Barriers to Governmental Income Supports for Sex Workers during COVID-19: Results of a Community-Based Cohort in Metro Vancouver

Jennie Pearson, Kate Shannon, Andrea Krüsi, Melissa Braschel, Jennifer McDermid, Brittany Bingham and Shira M. Goldenberg ()
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Jennie Pearson: Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2K5, Canada
Kate Shannon: Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2K5, Canada
Andrea Krüsi: Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2K5, Canada
Melissa Braschel: Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2K5, Canada
Jennifer McDermid: Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2K5, Canada
Brittany Bingham: Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2K5, Canada
Shira M. Goldenberg: Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2K5, Canada

Social Sciences, 2022, vol. 11, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into stark focus the economic inequities faced by precarious, criminalized and racialized workers. Sex workers have been historically excluded from structural supports due to criminalization and occupational stigma. Given emerging concerns regarding sex workers’ inequitable access to COVID-19 income supports in Canada and elsewhere, our objective was to identify prevalence and correlates of accessing emergency income supports among women sex workers in Vancouver, Canada. Data were drawn from a longstanding community-based open cohort (AESHA) of cis and trans women sex workers in Metro Vancouver from April 2020–April 2021 ( n = 208). We used logistic regression to model correlates of access to COVID-19 income supports. Among 208 participants, 52.9% were Indigenous, 6.3% Women of Colour (Asian, Southeast Asian, or Black), and 40.9% white. Overall, 48.6% reported accessing income supports during the pandemic. In adjusted multivariable analysis, non-injection drug use was associated with higher odds of accessing COVID-19 income supports (aOR: 2.58, 95% CI: 1.31–5.07), whereas Indigenous women faced reduced odds (aOR 0.55, 95% CI 0.30–1.01). In comparison with other service workers, access to income supports among sex workers was low overall, particularly for Indigenous sex workers, demonstrating the compounding impacts of colonization and disproportionate criminalization of Indigenous sex workers. Results highlight the need for structural supports that are low-barrier and culturally-safe to support sex workers’ health, safety and dignity.

Keywords: sex work; women sex workers; trans sex workers; COVID-19 pandemic; basic income; structural interventions; Indigenous (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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