here are the facts and the law.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411320/original/file-20210714-25-jllauk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Small crowd stands on a lawn, some holding signs like 'Free the Children'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411320/original/file-20210714-25-jllauk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411320/original/file-20210714-25-jllauk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411320/original/file-20210714-25-jllauk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411320/original/file-20210714-25-jllauk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411320/original/file-20210714-25-jllauk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411320/original/file-20210714-25-jllauk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411320/original/file-20210714-25-jllauk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Demonstrators gather May 1, 2021, outside of the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, to protest against pedophilia and sex trafficking.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/demonstrators-gather-outside-of-the-ohio-statehouse-to-news-photo/1315672937?adppopup=true">Scott Olson/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What is sex trafficking?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-106publ386/pdf/PLAW-106publ386.pdf">Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000</a> provides the official legal definition for sex and labor trafficking in the United States. </p>
<p>It makes “trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age” a federal crime. </p>
<p>In short, to legally qualify as sex trafficking, a sex act involving an adult must include “force, fraud, and coercion.” This could look like someone – a family member, a romantic partner or a market facilitator colloquially described as a “pimp” or “madam” – physically abusing or threatening another adult into sex for money or resources.</p>
<p>With minors, any and all sexual exchanges – that is, trading sex for something of value like cash or food – are considered sex trafficking.</p>
<h2>How common is sex trafficking?</h2>
<p>Data on human trafficking is <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo23044232.html">notoriously messy</a> and <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo23044232.html">difficult to measure</a>. Survivors may be hesitant to disclose their exploitation out of fear of deportation, if they are undocumented, or arrest. That leads to underreporting.</p>
<p>One way to approximate how many people are being trafficked in the United States is to consult federal grant reports, as suggested by anti-trafficking nonprofit <a href="https://freedomnetworkusa.org/press-kit/">Freedom Network USA</a>. </p>
<p>For example, the federal <a href="https://ovc.ojp.gov/program/human-trafficking/ovc-efforts">Office for Victims of Crime</a> served 9,854 total clients – some of whom identified as trafficked, others who showed “strong indicators of trafficking victimization” – between July 2019 and June 2020. The Department of Health and Human Services <a href="https://www.acf.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/otip/otip_one_pager_victim_assistance_fy19.pdf">Office on Trafficking in Persons</a> served 2,398 trafficking survivors during the 2019 fiscal year. </p>
<p>Data from the same office also shows that 25,597 “potential victims” of sex and labor trafficking were identified through calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline.</p>
<p>Again, this data is incomplete – if survivors have not accessed these particular resources or called these specific hotlines, they are not represented here.</p>
<h2>What does sex trafficking look like?</h2>
<p>As with <a href="https://www.rainn.org/statistics/perpetrators-sexual-violence">other</a> <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/in-an-abusive-state">sexual</a> <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2014-48782-002">crimes</a>, like rape, sex trafficking survivors often experience violence at the hands of someone they know, not a complete stranger. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411325/original/file-20210714-27-qttxoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The 'Taken' movie poster" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411325/original/file-20210714-27-qttxoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411325/original/file-20210714-27-qttxoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=862&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411325/original/file-20210714-27-qttxoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=862&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411325/original/file-20210714-27-qttxoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=862&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411325/original/file-20210714-27-qttxoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1084&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411325/original/file-20210714-27-qttxoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1084&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411325/original/file-20210714-27-qttxoi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1084&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Movies like ‘Taken’ – and its many sequels – present an unlikely sex-trafficking scenario in which an American teen abroad is snatched and sold into sexual slavery.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ec/aa/cd/ecaacdd90753b8820b68bda76a55dd11.jpg">EuropaCorp</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A study from <a href="https://humantraffickinghotline.org/sites/default/files/Homelessness%2C%20Survival%20Sex%2C%20and%20Human%20Trafficking%20-%20Covenant%20House%20NY.pdf">Covenant House New York</a>, a nonprofit focused on homeless youth, found that 36% of the 22 trafficking survivors in their survey were trafficked by an immediate family member, like a parent. Only four reported “being kidnapped and held against his or her will.”</p>
<p>Often, trafficking victims are younger <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23322705.2020.1690116">transgender people</a> or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHRH-07-2019-0056">teens experiencing homelessness</a> who exchange sex with others to meet their basic needs: shelter, economic stability, food and health care. Trafficking frequently looks like vulnerable people struggling to survive in a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474746414000414">violent, exploitative world</a>.</p>
<p>“They are creating sexual solutions to nonsexual problems,” says San Francisco-based researcher <a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/domestic-minor-sex-trafficking/9780231169219">Alexandra Lutnick</a>.</p>
<p>Under U.S. law, these youth are trafficking victims, because of their age. But they may <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14616742.2010.513109">reject the label</a>, <a href="https://theappeal.org/not-a-cardboard-cut-out-cyntoia-brown-and-the-framing-of-a-victim-aa61f80f9cbb/">preferring terms</a> like “survival sex work” or “prostitution” to describe their experiences. </p>
<p>Trafficking victims engaged in survival sex <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12456">may well be arrested</a> rather than offered help like <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520281967/control-and-protect">housing or health care</a>. If they cannot prove “force, fraud, or coercion,” or if they refuse to comply in a criminal investigation, they risk shifting from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243203257477">victim to criminal</a> in the eyes of law enforcement. That can mean prostitution charges, felony offenses or deportation.</p>
<p>Such punishments are most commonly used against <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0891243214524623">Black, Indigenous, queer, trans and undocumented sex-trafficking survivors</a>. Black youth are <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/uclalr62&div=40&id=&page=">disproportionately arrested</a> for prostitution offenses, for example, even though legally any underage commercial sex is sex trafficking.</p>
<h2>What is the difference between sex work and sex trafficking?</h2>
<p>Legally and in other meaningful ways, sex work and sex trafficking are different. </p>
<p>Sex work is <a href="https://theconversation.com/sex-worker-rights-hysteria-surveillance-and-threats-to-fundamental-freedoms-120943">consenting adults engaging in transactional sex</a>. In almost all U.S. states, it is a <a href="https://www.nswp.org/sex-work-laws-map">criminal offense</a>, punishable with fines and even jail sentences. </p>
<p>Sex trafficking is nonconsensual, and it is generally treated as a more severe crime.</p>
<p>Most sex workers’ groups acknowledge that sex work is not inherently sex trafficking but that sex workers can face force, fraud and coercion <a href="https://www.hips.org/uploads/6/2/2/9/62290383/hips_statement_swrights.pdf">because they work in a criminalized, stigmatized profession</a>. Sex workers whose experiences meet the legal standards of trafficking may nonetheless fear disclosing that to police and risking arrest for prostitution.</p>
<p>Conversely, sex workers can be mistakenly labeled by police and advocates as “trafficked” and find themselves <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10612-020-09530-4">in the custody of law enforcement or social service agencies</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411322/original/file-20210714-21-16qkeku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Street protest of people wearing face masks and holding signs demanding rights" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411322/original/file-20210714-21-16qkeku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/411322/original/file-20210714-21-16qkeku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411322/original/file-20210714-21-16qkeku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411322/original/file-20210714-21-16qkeku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411322/original/file-20210714-21-16qkeku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411322/original/file-20210714-21-16qkeku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/411322/original/file-20210714-21-16qkeku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sex workers march against discrimination, the criminalization of their job and sexual violence in Queens, New York, Sept. 18, 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/sex-workers-and-supporters-are-are-seen-during-a-news-photo/1273570855?adppopup=true">Joana Toro /VIEWpress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What can be done?</h2>
<p>Based on my research, reducing sex trafficking requires changes that might prevent it from occurring in the first place. That means rebuilding <a href="https://doi.org/10.5250/fronjwomestud.41.2.0057">a stronger, supportive U.S. social safety net</a> to buffer against poverty and housing insecurity. </p>
