Understanding the Diversity of People in Sex Work: Views from Leaders in Sex Worker Organizations

Andrea Mellor () and Cecilia Benoit
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Andrea Mellor: Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada
Cecilia Benoit: Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC V8P 5C2, Canada

Social Sciences, 2023, vol. 12, issue 3, 1-16

Abstract: Criminal laws in Canada and many other countries are currently premised on the assumption of homogeneity, that is, people in sex work are cis women and girls who are being sexually exploited/sex trafficked. This perspective is also shared by antiprostitution groups and many researchers investigating the “prostitution problem”. Perpetuating this position obscures their demographic multiplicity and variety of lived experiences. We interviewed 10 leaders from seven sex worker organizations (SWOs) across Canada who reported a diversity among their clientele that is rarely captured in the extant literature and absent from the current Canadian criminal code. Our findings reveal the important role that SWOs have to play in facilitating access to health and social services and providing spaces where people in sex work can gather in safe and supportive environments, without the fear of stigma, discrimination, or police harassment. We conclude that SWOs can operate as a structural intervention beyond decriminalization that can improve equitable access to health and social services for sex workers Despite SWOs’ efforts, sex workers’ mobilization is still limited by micro-, meso-, and macrolevel stigmatization that prevents and/or discourages some workers from accessing their programs and services.

Keywords: sex work; structural interventions; stigma; occupational health; diversity; intersectionality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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