Aligned Across Difference: Structural Injustice, Sex Work, and Human Trafficking

Schwarz, Corinne; Kennedy, Edward H.; Britton, Hannah E.

doi:10.1353/ff.2017.0014

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…In our specific population, such hardship is intensified by fears related to not being able to find a job, housing insecurity, deportation, language barriers, and others. These issues are more frequent amongst immigrant survivors of sex trafficking [ 76 ] and therefore will require attention from institutions and organizations supporting the recovery process of survivors.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How trauma related to sex trafficking challenges parenting: Insights from Mexican and Central American survivors in the US

Marti-Castaner¹,

Fowler²,

Landers³

et al. 2021

PLoS ONE

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Sex trafficking, a form of human trafficking for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation, with a global prevalence of 4.5 million, has pervasive effects in the mental and physical health of survivors. However, little is known about the experiences and needs of Latinx migrants (the majority of sex trafficking victims in the US) after trafficking, particularly regarding parenting. This QUAL-quant study examines how 14 survivors of sex trafficking (mean age = 30) from Mexico and Central America encounter and respond to parenting experiences after escaping sexual exploitation. Combining a bio-ecological model of parenting with Zimmerman’s framework on human trafficking we identified how trauma related to sex trafficking can challenge parenting and how relational and contextual pre and post trafficking factors (dis)enable women to respond to such challenges. Psychological consequences of daily victimization primarily manifested in three ways: overprotective parenting in a world perceived to be unsafe, emotional withdraw when struggling with stress and mental health symptoms, and challenges building confidence as mothers. These experiences were accentuated by pre-trafficking experiences of neglect and abuse, forced separation from their older children, poverty post-trafficking, and migration-related stressors. Yet, finding meaning in the birth of their child, having social support, and faith, also enable mothers to cope with such challenges. We conclude that motherhood after surviving sex trafficking presents new challenges and opportunities in the path to recovery from trauma. Interventions at the policy, community and individual level are needed to support survivors of sex trafficking as they enter motherhood.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How trauma related to sex trafficking challenges parenting: Insights from Mexican and Central American survivors in the US

Marti-Castaner¹,

Fowler²,

Landers³

et al. 2021

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Lutnick (2019) also describes how anti-trafficking and sex worker-led organizations have worked together to improve sex workers' access to justice by agitating for reforms that make them exempt from criminalization, for instance, when reporting a crime to law enforcement. This highlights how anti-trafficking approaches focused on harm reduction rather than sexual humanitarianism can support sex workers' rights and justice (Schwarz et al 2017).…”

Section: Impact Of Peer-to-peer Interventionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community-Based Responses to Negative Health Impacts of Sexual Humanitarian Anti-Trafficking Policies and the Criminalization of Sex Work and Migration in the US

et al. 2019

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System-involvement resulting from anti-trafficking interventions and the criminalization of sex work and migration results in negative health impacts on sex workers, migrants, and people with trafficking experiences. Due to their stigmatized status, sex workers and people with trafficking experiences often struggle to access affordable, unbiased, and supportive health care. This paper will use thematic analysis of qualitative data from in-depth interviews and ethnographic fieldwork with 50 migrant sex workers and trafficked persons, as well as 20 key informants from legal and social services, in New York and Los Angeles. It will highlight the work of trans-specific and sex worker–led initiatives that are internally addressing gaps in health care and the negative health consequences that result from sexual humanitarian anti-trafficking interventions that include policing, arrest, court-involvement, court-mandated social services, incarceration, and immigration detention. Our analysis focuses on the impact of criminalization on sex workers and their experiences with sexual humanitarian efforts intended to protect and control them. We argue that these grassroots community-based efforts are a survival-oriented reaction to the harms of criminalization and a response to vulnerabilities left unattended by mainstream sexual humanitarian approaches to protection and service provision that frame sex work itself as the problem. Peer-to-peer interventions such as these create solidarity and resiliency within marginalized communities, which act as protective buffers against institutionalized systemic violence and the resulting negative health outcomes. Our results suggest that broader public health support and funding for community-led health initiatives are needed to reduce barriers to health care resulting from stigma, criminalization, and ineffective anti-trafficking and humanitarian efforts. We conclude that the decriminalization of sex work and the reform of institutional practices in the US are urgently needed to reduce the overall negative health outcomes of system-involvement.

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“…Regulatory approaches become especially complex when it comes to the distinction of forced versus voluntary labour. Schwarz et al (2017) write, "Feminist debates surrounding sex work and human trafficking are notoriously contentious, with a binary approach that sees pro-sex work and anti-human trafficking ideologies as incompatible" (p. 1). These scholars assert that the stakes of these debates are especially high since "manifestations of this conflict have become entrenched in legislation, incarceration, and deportation -structures that affect real people's material conditions" (Schwarz et al, 2017, p. 2).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The protection of whose communities? : A comparative municipal case study of sex work bylaws & their enforcement in the wake of Bill C-36

Holtz-Schramek¹

2022

Preprint

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<p> This Major Research Project (MRP) concerns the enforcement of licensed indoor sex work bylaws in Canada through a comparative analysis of two municipalities: Toronto, ON and Vancouver, BC. My MRP asserts that, in spite of the continued criminalization of many aspects of sex work at the federal level in light of the passing of Bill C-36, The Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act, in 2014, some municipalities in Canada have continued to condone sex work through their bylaws and enforcement mechanisms. My research finds that while there are similarities between the bylaws themselves in these two jurisdictions, the primary difference between the two cases is as a result of enforcement practices. I assert that Vancouver’s adoption of GBA+ and intersectional-informed femocratic administrative tools at the municipal governmental level is one of the primary drivers leading to the outcome of some licensed indoor sex workers in Vancouver being able to work with greater respect and less harassment than licensed indoor sex workers in Toronto. However, while aspects of Vancouver’s approach demonstrate some positive developments that correlate to benefits for some of its city’s sex workers, the findings of my MRP reveal that Canada’s two largest Anglophone cities both have a lot of work to do to better support and protect some of their most vulnerable workers.</p>

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Aligned Across Difference: Structural Injustice, Sex Work, and Human Trafficking

Cited by 15 publications

References 30 publications

How trauma related to sex trafficking challenges parenting: Insights from Mexican and Central American survivors in the US

How trauma related to sex trafficking challenges parenting: Insights from Mexican and Central American survivors in the US

Community-Based Responses to Negative Health Impacts of Sexual Humanitarian Anti-Trafficking Policies and the Criminalization of Sex Work and Migration in the US

The protection of whose communities? : A comparative municipal case study of sex work bylaws & their enforcement in the wake of Bill C-36

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