<p>[<em>Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>In the meantime, trafficking victims would benefit from efforts by frontline workers to combat the racism, sexism and transphobia that <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520281967/control-and-protect">stigmatizes and criminalizes</a> victims who don’t look as people expect – and are struggling to survive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158852/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant 1624317. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.</span></em></p>Children are not routinely being snatched from pizza parlors and sold into sexual slavery. Sex trafficking more often looks like ‘vulnerable people struggling to survive’ through sex.Corinne Schwarz, Assistant Professor of Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies, Oklahoma State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1602382021-05-17T12:26:00Z2021-05-17T12:26:00ZSex work, part of the online gig economy, is a lifeline for marginalized workers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400109/original/file-20210511-21-t2945p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C33%2C5646%2C3574&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Supporters of sex workers' rights marched in Las Vegas in 2019.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SexWorkersProtest/00cb17e99298493e8e9ea622e59370fa/photo">AP Photo/John Locher</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>More people are getting involved in more types of sex work, especially with the help of the internet, despite <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-prostitution-be-decriminalized-60086">criminalization of their occupations</a> and activist opposition, some of which <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7bj9w/anti-porn-extremism-pornhub-traffickinghub-exodus-cry-ncose">threatens people’s lives</a>. <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zJGXmpAAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra">My research</a> <a href="https://drangelajones.com/">interviewing a wide range of sex workers</a> finds that <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479874873/camming/">more people are involved</a> in the industry, including marginalized people who are finding it a literal lifeline in tough economic times.</p>
<p>The internet has diversified forms of sex work, aided in the industry’s growth and interconnected previously unconnected types of sex work. Demand for amateur, non-studio-based porn has grown, expanding online pornographic industries like <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-adult-video-stars-rely-on-camming-104758">camming</a>, in which performers interact with viewers. Online sex workers post content on <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/selling-sexy-men-women-onlyfans-discuss-reality-scenes/story?id=75934010">specialized hosting sites</a>. Other websites connect <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/evew54/phone-sex-women-callers-secrets">phone sex workers</a> with new customers.</p>
<p>Some sites facilitate <a href="https://theconversation.com/sugar-daddy-capitalism-even-the-worlds-oldest-profession-is-being-uberised-109426">sugaring relationships</a>, in which one person gives another money over time in exchange for a relationship lasting beyond a one-time encounter. On other sites, people can even sell <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2018/08/02/spoke-women-sell-used-underwear-see-lucrative-seems-7736214/">used panties</a>.</p>
<p>Especially during a global pandemic with more people out of work and searching for job opportunities, the modern sex industry is incorporating many new providers, customers and job possibilities. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400374/original/file-20210512-19-17w3v1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="People, including one under a red umbrella, march and shout in the street" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400374/original/file-20210512-19-17w3v1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400374/original/file-20210512-19-17w3v1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400374/original/file-20210512-19-17w3v1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400374/original/file-20210512-19-17w3v1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400374/original/file-20210512-19-17w3v1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400374/original/file-20210512-19-17w3v1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400374/original/file-20210512-19-17w3v1z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Activists and sex workers marched in Miami Beach in December 2020, seeking the decriminalization of sex work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/activists-and-sex-workers-participate-in-a-slut-walk-in-news-photo/1229967377">Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who works in modern sex industries?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/explainers/understanding-sex-work-open-society">Sex work</a> has become more appealing to more laborers across social classes. In particular, online sex work has become more popular because it offers physical safety to those working fully online and minimizes risk to those laboring offline, has minimal requirements for employment and offers the potential for decent wages and autonomy. </p>
<p>These conditions create better work experiences. Sex worker <a href="https://triplextransman.com/">Trip Richards</a> said, “as a transgender man, … sharing my work on online platforms has offered me financial freedom and personal happiness I never thought possible and has allowed me to stay safe while pursuing my own goals as an artist, educator and activist.”</p>
<p>Online sex work is a better option than the poorly remunerated work available to some people. Many sex workers, especially those from marginalized groups, have told me they found it difficult or impossible to get or keep jobs in other industries, making sex work their only option to earn a living. People with disabilities and chronic illnesses who participated in <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479874873/camming/">my research on the camming industry</a> highlighted online sex work as flexible labor. </p>
<p>In my field, researchers assign first-name aliases to those we interview. One woman whom I call Kim remarked that camming is “easier to work with bipolar disorder.” Amelia explained, “I have Crohn’s and was unable to hold down a regular job. … My parents had no money, and I felt guilty asking them for help.”</p>
<p>The sexual gig economy can be a refuge from the discrimination some people face in the nonsexual labor market. Natalie told me: “It’s hard to find full-time work even at a fast food place as a full-time trans female who is pre-op and not on hormone replacement therapy.” </p>
<p>Not all sex workers come from marginalized social positions. As more people have been struggling before and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-sex-work-has-been-affected-by-the-pandemic-160736">during the pandemic</a> to <a href="https://www.insider.com/people-are-creating-onlyfans-accounts-after-losing-jobs-during-pandemic-2020-6">make ends meet</a>, more people are becoming <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/dec/23/everyone-and-their-mum-is-on-it-onlyfans-boomed-in-popularity-during-the-pandemic">open to working in sex industries</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400373/original/file-20210512-24-xpuw94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman stands by a river" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400373/original/file-20210512-24-xpuw94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400373/original/file-20210512-24-xpuw94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400373/original/file-20210512-24-xpuw94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400373/original/file-20210512-24-xpuw94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400373/original/file-20210512-24-xpuw94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400373/original/file-20210512-24-xpuw94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400373/original/file-20210512-24-xpuw94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Allissa Star, seen here in Pittsburgh in February 2021, used to be an in-person sex worker at a legal brothel in Nevada, but pandemic closures left her struggling to pay bills and turning to online sex work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/VirusOutbreakNevadaBrothels/1cfc0653899748f998564851162cec2e/photo">AP Photo/Keith Srakocic</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><iframe id="784bq" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/784bq/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>What do sex workers earn?</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479874873/camming/">my study of the global camming industry</a>, surveying and interviewing workers worldwide, full-time performers could earn US$10,000 a month. But those uncommonly high wages went almost exclusively to young, white, thin cisgender women. “Cisgender” is an adjective derived from the Latin prefix meaning “on the same side as” and refers to people who identify with the gender assigned to them at birth. In general, trans men are men who were assigned female at birth; trans women are women who were assigned male at birth.</p>
<p>Most of the top earners are from the U.S., and spent years building a brand. But most cam models work part-time, and median earnings were $1,000 a month overall, with trans women right at that average, but cisgender women $1,250 and cisgender men $350.</p>
<p>Online phone sex workers might charge $2 per minute, earning them $120 per hour, before the platform takes 30%. A model posting content on a subscription site might charge as much as $15 per month, though these sites generally take between 20%-30%.</p>
<p><iframe id="axcO2" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/axcO2/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Escorts, who provide companionship offline, often charge the highest rates of sex workers online. But their rates don’t necessarily reflect their earnings. How much an escort might make depends on consumer demand and the number of clients they see each month. </p>
<p>Their schedules vary and they often do multiple types of sex work simultaneously. For example, Lenny told me, “I created an online persona, a profile for the purpose to offering escort services, selling homemade porn video clips, and an additional feature is webcamming, which I utilize by creating live sex shows to replicate what customers could experience during escort meetings face-to-face.”</p>
<h2>What are the benefits of online sex work?</h2>
<p>Like other gig workers, sex workers do not receive benefits such as employer-provided health care, vacation or retirement packages in many countries. And they have to do a lot of administrative work: marketing, messaging with clients, planning shoots or shows, preparing legal forms and <a href="https://www.xbiz.com/news/259207/models-creators-report-issues-with-onlyfans-new-paperwork-policy">dealing with constantly changing legal requirements and stringent websites’ terms of service</a>. However, sex workers describe other benefits.</p>
<p>Among workers in my camming study, 56.2% said they were <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781479874873/camming/">not motivated to cam by money only</a>. Carl told me, “The benefits of cam work are much the same as most independent jobs. You work at home on your own schedule and avoid the 9-to-5 daily grind.” Workers like Halona said that being an independent entrepreneur provides autonomy and allows for creativity, describing online sex work as “the job I feel least exploited for my labor.” </p>
