Harms of third party criminalisation under end-demand legislation: undermining sex workers’ safety and rights

Criminalised Interactions with Law Enforcement and Impacts on Health and Safety in the Context of Different Legislative Frameworks Governing Sex Work Globally

“…In the 5 years since the law's enactment, research from various parts of Canada has reported harms in sex workers' relationships with law enforcement and in their safety as being similar to what was previously experienced under prohibitive sex work legislation [30,82,85,87,88]. One cisgender woman sex worker who predominantly solicited clients in street-based settings said: "Harassing the clients is exactly the same as harassing the women.…”

“…The majority of third-party workers in indoor sex work environments were actually found to be either current or former women sex workers. Sex workers reported that these "third parties" provided client screening, security, and sexual health resources to sex workers; yet criminalisation under end-demand models restricted the availability of condoms and constrained access to police protections in case of violence or fraud, thereby undermining sex workers' health, safety, and human rights [88]. These findings showed that the criminalisation of third parties reproduced the unsafe working conditions experienced under other forms of sex work criminalisation [88].…”

“…Sex workers reported that these "third parties" provided client screening, security, and sexual health resources to sex workers; yet criminalisation under end-demand models restricted the availability of condoms and constrained access to police protections in case of violence or fraud, thereby undermining sex workers' health, safety, and human rights [88]. These findings showed that the criminalisation of third parties reproduced the unsafe working conditions experienced under other forms of sex work criminalisation [88]. Under end-demand legislation, the threat of police raids and inspections continued to deter condom availability in indoor sex work venues due to fears that condoms may be used as evidence to confirm that sex work takes place in a particular locale [46,89].…”

Seeing pre-screened, regular clients associated with lower odds of workplace sexual violence and condom refusal amidst sex work criminalization: Findings of a community-based cohort of sex workers in Metro Vancouver, Canada (2010-2019)

“…Applying this labour lens to sex workers' occupational safety strategies enables vital acknowledgement of their expertise and active participation in shaping the organization of their labour and ltering their clients (similarly to other small business owners), which is rendered even more critical by end-demand criminalization which has been shown to undermine sex worker and client communications and screening (29,(31)(32)(33). The use of this labour lens also a rms sex workers' extensive advocacy efforts to resist against reductive frames of passive victimization, towards enhancing their rights (12,37,62,63).…”

“…This legislation explicitly criminalizes the purchase of sex services in all circumstances, and also criminalizes third parties (i.e., venue owners/managers, security) who gain material bene ts from others' sex work (36). Concerningly, research suggests that Canadian end-demand laws reproduce the unsafe labour conditions of the previous unconstitutional legislation (37,38). A qualitative study in Vancouver found that police targeting clients of street-based sex workers undermined sex workers' existing client screening and safety strategies, heightened their exposure to violence, and disrupted relationships with their pre-screened regular clients (14).…”