Beyond the Gaze and Well Beyond Wolfenden: The Practices and Rationalities of Regulating and Policing Sex Work in the Digital Age

Abstract

Drawing on the largest study of the United Kingdom online market in sexual labour to date, this article examines the legal and regulatory consequences as aspects of sex work increasingly take place within an online environment. Our research shows that while governmental policy has not kept abreast of these changes, the application of current laws (which have, since the 1950s, focused on public nuisance and, more recently, trafficking and modern slavery) are pernicious to sex workers and unsuited to recognizing and responding to the abuses and exploitation in online markets in sexual labour. These injustices are likely to be exacerbated if policies and policing do not better align with the realities of these markets in the twenty‐first century. This demands a more nuanced regulatory approach which recognizes that people may engage in sex work of their own volition, but which also addresses conditions of labour and criminal exploitation.

Hustling the Platform

“…Overall, scholars of sex work largely understand the internet as enabling improved working conditions including safer work (Jonsson et al 2014), increased wages (Pruitt 2005), reduced negative encounters with police and the criminal justice system (Cunningham and Kendall 2011;Bernstein 2007) and increasing class mobility (Bernstein 2007). Other studies show how the internet can remove third parties from sex work (Bernstein 2007), increasing the autonomy of sex workers (Scoular et al 2019), while simultaneously reducing risk (Jones 2015). Yet as Jones (2015) rightly points out, this literature -has been 'too optimistic' and her and others point to the 'new dangers' emerging online, including privacy violations, harassment and stalking (Scoular et al 2019).…”

“…Other studies show how the internet can remove third parties from sex work (Bernstein 2007), increasing the autonomy of sex workers (Scoular et al 2019), while simultaneously reducing risk (Jones 2015). Yet as Jones (2015) rightly points out, this literature -has been 'too optimistic' and her and others point to the 'new dangers' emerging online, including privacy violations, harassment and stalking (Scoular et al 2019). Moreover, she warns against an emergent techno-determinism in these accounts (Jones 2015) which understands the impact of the internet as acting 'on' sex work and sex workers unidirectionally.…”

Policing vulnerability in sex work: the harm reduction compass model

“…Police knowledge of the online sex industry is low and understanding of the various circumstances in which it takes place is partial. For example, the presence of migrant profiles online are often conflated automatically with trafficking and organised crime, (Scoular et al, 2019). Evidence suggests that there is greater police surveillance of sex work advertising and platform activities (Scoular et al, 2019) yet within rapidly changing markets for commercial sexual activity the police are tasked with making sense of who is a victim and who is not.…”

“…For example, the presence of migrant profiles online are often conflated automatically with trafficking and organised crime, (Scoular et al, 2019). Evidence suggests that there is greater police surveillance of sex work advertising and platform activities (Scoular et al, 2019) yet within rapidly changing markets for commercial sexual activity the police are tasked with making sense of who is a victim and who is not. This task is made harder by laws which do not reflect the transformation of the sex industry, and specifically the rise of individuals working independently through online spaces using changing means such as geo-location smartphone dating applications (Morris 2018).…”

Not collateral damage: Trends in violence and hate crimes experienced by sex workers in the Republic of Ireland

“…Such actions further undermine sex workers’ trust and confidence in the police. The impact of policing activities associated with policing brothels, experienced as ‘raids’ by sex workers, have a range of impacts; not only can they be frightening (Scoular et al., 2019) but they can also cause economic deprivation due to loss of earnings when business is disrupted or closed (Lister, 2018).…”