<p>For some performers, this labor has allowed them to explore their sexuality, and as several said, they have “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/686758">orgasms for a living</a>.” Others told me the work had helped boost their self-esteem, was affirming and brought them pleasure. As Whitney explained,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I have a physical disability [spinal muscular atrophy] … and had recently moved … I wasn’t working, and, honestly, I spent a lot of time at home bored and lonely. I started posting nudes on a social site and fell in love. I can remember being younger, watching porn, and thinking no one would want to see me doing that. With the support of my husband, I started camming. People did want to see me, and I really did love it.”</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400372/original/file-20210512-19-19pw1ni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman talks with two police officers on a street at night" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400372/original/file-20210512-19-19pw1ni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400372/original/file-20210512-19-19pw1ni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400372/original/file-20210512-19-19pw1ni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400372/original/file-20210512-19-19pw1ni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400372/original/file-20210512-19-19pw1ni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400372/original/file-20210512-19-19pw1ni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400372/original/file-20210512-19-19pw1ni.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tamika Spellman, left, an advocate for sex workers in Washington, D.C., speaks with local police officers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/tamika-spellman-speaks-with-dc-police-officers-responding-news-photo/1200854581">J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How has the internet changed working conditions?</h2>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12282">The internet has helped improve sex workers’ lives</a>, including by keeping them safer. For those with internet access, escorts can screen clients online, making clients verify identity and provide references. Escorts develop and rely on online client review systems and community web forums, making them less dependent on exploitative third parties. </p>
<p>However, sex workers laboring offline and on the street remain at high risk. <a href="https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/scientific-evidence-for-ending-the-criminalization-of-sex-work">Continued criminalization</a> of in-person sex work in the U.S. and other countries and governmental attempts at <a href="https://peepshowmagazine.com/2021/03/05/peepshow-podcast-takes-on-laws-and-policies-that-impact-sex-workers/">regulating sexual commerce online</a>, limit consensual sex workers’ opportunities.</p>
<p>In 2018, a federal law made <a href="https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/4/13/17172762/fosta-sesta-backpage-230-internet-freedom">internet platforms legally responsible</a> if they hosted user-generated content <a href="https://hackinghustling.org/fosta-in-a-legal-context/">related to sex work</a>, which led free advertising platforms like Craigslist to shut down their personals sections. Other online review forums <a href="https://thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2018/04/02/the-impact-of-fosta-sesta-on-online-sex-work-communities/">shut down</a>. Those changes <a href="https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol87/iss5/13/">reduced the ability</a> of internet services to <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10020058">keep sex workers safe</a> – even in countries where <a href="https://doi.org/10.14197/atr.201220147">consensual sex work is decriminalized</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160238/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angela Jones is affiliated with Scientists for Sex Worker Rights, the NAACP, and the SUNY Black Faculty and Staff Caucus.</span></em></p>More people are getting involved in sex work, especially online – and it can be a lifeline for marginalized people.Angela Jones, Associate Professor of Sociology, Farmingdale State CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1607362021-05-12T16:16:06Z2021-05-12T16:16:06ZHow sex work has been affected by the pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400316/original/file-20210512-17-lalsiu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Challenging circumstances.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/deep-red-almost-infrared-light-bulb-66883996">Vlue</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the months before the pandemic, I was involved in an <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2006.15648.pdf">extensive piece of research</a> into the sex work industry in the UK. Focusing on the main online market for sex work in the UK, <a href="https://www.adultwork.com/">AdultWork</a>, we analysed the profiles of more than 11,500 sex workers to understand the industry and how it operates online. </p>
<p>The total number of sex workers in the UK <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmhaff/26/26.pdf">was estimated</a> in 2016 to be slightly over 70,000, so our sample was a substantial portion of the industry (albeit not necessarily a representative sample). The findings, and follow-up work that I have done subsequently, give some valuable insight into the shape of the sex industry in the UK, as well as some of the changes and challenges experienced by sex workers during the pandemic. </p>
<p>One of the main findings from our study, which was <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13691058.2021.1901145">recently published</a> in the Journal of Culture, Health & Sexuality, was that more than half of the female sex workers in our cohort were not British. The majority of these non-British workers identified as being from eastern European countries (the next largest was western Europeans, including Spaniards and Germans, but it was a far smaller proportion). Many travelled to the UK for a few weeks of work followed by a return to their home country, where they had family and dependants to feed. Sex work was their main source of income. </p>
<p>We found that eastern European sex workers in the UK charge 30% less than their British colleagues, despite their profiles being viewed by more people on average. The reason for the lower charges <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/13545701.2017.1330547">has been argued to be</a> because they feel less secure about their job, and because they need a minimum income to cover the cost of hotels, flights and so on and can’t risk ending up with too little. </p>
<p>These workers were often the ones who provided riskier services, such as unprotected sex or extreme BDSM (bondage, dominance and submission/sadomasochism). In many ways, they are also probably the workers who have been most challenged by the pandemic. </p>
<h2>Sex work and the pandemic</h2>
<p>We have heard a lot about how the pandemic has been very difficult for industries that bring people together such as pubs, restaurants and airlines. Sex work has also been severely challenged by the fact that people have not been allowed to physically interact outside their households in the UK and elsewhere during most of the pandemic. </p>
<p>Unlike most other industries, many sex workers <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-54780027">have not been eligible</a> for government support during the crisis. Because many <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/842920/Prostitution_and_Sex_Work_Report.pdf">do not have records</a> of their taxed income they have been unable to benefit from the UK <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-grant-through-the-coronavirus-covid-19-self-employment-income-support-scheme">income support scheme</a> for self-employed people. This is even more likely to have been the case for the many sex workers in the UK whose primary residence is abroad.</p>
<p>Factors such as clients’ health concerns and limited mobility have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/jan/29/uk-sex-workers-rising-violence-hardship-pandemic">reduced demand</a> for sexual services during the pandemic. <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-52183773">Reports have also noted</a> that many sex workers turned to offering online services. Yet that does not mean that no in-person sex work has been taking place, as we found during follow-up research. Though it is very difficult to produce comprehensive statistics on the volume of sexual transactions, a simple comparison between the daily number of reviews that clients left on AdultWork after receiving services in 2019 and 2020 suggests there has been no substantial decline in the number of encounters – see the graph below. </p>
<p><strong>AdultWork reviews per day, 2020 vs 2019</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400076/original/file-20210511-22-1egphz3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Graph showing numbers of AdultWork reviews in 2020 vs 2019" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400076/original/file-20210511-22-1egphz3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/400076/original/file-20210511-22-1egphz3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400076/original/file-20210511-22-1egphz3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400076/original/file-20210511-22-1egphz3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400076/original/file-20210511-22-1egphz3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400076/original/file-20210511-22-1egphz3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/400076/original/file-20210511-22-1egphz3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Taha Yasseri</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sex work is one of those jobs that has never stopped being demanded and supplied, <a href="https://blog.royalhistsoc.org/2021/05/04/the-women-had-saved-the-situation-indian-womens-work-in-war-and-famine/">neither during wars nor famines</a>, so it would be naïve to think otherwise in the case of a pandemic. In fact, the pandemic-induced financial pressure <a href="https://www.thesun.ie/news/6460182/sex-workers-ireland-covid-cases-women-prostitution/">has reportedly</a> made former sex workers return to the sector and many newcomers <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-more-students-are-turning-to-sex-work-during-covid-19-pandemic-12066700">start working</a> in the profession too.</p>
<p>If the level of business has stayed fairly constant in a market in which the supply has potentially gone up, it means that sex work has become more competitive during the pandemic – and even more so for vulnerable workers at the “low end” of the market. A more competitive market is likely to mean that workers either lower their prices or take bigger risks with the services they provide, or both at the same time. My preliminary analysis shows that the gap between the highest and lowest prices has increased during the pandemic.</p>
<p>On top of that, when meeting people outside of your household is illegal, in-person sex work effectively becomes illegal too (<a href="http://www.mash.org.uk/get-support/the-law/#:%7E:text=Is%20sex%20work%20legal%3F,the%20Sexual%20Offences%20Act%202003.">in the UK</a> sex work is normally legal, though various activities, including pimping, running a brothel and soliciting in a public place, are all illegal). This <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0020872820962202">is likely</a> to have meant that vulnerable workers have been taking bigger risks while being afraid of the legal consequences of, for example, going to the police to report an assault by a client. </p>
<h2>COVID vaccines for sex workers</h2>
<p>Many countries have been prioritising COVID vaccinations based on people’s age, type of job, and pre-existing health conditions. In <a href="https://arxiv.org/pdf/2006.15648.pdf">our analysis</a>, we found out that the majority of sex workers, as well as ones most in demand, were aged between 18 and 36, which puts them at the end of the queue for vaccines. </p>
