“Johns” in the Spotlight: Anti-prostitution Efforts and the Surveillance of Clients

Abstract

Th is essay examines surveillant practices that subject sex trade clients ("clients") to socio-legal control. In particular, I employ the concepts of the gaze, voyeurism, and exhibitionism to unpack the surveillant dynamics, and consider how power and pleasure are harnessed, produced, and thwarted in the increasing scrutiny of the sex trade's demand side. I further examine my own research of the regulation of clients within this analytical framework. Following David Lyon's insights on the scopophilic dimensions of surveillance (2006), I argue that the instrumental goals of surveillance are interconnected with a voyeurism that gratifi es the pleasures of looking at, categorizing, defi ning and making sense of, clients. Yet, bearing in mind the multi-directionality of the gaze, I also analyze the controlled exhibition of sex work signifi ers, as information is not just gathered, but also displayed and performed.Keywords : sex work , prostitution , clients or "johns," surveillance , panoptic , synoptic , social control , voyeurism , exhibitionism , the gaze , criminal law and regulation , media studies Résumé Cet article examine les pratiques de surveillance qui assujettissent les clients de l'industrie du sexe (les « clients ») à un contrôle sociojuridique. En particulier, j' emplois les concepts du regard, du voyeurisme et de l'exhibitionnisme afi n de révéler les dynamiques de surveillance, et d' examiner comment le pouvoir et le plaisir sont canalisés, produits et entravés par l' examen de plus en plus minutieux de la demande dans le commerce du sexe. Dans ce cadre analytique, j'approfondie ma propre recherche sur la réglementation des clients. En m'appuyant sur les idées de David Lyon portant sur les dimensions scopophiliques de la surveillance (2006), je soutiens que les objectifs fondamentaux de la surveillance sont liés au voyeurisme, donnant ainsi plaisir à regarder, classer, définir et donner un sens aux clients. Toutefois, compte tenu du caractère multidirectionnel du regard, j'analyse égale-ment l'exhibition contrôlée des signifiants propres au travail du sexe, puisque l'information n' est pas seulement recueillie mais aussi exposée et représentée. Apparently, he has already staked out the place. As we walk, he jokes about the mazelike corridors so I don't feel bad about being lost. I smile in agreement, but when I realize why he's there, I have to stop myself from getting chatty. I did not receive research ethics approval to talk with him. I'm only allowed to observe. He's been designated a "john"-that is, someone who pays for sex-and he has been sent to rehab to learn the error of his libido. I'm here to study the court diversion program designed for him and other men who were caught attempting to buy sex from undercover police offi cers.Th e john school I am observing that day is run by current and retired male police offi cers. When I introduce myself, I am greeted warmly. Th ey consider me one of them. I guess they fi gure as a professor, but perhaps more important, as a woman, I will undou...

“We Are Not Criminals”: Sex Work Clients in Canada and the Constitution of Risk Knowledge

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Courting Victims: Exploring the Legal Framing of Exploitation in Human Trafficking Cases

“…Third, police practices have conjoined anti-sex work enforcement activities with anti-trafficking ones. For instance, police officers coordinate “john sweeps,” arresting those who attempt to purchase sexual services (Khan 2015, 2018), while also engaging in inappropriately named “raid and rescue” operations promoted as efforts to “save” trafficking victims and target their clients (Butterfly 2018; Fudge et al 2021).…”

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