Confidence in the police is fundamental to citizens' willingness to report unlawful behaviour, share intelligence about crime, seek help when victimized, and generally comply with the law. Marginalized groups overwhelmingly report a lack of confidence that police will apply the law fairly. Although sex work research reports a wide range of negative experiences with the police, it is not known how common these experiences are because most research focuses solely on street-based sex workers and does not include quantitative measures. We report on confidence in the police through the analysis of relevant data gathered from in-person interviews with sex workers from six census metropolitan areas of Canada. Under the pre-2014 legal regime, our non-random sample of sex workers had lower confidence in police than estimated for other Canadians by the General Social Survey and were particularly unlikely to see police as treating sex workers fairly. Thematic analysis suggests this is primarily driven by stigma and discrimination. We also found a significant minority who reported the police to be a source of aid, suggesting that appropriate policy and program regimes could be developed to improve sex worker–police relations.

Although the many sites and opportunities available to researchers through the development and proliferation of the Internet are well known, little attention has been paid to what digital technologies and the world's developing digital infrastructure can offer qualitative researchers for the actual process of doing research. This article discusses opportunities that now exist that we have experimented with and implemented in our own research, such as viral sampling strategies, wireless interviewing, and voice recognition transcription, as well as impediments we have encountered that stand in their way. Included in the latter are research ethics boards who often lack expertise in issues that arise in computer-assisted research, hardware/software costs and technological expertise for researchers, and university administrations who have not embraced infrastructure for qualitative research to the same extent they have supported quantitative research. The article closes with a look at the implications of emerging issues, such as the trend to cloud computing, the proliferation of mobile devices, and the maturation of voice recognition software.

Les auteurs de cet article passent en revue la documentation canadienne sur les hommes qui achètent des services sexuels et présentent les résultats d'une enquête autoadministrée auprès de 80 de ces hommes, enquête qui a été réalisée dans le Grand Vancouver. l'article décrit les caractéristiques démographiques générates de l'échantillon et certains aspects de leur comportement d'achat sexuel. En raison de l'inquiétude accrue concernant le grand nombre de travailleurs du sexe sur la rue qui ont disparu ou qui ont ete tues, et de façon à apporter quelques réflexions au débat sur le prohibitionnisme qui allègue que la violence est omniprésente dans la prostitution, les auteurs examinent les actes de violence commis sur les travailleurs du sexe et autres personnes, et déclarés par eux. Ils se penchent également sur les expériences des hommes qui ont été victimes de violence de la part de travailleurs du sexe. This paper reviews the Canadian literature on men who purchase sexual services and presents the results of a self‐administered survey conducted in Greater Vancouver of 80 such men. The paper describes the general demographic characteristics of the sample and selected aspects of their sex‐buying behaviour. Because of heightened concern about the large number of street‐level sex workers who have gone missing or been murdered, and in order to offer some reflections on the prohibitionist argument that violence in prostitution is ubiquitous, the paper examines the self‐reported commission of violence against sex workers and other people. We also examine their experiences of being victimized by sex workers.

Sex work research continues to be characterised by debates around decriminalization. Central to these debates are claims about the agency of those involved in the sex trade. Some researchers argue that individuals involved in the sex trade are victims of structural and interpersonal constraint, whilst others depict them as workers exercising choice. Drawing on structure-agency theory, a review of legal and media accounts of the sex trade and qualitative interviews with 21 indoor sex workers in Vancouver, Canada, we argue that both of these perspectives are insufficient. Rather than reducing the sex trade to part of a binary, we suggest that it is necessary to analyse sex work through the complex interplay of both structure and agency. Specifically, structural analyses undercover the numerous ways that sex workers are controlled, observed and influenced whilst agency perspectives elicit the means that sex workers continue to exercise control in spite of disadvantage. While we do not finalise decriminalisation debates, we do critique current Canadian laws for the lack of responsiveness to the lives of sex workers and their exploitative and contradictory stance on sex work.

BackgroundThe capacity to advertise via the Internet continues to contribute to the shifting dynamics in adult commercial sex work. eHealth interventions have shown promise to promote Internet-based sex workers’ health and safety internationally, yet minimal attention has been paid in Canada to developing such interventions. Understanding the information communicated in Internet-based sex work advertisements is a critical step in knowledge development to inform such interventions.ObjectiveThe purpose of this content analysis was to increase our understanding of the health and safety information within the Internet advertisements among women, men, and transgender sex workers and to describe how this information may be utilized to inform eHealth service development for this population.MethodsA total of 75 Internet-based sex worker advertisements (45 women, 24 men, and 6 transgender persons) were purposefully selected from 226 advertisements collected as part of a larger study in Western Canada. Content analysis was employed to guide data extraction about demographic characteristics, sexual services provided, service restrictions, health practices and concerns, safety and security, and business practices. Frequencies for each variable were calculated and further classified by gender. Thematic analysis was then undertaken to situate the communications within the social and commercialized contexts of the sex industry.ResultsFour communications themes were identified: (1) demographic characteristics; (2) sexual services; (3) health; and (4) safety and security. White was the most common ethnicity (46/75, 61%) of advertisements. It was found that 20-29 years of age accounted for 32 of the 51 advertisements that provided age. Escort, the only legal business title, was the most common role title used (48/75, 64%). In total, 85% (64/75) of advertisements detailed lists of sexual services provided and 41% (31/75) of advertisements noted never offering uncovered services (ie, no condom). Gender and the type of Web-based platform mattered for information communicated. It was found that 35 of the 45 women’s advertisements were situated in personal websites and hosted details about nonsexual aspects of an appointment. Men and transworkers used Internet classified advertisement platforms with predetermined categories. Communications about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) occurred in only 16% (12/75) of advertisements with men accounting for 7. Women’s advertisements accounted for 26 of the 37 advertisements noting safety restrictions. Zero men or transpersons restricted alcohol or drug use. In total, 75% (56/75) of advertisements offered out-call services and the average minimal hourly rate ranged from Can $140/h to Can $200/h.ConclusionsThe study findings contribute to understandings about the diverse platforms used in commercial sex advertisements, and how sex workers frame information for potential clients. This information affords health care providers and policy makers insights to how they might assist with promoting ...