<p>This would only change if governments recognised that sex work has not stopped in spite of the social-distancing restrictions, and considered the health risks that sex workers take in their day-to-day jobs and the benefits of an early vaccination both for them and society as a whole. At a time when sex workers’ usual access to healthcare support such as GPs and sexual-health nurses <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-54780027">has been disrupted</a>, this is something that governments should look into urgently.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/160736/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Taha Yasseri has received funding from EPSRC. </span></em></p>New research into sex work in the UK highlights some of the changes and challenges sex workers have faced.Taha Yasseri, Associate Professor, School of Sociology; Geary Fellow, Geary Institute for Public Policy, University College DublinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1591832021-05-06T11:49:35Z2021-05-06T11:49:35ZWhat this 100-year-old sex trafficking case tells us about modern exploitation and justice<p>In January 1910, a 16-year-old girl named Lydia Harvey boarded a steamship in Wellington, New Zealand, bound for Buenos Aires. She had been recruited by a pimp to work in Argentina’s booming sex trade. After a traumatic month in South America, she was brought to London where she was forced to solicit in the West End. It was here that Metropolitan police officers found her and used her as the star witness in a case against her traffickers. </p>
<hr>
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<p>Lydia Harvey’s story probably sounds familiar to 21st-century ears, even if it is a little surprising to learn that sex trafficking — often thought of as a new problem – was considered a <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/sexual-surveillance-and-moral-quarantines-history-of-antitrafficking/">pressing social issue</a> a century ago. We’ve all read stories of women who were coerced and abused in the sex industry. They pepper our newspapers, televisions and films – and Lydia Harvey’s story is no different. She was abused, confined against her will and never saw a penny of the money she earned selling sex. </p>
<p>She was also held up by police and the media as an exemplary victim — a cautionary tale about the dangers poor young women faced when they dared to dream of a better, more exciting life. Who she really was — and her complex, human experiences — did not matter. She was just another girl who had disappeared. First, from her home and workplace and next, from the historical record. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399039/original/file-20210505-17-1ox3gfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman standing at Piccadilly Circus, London." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399039/original/file-20210505-17-1ox3gfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399039/original/file-20210505-17-1ox3gfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399039/original/file-20210505-17-1ox3gfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399039/original/file-20210505-17-1ox3gfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399039/original/file-20210505-17-1ox3gfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399039/original/file-20210505-17-1ox3gfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399039/original/file-20210505-17-1ox3gfc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=521&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Lydia Harvey was brought to London where she was forced to solicit in the West End.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Public domain via Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/mar/31/the-disappearance-of-lydia-harvey-by-julia-laite-review-a-sex-worker-in-edwardian-london">my recent book</a>, The Disappearance of Lydia Harvey, I pull at the threads of the archive and try to find Lydia Harvey in all her human complexity, as well as the lives of the others entangled in her case: her traffickers and their prosecutors, the journalist who told her story and the social worker who supported her in her journey home. In doing so, I question the simplistic narratives about trafficking and sexual labour in the past and in the present. </p>
<h2>Dreams of travel</h2>
<p>When Lydia Harvey decided to join a charming man and his wife on a steamship to Buenos Aires, she was young and naive. She dreamed of travelling, of adventure, of nice clothes, and did not fully understand what she was agreeing to. But she understood all too well the kind of work and life she was attempting to leave behind. </p>
<p>Harvey worked as a domestic servant, putting in over 70 hours a week for well below anything resembling a living wage. Living with her employers, she was constantly under their scrutiny and, without labour rights or protections, almost entirely at their mercy. </p>
<p>When she travelled from New Zealand to Buenos Aires, she left one highly exploitative industry for another. The key difference, it seemed, was that the media was obsessed with exploitation in the sex industry and ignored the widespread exploitation young working-class women faced in most other forms of work. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Tower Bridge over the Thames river, London, photograph: circa. 1910." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399033/original/file-20210505-15-izjomy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/399033/original/file-20210505-15-izjomy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399033/original/file-20210505-15-izjomy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399033/original/file-20210505-15-izjomy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399033/original/file-20210505-15-izjomy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399033/original/file-20210505-15-izjomy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/399033/original/file-20210505-15-izjomy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tower Bridge over the Thames river, London, photograph: circa. 1910.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/tower-bridge-over-thames-river-london-252141349">Everett Collection</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Like girls and women today, whose complex lives are turned into <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/introduction-do-hidden-costs-outweigh-practical-benefits-of-huma/">awareness-raising anecdotes</a>, Harvey’s story was sold, twisted and oversimplified. She was held up as an “ideal victim” of trafficking, yet she was still criminalised and didn’t receive the justice and support she deserved. Once “rescued” from prostitution, she was coerced back into domestic service – a job she hated. The poverty that had pushed her into selling sex – and the dreams she had for a better life – did not go away, nor did her determination to fight for them. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, other young women whose backgrounds, past sexual experiences and ethnicity marked them as undeserving of sympathy, were criminalised and deported – all in the name of fighting the terrible traffic in women. </p>
<h2>Moralise and criminalise</h2>
<p>In many ways, things have changed very little in the 110 years since Lydia Harvey boarded that steamship. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-rethink-is-needed-on-how-to-handle-trafficked-and-migrant-children-23389">anti-trafficking movement</a>, born in the late 19th century, still focuses on migration restriction and criminalisation as the supposed solutions to the problems of exploited sexual labour. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-trafficked-children-are-being-hidden-behind-a-focus-on-modern-slavery-87116">Trafficking</a> is a serious social problem, but one that is most often caused by poverty, criminalised migration and labour exploitation in legal industries. And yet we still <a href="https://theconversation.com/blamed-for-being-abused-an-uncomfortable-history-of-child-sexual-exploitation-82410">moralise, criminalise</a> and toughen border controls in the name of anti-trafficking – politically expedient and short-sighted “solutions” that do more harm than good.</p>
<p>Just as they did a hundred years ago, young women, caught in cycles of poverty and abuse, engage in sexual labour as a <a href="https://theconversation.com/rise-in-sugar-babies-mirrors-increase-in-student-sex-work-44377">survival strategy</a>. And despite the idealistic rhetoric of “<a href="https://theconversation.com/ideological-war-against-the-decriminalisation-of-sex-work-risks-sidelining-much-of-the-evidence-92883">abolishing</a>” prostitution, they are still offered few viable labour alternatives should they wish to leave sex work. Despite a century of attempts to ostensibly build a better world, Lydia Harvey would find our present-day all too familiar.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159183/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Julia Laite does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A missing girl, a sensational trial, and the troubled history of anti-trafficking.Julia Laite, Reader In Modern History, Department Of History, Classics & Archaeology, Birkbeck, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1572642021-03-25T14:35:26Z2021-03-25T14:35:26ZWhy South Africa’s HIV prevention programmes should include sex worker clients<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/391114/original/file-20210323-13-cywu1i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Clients of sex workers may be key to reducing HIV transmission in South Africa.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Justin Sholk</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There are around <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10461-014-0981-y">150,000</a> sex workers in South Africa. The <a href="https://sanac.org.za//wp-content/uploads/2017/06/NSP_FullDocument_FINAL.pdf">National Strategic Plan</a> on HIV identifies sex workers as a “key population” at high risk of HIV. HIV prevalence for female sex workers ranged from 48% to 72% in 2013/2014. This was much higher than for adult women in the general population, where prevalence was <a href="http://www.hsrc.ac.za/uploads/pageContent/4565/SABSSM%20IV%20LEO%20final.pdf">14.4%</a>. Reducing the prevalence of HIV among sex workers is prioritised as a critical national-level response to HIV. </p>
<p>But there are complex <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953600003154">client–sex worker power relations</a> that play a central role in HIV transmission in the sex industry in South Africa. </p>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jia2.25650">Research</a> shows that sex between sex workers and clients contributed to 6.9% of the overall new HIV infections recorded in South Africa between 2010 and 2019. Sex between clients and their non-paying partners accounted for 41.9% of new infections over the same period. </p>
<p>Some men in South Africa <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19317611.2020.1851334">do not want to use condoms</a>, as “flesh-on-flesh” sex remains closely tied to conceptions of masculinity and pleasure. Sex workers in South Africa may <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953600003154">face violence from clients</a> for refusing demands for condom-less sex. In the face of abject poverty, some sex workers may accept their clients’ demands for condom-less sex and other risky sexual practices, or negotiate condom-less sex for a higher fee.</p>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jia2.25650">New research</a> shows that clients of sex workers may be key to reducing HIV transmission in South Africa. This study predicts that scaling up antiretroviral therapy among the clients of sex workers would avert almost one-fifth of new HIV infections in South Africa over the next decade. This constitutes the most influential population-level intervention possible. Why, then, do public health programmes and policymakers pay so little attention to sex work clients?</p>
