Doing trust work – the purchase of sex in a Swedish context

Grönvall, Ylva; Holmström, Charlotta; Plantin, Lars

doi:10.1177/1363460720936464

Cited by 3 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(56 reference statements)

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“…However, street-based SFP is usually referred to by MWPWS in straightforward terms of strictly sexual experiences (Durant & Couch, 2019). Moreover, some MWPWS prefer to become regular clients of a specific woman, whom they pay for sex in indoor settings (Sanders, 2008)-while other MWPWS enjoy the rush and excitement of switching between multiple WPS at varying locations (Plantin, 2020).…”

Section: The Experiences Of Mwpwsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paying for Sex During COVID-19 Pandemic: The Experiences of Israeli Men

Prior

2021

Sex Res Soc Policy

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Introduction This qualitative study explored the experiences of men who pay women for sex (MWPWS) during the COVID-19 pandemic, which poses radical and profound challenges to various aspects of people's intimate, sexual, and financial experiences. Methods The study was based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 10 Israeli MWPWS who regularly visit various prostitution venues. The interviews were conducted between April and July 2020, between the first and the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Israel. ResultsThe findings focus on four major aspects of the participants' experiences: the participants' inability to pay for sex, the difficulties imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic to participants' sex-for-pay experiences, the positive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on their sex-for-pay experiences, and the insignificance of COVID-19 pandemic to their sex-for-pay experiences. Conclusions I conclude that COVID-19 pandemic triggers various sexual, emotional, and gendered experiences for MWPWS. Accordingly, MWPWS may reevaluate their engagement in sex-for-pay, and their experiences of it may be reshaped in light of the pandemic. I discuss the findings' contribution to sexuality and masculinity studies, and the methodological possibilities that they raise for qualitative scholars studying social phenomena during the COVID-19 pandemic. Policy Implications The study highlights the significance of developing ad hoc prostitution policy that supports the individuals involved in the sex industry-both MWPWS and the women who are paid for sex-during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, it suggests that prostitution policy should address the diverse experiences of MWPWS, beyond viewing them as merely offenders who should be punished, or re-educated.

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Section: The Experiences Of Mwpwsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paying for Sex During COVID-19 Pandemic: The Experiences of Israeli Men

Prior

2021

Sex Res Soc Policy

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“…Features such as communication, courtship rituals, sexual familiarity, and the desire for mutual satisfaction, as well as friendship and emotional connections can be important for regular purchasers (Milrod and Monto 2012;Sanders 2008a). However, the difference between regulars and one-time visitors is not clear-cut, and qualities presumed to be associated with regulars are also found among one-time visitors (Gr€ onvall, Holmstr€ om, and Plantin 2020;Jones and Hannem 2018). Trust and safety, for example, can be important both for men who purchase sex as regulars and as one-time visitors (Gr€ onvall, Holmstr€ om, and Plantin 2020;Sanders 2008b).…”

Section: The Purchase Of Sex and Intimacymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the difference between regulars and one-time visitors is not clear-cut, and qualities presumed to be associated with regulars are also found among one-time visitors (Gr€ onvall, Holmstr€ om, and Plantin 2020;Jones and Hannem 2018). Trust and safety, for example, can be important both for men who purchase sex as regulars and as one-time visitors (Gr€ onvall, Holmstr€ om, and Plantin 2020;Sanders 2008b).…”

Section: The Purchase Of Sex and Intimacymentioning

confidence: 99%

The construction of intimacy in long-term commercial relationships in Sweden

Grönvall

Holmström

Plantin

2021

Culture, Health & Sexuality

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Previous research on commercial sex has described fluidity between different forms of relationships, whereby commercial sexual relationships can be both long-term and viewed as intimate from the buyer's perspective. This article explores the construction of intimacy in long-term commercial relationships. More specifically, it examines the meaning of transactions in long-term paid sexual relationships in Sweden. Interviews were conducted with 23 Swedish men with experience purchasing sex as 'regulars'. An inductive thematic analysis was conducted. Findings show that the emotional experience is a key focus for these men when they purchase sex. The emotions involved are not delimited in time and space but are experienced both within and outside of the actual sexual encounter. Such emotions can be understood as the very precondition for the experiences of intimacy, while at the same time they create difficulties for the men who purchase sex. Experiences of intimacy are experienced in the ambiguity between unbounded and bounded authenticity and by not drawing a clear line between emotional subjectivity and consumer subjectivity.

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“…However, the difference between regulars and one-time visitors is not clear-cut, and qualities presumed to be associated with regulars are also found among one-time visitors (Gr€ onvall, Holmstr€ om, and Plantin 2020; Jones and Hannem 2018). Trust and safety, for example, can be important both for men who purchase sex as regulars and as one-time visitors (Gr€ onvall, Holmstr€ om, and Plantin 2020;.…”

Section: The Purchase Of Sex and Intimacymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Commercial sex is a phenomenon that involves several actors, and where interactions and perceptions of risk are interwoven on different levels . Previous research has shown that sex buyers are aware of or relate to the exploitation to which sellers are exposed, which affects their behaviour in different ways (Grönvall et al 2021a;. Men who purchase sex manage risk and make risk assessments when purchasing sex, Purchasing Sex in Sweden-A Risky Business • 397 both in relation to sellers and third parties.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Purchase of Sex: Perceptions, Experiences, and Social Work Practices

Grönvall

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The aim of this study is to explore sex buyers’ perceptions and experiences of purchasing sex, and to study how the purchase of sex is constructed as a social problem in Swedish social work practice. The empirical material consists of interviews with 30 men with experiences of purchasing sex and with ten social workers conducting counselling or outreach work with men who purchase sex. The dissertation is a compilation thesis that consists of four papers, that have been published in international peer-review journals. The first paper focuses on how men who buy sex as one-time visitors navigate between commercialization and intimacy in a national context criminalizing their actions. The paper explores the construction of meaning and intimacy in commercial relationships for Swedish men buying sex, and how these men describe relational practices and strategies used when they purchased sex. The second paper explores the construction of intimacy among men engaged in longterm transactional relationships with women. The paper focuses on the meaning of transactions for intimacy in long-term paid sexual relationships. The third paper explores how men who purchase sex in a context in which their activities are criminalized understand and perceive risk. The paper focuses on individual assessments of risk in relation to experiences of crime, exploitation, and stigma. The fourth paper aims at exploring social workers’ understanding of the purchase of sex as a social problem. The study focuses on social workers’ approaches to the purchase of sex in relation to values, professional practices, and political goals, and how they navigate these aspects in their encounters with individuals who purchase sex. The four papers show how individual experiences are understood, navigated, and conceptualized in relation to social interaction and social norms. The participants in both sub-studies navigate between their own experiences and perceptions, moral values, and social norms in regard to the purchase of sex in Sweden. Both the sex buyers and the social workers conceptualize and make sense of the purchase of sex based on their individual experiences as sex buyers or as social workers meeting sex buyers, but they also relate to normative ideas about the purchase of sex and about ‘sex buyers’.

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Doing trust work – the purchase of sex in a Swedish context

Cited by 3 publications

References 33 publications

Paying for Sex During COVID-19 Pandemic: The Experiences of Israeli Men

Paying for Sex During COVID-19 Pandemic: The Experiences of Israeli Men

The construction of intimacy in long-term commercial relationships in Sweden

The Purchase of Sex: Perceptions, Experiences, and Social Work Practices

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