<h2>What we know about sex work clients</h2>
<p>Sex work clients come from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2019.1645806">all walks of life</a>. The limited research available on this group suggests that about <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-12-325">18% of men</a> in South Africa report having had sex with a sex worker. </p>
<p>Many men who pay for sex never tell anyone about it, so the actual numbers are likely to be higher. Clients are not a homogeneous group and have diverse needs and experiences. There is <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Paying-for-Pleasure-Men-Who-Buy-Sex/Sanders/p/book/9781843923213?gclid=Cj0KCQiA1pyCBhCtARIsAHaY_5eWarLsgF7NXHdR-P_ekJ05vQ6jALT0hFGAtJqoYZt6Nzhj6PrYgOoaAvDIEALw_wcB">evidence</a> that clients can and do play an important role in supporting safe and respectful client–sex worker relations. However, some South African studies also report that clients can be <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0040821">particularly violent</a> and misogynistic. Other studies suggest that men who buy sex contributed significantly to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10461-020-02915-0">new reported adult HIV cases</a> in 2018.</p>
<p>Surprisingly, sex worker clients have been almost completely ignored in public health or psychosocial interventions and education programmes. These <a href="https://www.nswp.org/sites/nswp.org/files/NSWP-WHO%20Community%20Consultation%20Report%20archived.pdf">typically</a> target female sex workers. This symbolically reinforces stigmatising ideas that sex workers are disease-carriers and should be blamed for social ills like HIV. To some, it suggests that sex workers are to be held responsible for the violence and marginalisation they experience. As one policeman put it: </p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/136910501185198?casa_token=oz0GpGOMFBgAAAAA%3AF8Sinm3LtzflDaJwuO-5Xr7ewi0MAy1xaCl3cnPeizoiVJfIaMMM01RYfQcMZpigWpi2sEnEnGEhJik&">You are just whores — you can’t be raped</a>. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>These narrow, even unimaginative public health responses inhibit reducing HIV, exploitation and marginalisation within sex work. Greater innovation and closer collaboration with people who participate in the sex industry are needed.</p>
<p>During the last decade, important strides have been made in South Africa in designing sex-worker-friendly health programmes in consultation with sex workers. The <a href="https://sanac.org.za/wpfd_file/south-african-national-sex-worker-hiv-plan-2016-2019/">South African National Sex Worker HIV Plan 2016-2019</a> provides for:</p>
<ul>
<li>peer education; </li>
<li>healthcare and psychosocial interventions;</li>
<li>human rights safeguards, and </li>
<li>economic empowerment. </li>
</ul>
<p>The plan includes an important call for the decriminalisation of sex work. Yet, like most other interventions on sex work, clients are barely mentioned. It is this silence around the role and responsibilities of clients that has motivated us to design client interventions.</p>
<h2>Designing a sex work client programme</h2>
<p>In cooperation with sex workers, clients, and service organisations, we have produced a <a href="https://genderjustice.org.za/publication/towards-harm-reduction-programmes-with-sex-worker-clients-in-south-africa/">report on client intervention programmes</a>. We have also designed a prototype training programme for sex worker clients in South Africa. We offer suggestions for interventions that include and target clients to foster safer, healthier, and more respectful sex work engagements. We build on <a href="https://genderjustice.org.za/publication/health-safety-guide-clients-sex-workers/">colleagues’ work</a> on demystifying sex work transactions. The “Secret Guide to the Business of Sex” encourages a health and safety approach to buying sexual services in the form of a booklet pitched at sex work clients.</p>
<p>In developing the training materials, we considered the current evidence available on client interventions worldwide. We found that South Africa is not unique in overlooking sex work clients – there are very few existing programmes internationally. Several sex work client interventions attempted to “re-educate” or “rehabilitate” clients, working from the assumption that the buying of sexual services is morally offensive and socially undesirable, and thus employed shaming techniques to “correct” people’s behaviour. </p>
<p>There is little evidence that interventions with clients that start from the position of sexual deviance and focus on re-education are effectual. In fact, the humiliation and stigma resulting from <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0261018308098395">such programmes</a> added to men’s emotional problems and distress. Conversely, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/sti.2007.027441">evidence</a> from client programmes in the Global South suggests that sex worker and peer-led programmes have the potential to influence clients’ awareness, knowledge, and behaviours around sexual health risks and safer sex practices.</p>
<p>Drawing on these lessons, our team drafted principles and strategies to inform the design of context-appropriate client interventions in South Africa, and included a model curriculum. Intervention programmes should be non-judgmental and aim to encourage clients of sex workers to share the responsibility for HIV harm reduction by practising healthy and respectful engagements with sex workers. Principles for practical client interventions include clear definitions of sex work, challenging stigma and judgment, emphasising elements of sexual consent, and considering risk perception and emotional distress.</p>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly eroding <a href="https://www.theglobalfight.org/covid-aids-tb-malaria/">some of the gains</a> made with HIV and AIDS programmes. Now more than ever, innovative and bold interventions are necessary to reach beyond social taboos and conventions. Sex worker clients are a neglected group who deserve respectful attention, political will, and programmatic resources, not sexual moralism.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157264/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Monique Huysamen received funding from the National Research Foundation (NRF), The Harry Crossley Foundation, The University of Cape Town, and the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission between 2014 and 2017. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marlise Richter received project funding from the Open Society Foundation of South Africa when she was a staff member at Sonke Gender Justice.
</span></em></p>Narrow, unimaginative public health responses inhibit reducing HIV, exploitation and marginalisation within sex work.Monique Huysamen, Research Associate in Sexual and Reproductive health, Manchester Metropolitan UniversityMarlise Richter, Research fellow, African Centre for Migration & Society, University of the WitwatersrandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1531082021-01-19T14:28:09Z2021-01-19T14:28:09ZHow COVID-19 restrictions prevent Nairobi’s sex workers from accessing vital healthcare<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/379014/original/file-20210115-19-njfmn4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A person living with HIV shows her clinic appointment and anti-retroviral drugs regimen card. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">TONY KARUMBA/AFP/GettyImages</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sex workers are one of the most vulnerable social groups in the world. <a href="https://www.theglobalfund.org/en/key-populations/">They experience</a> widespread stigma, discrimination, state and non-state violence and harassment. This results in <a href="https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/new-coronavirus-affects-us-all-some-groups-may-suffer-more">decreased access</a>
to services – including healthcare. </p>
<p>This is a serious problem for female sex workers who have frequent sexual contact with multiple partners which puts them at risk of acquiring HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. Other risks include unwanted pregnancies, induced abortion, sexual violence and cervical cancer. </p>
<p>HIV and sexual and reproductive healthcare, in particular, are <a href="https://www.who.int/hiv/pub/guidelines/keypopulations/en/">critical</a> for female sex workers. Many who are living with HIV rely on antiretroviral (ARV) medication for good health. Any disruptions to access would have serious consequences. Estimates <a href="https://doi.org/10.6084/M9.FIGSHARE.12279914.V1">show</a> that a disruption in the supply of ARVs lasting six months could lead to over 500,000 HIV-related deaths among adults in sub-Saharan Africa.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, COVID-19 has made it even harder for sex workers <a href="https://www.nswp.org/news/impact-covid-19-sex-workers-africa">all over Africa</a> to access healthcare. </p>
<p>In Kenya, to control the spread of the new coronavirus, the government <a href="https://www.garda.com/crisis24/news-alerts/396661/kenya-authorities-extend-nationwide-curfew-and-revise-covid-19-measures-through-january-3-update-34">enacted strategies</a> to manage the disease which created major challenges for various groups of society, including female sex workers. These included movement restrictions, dusk to dawn curfews, social distancing measures and the closure of bars and nightclubs. </p>
<p>We wanted to know how the government’s strategies had impacted female sex workers and their ability to access healthcare in Nairobi, the country’s capital. There are <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1016/S0968-8080%2804%2923125-1">at least</a> 20,000 sex workers in Nairobi, most of whom are women. Kenya does not criminalise sex work, but there are <a href="https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2020/may/20200520_kenya">a number of</a> other laws which can be used to oppress sex workers.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17441692.2020.1810298">We found</a> that the COVID-19 restrictions created life-threatening challenges to female sex workers as they weren’t able to access their medication, support or their clients. </p>
<p>Sex workers are a marginalised and vulnerable group of women and young girls, with no recourse to public protection. This means the burden falls on NGOs to ensure healthcare is available and accessible. </p>
<h2>What sex workers said</h2>
<p>We collected data from 117 female sex workers living in informal settlements in Nairobi. We also collected data from 15 healthcare providers and from workers at the Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Programme – an organisation that supports sex workers. </p>
<p>Sex workers typically use clubs and bars as a safe a space to meet clients. But, under the restrictions, these were closed or had limited operating hours. This meant that their livelihood was removed overnight. This made medication, as well as transport to visit clinics, a luxury they couldn’t always afford. </p>
<p>The restriction of movement in and out of Nairobi was a huge challenge for many. It was introduced abruptly leaving no consideration for those who had temporarily travelled out of Nairobi to go back to their homes. Some sex workers in our study were stranded outside the city without knowledge of alternative services which could meet their healthcare needs. One sex worker said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I am a mobile sex worker (call girl), I had travelled out of town with a client. After the movement ban in and out of Nairobi, the client left to pick up something in Nakuru town leaving me in the hotel room. But he never came back for like two days. I was unable to sustain the bills so I had to be chased out of the hotel. Now I am unable to access the health services that I need, I am still new here in Nakuru and I don’t know anyone here it’s really a challenge to access any medical service. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Restrictions of movement within the city also meant that some sex workers weren’t able to access their usual clinics. As one sex workers described:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have missed my appointments to the clinic… I was supposed to go collect my ARVs but now with the lockdown, how will I go to collect them? I cannot visit the public health facility because of stigma and discrimination. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Fuelled by the government’s restrictions, we also found that sex workers were too afraid to use health services out of fear of contracting COVID-19. </p>
<h2>Dusk to dawn curfew</h2>
<p>The dusk to dawn curfew was cited as a key barrier to healthcare access for sex workers. </p>
<p>An outreach worker at one of the clinics explains that the curfew denies young sex workers adequate time to interact and share at their “Safe Space”. These spaces are provided by three healthcare centres – run by the Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Programme across the city and are accessed by hundreds of young people each day – usually for medication and reproductive health services. They also use the space for education, to share their experiences and offer support. </p>
<p>The night curfew also forced the sex workers to change their operations and work during the day. In some cases this meant that sex workers were forfeiting visits to the clinics because they had limited time during the day to work and go to seek healthcare services before the curfew hours.</p>
<p>Curfew restrictions and cessation of movement coupled with police brutality on those found breaking the rules further intensified the challenges of accessing healthcare for sex workers as observed by a health worker:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Recently some clients from Biafra tried to sneak out to come to the drop-in centre for services but the police found them and turned them back. The police are really mistreating them. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>A way forward?</h2>
<p>There are solutions. The Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Programme and the University of Leicester, in the UK, invented practical responses to the effects of COVID-19. One of these <a href="https://www.bhesp.org/index.php">was to</a> use motorbikes to deliver essential commodities needed by sex workers, with a service user population of 20,000 sex workers. The programme is reaching out to many people each day to provide urgent medication, support and advocacy. </p>
<p>In addition to this, a mobile phone application has been created to enhance access to the clinics and the facilities at Bar Hostess Empowerment and Support Programme for the service users. This will cushion sex workers during the COVID-19 period and the longer term impacts of this pandemic.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153108/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Teela Sanders receives funding from the University of Leicester Global Challenges Research Fund. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rahma Hassan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>COVID-19 restrictions created life-threatening challenges to female sex workers as they weren’t able to access their medication, support or their clients.Teela Sanders, Professor in Criminology, University of LeicesterRahma Hassan, PhD Fellow, University of NairobiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1467512020-10-19T00:27:27Z2020-10-19T00:27:27ZWill Victoria be the first place in the world to fully decriminalise sex work?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363327/original/file-20201014-17-17xhp9d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=158%2C258%2C5401%2C3350&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Victorian government has just received a landmark review into the state’s sex work laws. </p>
<p>This is the first large-scale review of Victorian sex work laws <a href="https://swvoicesvic.com/articles/decriminalisation-in-victoria-reasons-for-optimism/">since 1985</a> and presents a huge opportunity for change. </p>
<p>With the Victorian <a href="https://www.viclabor.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Platform-2018-Web.pdf">Labor Party</a> platform in favour of sex work decriminalisation, the current review is considering how, not if, that can be done. </p>
<p>But the path there is not straightforward. The only way to adequately protect the health, safety and dignity of sex workers is to introduce full decriminalisation. </p>
<p>This would make Victoria the world’s first jurisdiction to do so.</p>
<h2>What is the review?</h2>
<p>Announced <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/27/victoria-sex-work-inquiry-to-review-outdated-and-unfit-for-purpose-laws">last year</a>, the review is led by Reason MP and sex worker advocate <a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/review-make-recommendations-decriminalisation-sex-work">Fiona Patten</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Reason MP Fiona Patten at a parliamentary inquiry." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362560/original/file-20201008-24-1xflsbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/362560/original/file-20201008-24-1xflsbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362560/original/file-20201008-24-1xflsbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362560/original/file-20201008-24-1xflsbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362560/original/file-20201008-24-1xflsbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362560/original/file-20201008-24-1xflsbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/362560/original/file-20201008-24-1xflsbq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Reason Party MP Fiona Patten wants to decriminalise sex work in Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Ross/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Andrews government asked Patten to make recommendations </p>
<blockquote>
<p>on the preferred options for legislative reform needed to achieve decriminalisation of sex work in Victoria, including reform to legislation concerning health, safety, planning and criminal matters.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The review was completed last week week and has not yet been made public. The Andrews government is not expected to respond with a bill until next year at the earliest.</p>
<h2>How is sex work regulated in Australia?</h2>
<p>Australia has three regulatory approaches to sex work: legalisation, criminalisation and decriminalisation.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/laws/vic/">Victoria </a>, the <a href="http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/laws/act/">Australian Capital Territory</a> and <a href="http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/laws/qld/">Queensland</a>, have legalised certain aspects of sex work under licensing schemes. This means that sex work is only legal if it takes place within licensing and registration frameworks. </p>
<p>In Victoria, for example, this has resulted in a <a href="https://www.starhealth.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/SHANTUSI-Full-Report.pdf">two-tiered system</a> made up of a “legal” sector, with licensed brothels and agencies and registered workers, with the rest of the industry <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/the-majority-of-illegal-brothels-are-massage-shops-say-police">unlicensed and criminalised</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-national-cabinet-of-whores-is-leading-australias-coronavirus-response-for-sex-workers-142833">How the 'National Cabinet of Whores' is leading Australia's coronavirus response for sex workers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/no-more-fear-of-police-south-australia-is-close-to-fully-decriminalising-sex-work-119018">South Australia</a>, <a href="http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/laws/wa">Western Australia</a> and Tasmania have full or partial criminalisation. In <a href="http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/laws/tas/">Tasmania</a> for example, private sex work is legal, but brothels and street-based work are not. </p>
<p>There are different approaches again in New South Wales and the Northern Territory. <a href="http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/laws/nsw/">NSW</a> decriminalised sex work in 1995 and last year, the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-26/northern-territory-sex-industry-bill-passed/11739820">NT</a> became the third jurisdiction in the world to decriminalise sex work, after New Zealand. </p>
<h2>Different models of decriminalisation</h2>
<p>Decriminalisation means removing laws that criminalise sex work. </p>
<p>As the <a href="https://www.nswp.org/sites/nswp.org/files/Sex%20Work%20%26%20The%20Law.pdf">Network of Sex Work Projects</a> explains, this covers laws that criminalise sex workers, clients, third parties (like business owners, managers and receptionists) as well as <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tiggey_May/publication/265108234_For_Love_or_Money_Pimps_and_the_management_of_sex_work/links/569d027808ae27633ac97b45/For-Love-or-Money-Pimps-and-the-management-of-sex-work.pdf">families, partners and friends</a> living off any earnings.</p>
<p>So, decriminalisation can mean different things in different places. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.nswp.org/timeline/event/decriminalisation-sex-work-new-south-wales">NSW</a>, sex work is recognised as a job and is then regulated by existing occupational health and safety legislation and council zoning policies. </p>
<p>But it is not fully decriminalised. While street-based sex work is legal, there are <a href="https://swop.org.au/the-nsw-sex-industry">restrictions</a> on where workers can work, how they can solicit and whether they can work with another person. There have also been issues with local councils refusing applications for brothels, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/sex-work-and-brothels-should-not-need-a-licence-20151110-gkv0fb.html">undermining efforts</a> to regulate sex work.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nzpc.org.nz/The-New-Zealand-Model">New Zealand model</a> is a mix of decriminalisation and legalisation, involving “operator certificates” for business operators and managers. But the use of licensing here is unnecessarily restrictive and sends the signal that some businesses are undesirable. </p>
<h2>What is happening overseas?</h2>
<p>Denmark has partially decriminalised sex work in a different way. While buying and selling sex isn’t criminalised, it is illegal for other people to profit off sex work as a third party. In theory, this is to <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/sex-work-stigma-and-challenge-harm-reduction-denmark/#">stop pimping</a>, but it makes it harder for sex workers to work safely, as </p>
<blockquote>
<p>some sex workers have struggled to rent apartments because landlords fear they could be charged with profiting off of sex work as a third party.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This model <a href="http://www.s-i-o.dk/english/sexwork-in-denmark/">maintains stigma and discrimination</a>, and does not give sex workers the same rights and access to justice and social benefits as other working people. </p>
<p>In other countries, such as <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-07/prostitution-in-france-made-legal,-but-paying-for-it-illegal/7307058">France</a>, <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jinamoore/in-sweden-being-a-prostitute-is-legal-but-paying-one-isnt">Sweden</a>, <a href="http://www.pion-norge.no/prosjekter/juss-ind/norwegian-laws-regulating-sex-work/">Norway</a> and <a href="https://www.ruv.is/frett/lifting-the-lid-on-prostitution">Iceland</a>, selling sex is legal but paying for it is not. <a href="https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/false-promise-of-nordic-model-of-sex-work/">Finland</a> introduced a partial ban making it legal to buy and sell sex, as long as the person is working by themselves and has not been forced or coerced. </p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/eur36/4034/2016/en/">Amnesty International</a>, these sort of approaches do little to respect, protect and fulfil sex workers’ rights. </p>
<p>Research from <a href="https://humboldt1982.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/dangerous-liaisons.pdf">Norway</a> and <a href="https://www.nswp.org/resource/member-publications/twenty-years-failing-sex-workers-fuckforbundet-impact-1999-swedish-sex-purchase-act">Sweden</a> shows these “reforms” have led to increased violence from the police, immigration authorities and clients as well as stigma and discrimination.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-stigma-of-sex-work-comes-with-a-high-cost-79657">The stigma of sex work comes with a high cost</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As <a href="http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/media/News_Item.2013-12-05.4218/view">Scarlet Alliance</a>, the peak body for sex workers in Australia, says,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>when you criminalise our clients, you criminalise us. </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>What approach does Victoria need to take?</h2>
<p>Victoria has a chance to be a world leader here, as it would be the first jurisdiction to implement full decriminalisation. </p>
<p>Only full decriminalisation — including sex work at home and on the street — will reduce risks to sex workers’ <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-sex-work-still-the-most-dangerous-profession-the-data-suggests-so-81854">health and safety</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/new-report-shows-compelling-reasons-to-decriminalise-sex-work-83955">New report shows compelling reasons to decriminalise sex work</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Other jurisdictions have stopped short of this, often citing trafficking and forced sex work, but there are also <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-29/nt-politician-boycots-sex-work-hearings-opposes-decrim/11649142">political reasons</a> and misguided ideas about what is “best” for sex workers. </p>
<p>However, sex work is work. A decriminalisation model should not equate sex work with sexual violence or violence against women. This ignores the <a href="https://www.spectrumsouth.com/supporting-queer-sex-workers-how-and-why/">diverse</a> sexualities and genders of sex workers and their <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/vbqz9y/the-sex-workers-helping-their-female-clients-to-come-out-sexrated2018">clients</a>. </p>
<h2>Don’t confuse trafficking with sex work</h2>
<p>In Australia, human trafficking is <a href="https://newsarchive.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=11664&LangID=E">often incorrectly conflated</a> with sex work. </p>
<p>Victoria’s approach needs to be clear about the differences. Criminalising <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/rpp/rpp131">migrant sex work</a> in the hope of preventing trafficking (like in <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_nz/article/598k4n/new-zealands-migrant-sex-workers-are-still-criminalised-under-the-law">New Zealand</a>) would push migrant sex workers further underground and create unsafe work environments.</p>
<p>Victoria needs to heed the 2011 advice from the <a href="https://newsarchive.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=11664&LangID=E">UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons</a>, which said Australia needs to develop strong pathways for safe and legal migration. This includes pathways for sex workers.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Passport stamp, showing 'immigration, arrived in Melbourne 2016'." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363333/original/file-20201014-13-8xoo01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363333/original/file-20201014-13-8xoo01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363333/original/file-20201014-13-8xoo01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363333/original/file-20201014-13-8xoo01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363333/original/file-20201014-13-8xoo01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363333/original/file-20201014-13-8xoo01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363333/original/file-20201014-13-8xoo01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Human trafficking should not be confused with sex work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In <a href="https://sexworker.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/RhED-Migrant-Worker-Study-2012.pdf">Victoria</a>, some migrant sex workers already work lawfully in the sex industry. But many <a href="https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/business-law/victoria%E2%80%99s-opportunity-decriminalise-sex-work">do not</a>. </p>
<p>Apart from the broader problems with the <a href="https://www.starhealth.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/SHANTUSI-Full-Report.pdf">existing system</a>, there are visa restrictions around <a href="https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/work-holiday-417">age</a> and the <a href="https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/student-500/temporary-relaxation-of-working-hours-for-student-visa-holders">number of hours</a> people can work. </p>
<p>In order to adequately protect against trafficking, full decriminalisation would ensure migrant sex workers can work safely. This could see the inclusion of <a href="http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/scarlet/issues/migrant-workers/">sex work</a> on the Australian government’s <a href="https://www.tssimmigration.com.au/migration-news/blog/stsol">skilled occupation lists</a>. This would allow sex workers to be sponsored for <a href="https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/temporary-skill-shortage-482">longer-term </a> visas with work rights. </p>
<p>This is ultimately a federal decision, but it needs to be supported by full decriminalisation of sex work at the state level.</p>
<h2>Time to listen</h2>
<p>Victoria has the chance to finally get it right and be the first jurisdiction in the world to fully decriminalise sex work. </p>
<p>This involves taking bold steps, such as creating new visa options for migrant sex workers, to guarantee the safety and dignity of all sex workers. </p>
<p>Sex workers have every right to live and work without stigma and discrimination and have been <a href="https://swvoicesvic.com/articles/decriminalisation-in-victoria-reasons-for-optimism/">calling for this since 1985</a>. It is time we listened.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146751/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Larissa Sandy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A major review on sex work laws has just been handed to the Victorian government.Larissa Sandy, Senior Lecturer in Criminology & Justice Studies, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1428332020-08-07T02:31:10Z2020-08-07T02:31:10ZHow the ‘National Cabinet of Whores’ is leading Australia’s coronavirus response for sex workers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351246/original/file-20200805-22-2bw86r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3003%2C1676&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tim Wimborne/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>This article has links that contain graphic content</em></p>
<p>Many industries and employees have been hurt by COVID-19. </p>
<p>But sex workers, who face <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-stigma-of-sex-work-comes-with-a-high-cost-79657">stigma</a> and discrimination at the best of times, have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/pressreleaseandstatementarchive/2020/april/20200408_sex-workers-covid-19">United Nations</a> has warned, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, sex workers all over the world are experiencing hardship, a total loss of income and increased discrimination and harassment.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As both a researcher in the area and sex worker myself, I have seen how sex workers have been an afterthought in Australia’s responses to COVID-19. And how it has been up to sex workers yet again to protect their community, underscoring the importance of decriminalising sex work. </p>
<h2>Sex workers in Australia</h2>
<p>“<a href="http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/library/principles_2014">Sex work</a>” is an umbrella term, describing the exchange of sexual services for money or other reward. The use of the term “sex worker” over “prostitution” reiterates that sex work is work and sex workers are deserving of the same rights and protections as any other profession. </p>
<p>There is no official data on the number of sex workers in Australia, but in 2014, the <a href="http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=UNAIDS&f=inID%3A111">UN estimated</a> there were 20,500.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman wearing sunglasses under a red umbrella" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351265/original/file-20200805-503-bc0jo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351265/original/file-20200805-503-bc0jo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351265/original/file-20200805-503-bc0jo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351265/original/file-20200805-503-bc0jo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351265/original/file-20200805-503-bc0jo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351265/original/file-20200805-503-bc0jo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351265/original/file-20200805-503-bc0jo4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">It’s estimated there are more than 20,000 sex workers in Australia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Tim Wimborne/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sex workers <a href="https://www.nswp.org/who-we-are">globally</a> have long lobbied for the <a href="https://www.afao.org.au/article/decriminalisation-sex-work-evidence/">full decriminalisation</a> of sex work. But in Australia, laws differ from state to state. </p>
<p>For example, sex work is largely decriminalised in <a href="https://swop.org.au/the-nsw-sex-industry">New South Wales</a> and the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-26/northern-territory-sex-industry-bill-passed/11739820">Northern Territory</a>, while in <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/victoria-launches-sex-work-inquiry-a-move-towards-decriminalisation-20191127-p53ehg.html">Victoria </a> and <a href="https://respectqld.org.au/sex-work-and-the-laws-in-queensland/">Queensland </a>, some sex work is legalised. </p>
<p>Sex work is still criminalised in <a href="https://theconversation.com/no-more-fear-of-police-south-australia-is-close-to-fully-decriminalising-sex-work-119018">South Australia</a> and <a href="https://siren.org.au/lash-project/">Western Australia</a>, while in <a href="http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/laws/tas/">Tasmania</a>, brothel work and street based sex work is illegal, but private sex work is not. It is legalised <a href="http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/laws/act/">in the ACT</a>, where sole operators don’t need a license. </p>
<p>Legalisation creates a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25622009?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">two-tiered system</a>, where compliance is low and sex workers are <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-06-17/sex-work-charges-up-with-decriminalisation-debate-in-parliament/11215672">heavily policed</a>. For example, a 2012 <a href="https://kirby.unsw.edu.au/report/nsw-sex-industry-report-2012">Kirby Institute report </a> estimated 50% of Victorian sex workers operate outside of the law.</p>
<p>We also know that the sex work population contains significant numbers of migrant sex workers, who face <a href="https://search.informit.com.au/fullText;dn=661789796192365;res=IELHSS">compounded levels</a> of stigma, discrimination and criminalisation. </p>
<h2>What has COVID meant?</h2>
<p>When COVID-19 hit in March, the federal government listed brothels, strip clubs and sex on premises businesses as <a href="https://www.pm.gov.au/media/update-coronavirus-measures-24-March-2020">prohibited venues</a>. This obviously had <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6702245/sex-workers-caught-in-covid-19-downturn/?cs=14231">dramatic and immediate</a> implications for sex workers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Empty Melbourne street." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351270/original/file-20200805-457-yu2ypp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351270/original/file-20200805-457-yu2ypp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351270/original/file-20200805-457-yu2ypp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351270/original/file-20200805-457-yu2ypp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351270/original/file-20200805-457-yu2ypp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351270/original/file-20200805-457-yu2ypp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351270/original/file-20200805-457-yu2ypp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">COVID lockdowns have had a dramatic impact on sex workers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel Pockett/AAP</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>The different legal and pandemic situations around Australia have seen <a href="http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/library/return_to_work_July2020/">differing COVID-19 restrictions</a> and support, state by state, confusing sex workers. </p>
<p>For example, sex workers have been able to continue working <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/no-bookings-since-march-these-are-australia-s-last-industries-to-return-to-work">outside of brothels in NSW</a>. In Queensland and Victoria, brothels were closed and private sex work was banned. </p>
<p>As national peak body <a href="http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/COVID-19/">Scarlet Alliance notes</a>, sex workers predominantly work for sex industry businesses as independent contractors. Or they are sole traders who work for themselves. So, some sex workers have been eligible for the JobKeeper Payment or the JobSeeker Payment with its additional Coronavirus Supplement. But for others, government support has not been an option. </p>
<p>As Scarlet Alliance further explains, sex workers’ need for privacy and to protect themselves from stigma</p>
<blockquote>
<p>can make it difficult, and in some cases impossible, for them to account for prior earnings if they now need urgent government support to survive.</p>
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<p>Some sex workers have adapted their business model for the pandemic, by <a href="https://www.news.com.au/world/coronavirus/sex-work-from-a-distance-escort-jenna-love-talks-covidsafe-services/video/866a2e2c3cb4d92f1b3e5a771312b716">moving online</a>. But the sex worker community is also hearing stories of sex workers facing homelessness and housing instability, along with difficulties buying food and basic items and paying bills.</p>
<h2>The National Cabinet of Whores</h2>
<p>As the pandemic took hold in Australia, sex workers quickly realised they would need to support themselves. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-right-to-bare-arms-the-history-of-australian-sex-worker-activism-81559">The right to bare arms: the history of Australian sex worker activism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>In March, Scarlet Alliance, along with other Australian sex worker organisations, formed a working group known as “the National Cabinet of Whores”. Meeting every week, the Cabinet of Whores has developed advice around <a href="http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/library/applying_for_JobSeeker">financial support</a>, <a href="http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/COVID-19/">pandemic restrictions</a> and back-to-work requirements.</p>
<p>It has also developed <a href="https://redbook.scarletalliance.org.au/covid-19/">harm reduction advice</a> for in-person work, such as not working if feeling unwell, screening clients and washing hands after touching money. These materials have also been translated into Chinese, Thai, Korean and Vietnamese. </p>
<p>The Cabinet of Whores has been crowdfunding to try and provide extra financial support for sex workers who have lost income and issued advice around transitioning to <a href="https://redbook.scarletalliance.org.au/getting-started-in-online-non-contact-work/">online, non-contact work</a>. This includes webcam and phone sex work, offering social time on the phone or online and selling pictures and videos. </p>
<h2>The importance of peer education</h2>
<p>While some state governments have now developed <a href="https://www.covid19.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/132450/covid-safe-industry-plan-sex-industry.pdf">COVID-safe plans</a> for sex workers (led by sex workers), the public focus has been on <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-07-10/victoria-police-fines-breaches-stage-three-restrictions/12443674">policing the industry</a> during the pandemic. </p>
<p>This emphasis damages ongoing efforts within the community to work safely. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-26/queensland-sex-workers-say-they-may-be-forced-to-break-law/12287800">lack of clarity</a> from governments about how and when <a href="https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/sex-workers-outline-proposal-for-industry-to-start-up-again-during-pandemic/news-story/ed0945854e7c0de16d56daa5518aca04">services can re-open</a> has also hurt efforts to help sex workers to earn an income and do it safely during COVID-19. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-stigma-of-sex-work-comes-with-a-high-cost-79657">The stigma of sex work comes with a high cost</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
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<p>Sex workers have a strong tradition of working as a community to keep safe, supported and healthy. </p>
<p>Sex worker organising and <a href="https://communitylegalqld.org.au/sites/default/files/downloads/webinars/sexual_health_sex_workers_2010.pdf">peer education</a> in Australia is <a href="http://www.scarletalliance.org.au/library/interface2011/">already credited</a> with excellent occupational health and safety, <a href="https://kirby.unsw.edu.au/report/sex-worker-health-surveillance-report-new-south-wales-ministry-health">high condom use</a> and <a href="https://kirby.unsw.edu.au/report/sex-worker-health-surveillance-report-new-south-wales-ministry-health">low rates</a> of sexually transmitted infections. Australia has <a href="https://www1.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ohp-bbvs-1/%24File/HIV-Eight-Nat-Strategy-2018-22.pdf">virtually eliminated</a> HIV in the sex worker population.</p>
<p>Importantly, research also shows how <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)60973-9/fulltext">self-determination</a> and peer education are more effective when it comes to protecting sex workers’ health, than <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277539516301273">criminalisation</a> and police responses. </p>
<h2>So, decriminalisation is key</h2>
<p>COVID-19 has demonstrated once again how sex workers can mobilise to support themselves and reach marginalised members of their community. </p>
<p>However, it also shows how the patchwork of different laws in Australia can create confusion and makes things especially difficult in a crisis.</p>
<p>Rather than <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/news/partying-a-concern-for-police-as-40-infringements-handed-out-to-people-attending-massage-parlours/news-story/818b2503307ebc8123fcb9b943622a16">policing sex work</a>, governments should focus instead on supporting peer education and harm reduction efforts. These are best practice models and are long-term solutions.</p>
<p>Sex workers are closely watching a Victorian <a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/review-make-recommendations-decriminalisation-sex-work">government review</a>, due to report in September, on the decriminalisation of sex work in the state. <a href="https://indaily.com.au/opinion/2019/11/21/sas-sex-workers-wont-stop-fighting-for-legal-protection/">The campaign</a> to decriminalise sex work in South Australia <a href="https://www.tammyfranks.org.au/in-parliament/speeches/bills/statutes-amendment-repeal-of-sex-work-offences-bill-2nd-reading/">also continues</a>. This week, the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/abigailboydmlc/photos/a.1715397422016785/2662959090593942/">NSW Greens</a> introduced a private members’ bill to protect sex workers from discrimination. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1289103146409754624"}"></div></p>
<p>Full decriminalisation of sex work in Australia is critical. As this will enable all sex workers to access occupational work, health and safety protections and supports, just like other Australian employees. </p>
<p>This was important before COVID-19. It obviously even more critical now.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/142833/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roxana Diamond is affiliated with SIN. SIN is by sex workers for sex workers and offers peer support, education, information, advocacy and referral services for sex workers. She is also a member of Scarlet Alliance and has participated in National Cabinet of Whores meetings with member organisations. </span></em></p>The UN warns sex workers face increased discrimination under COVID-19. In Australia, they have been an ‘afterthought’ in the country’s pandemic response.Roxana Diamond, PhD Candidate, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.