Sociology of Sex Work

The HIV situation in virtually all southern African countries is a generalised epidemic. Despite the fact that almost all adult age and social groups have high HIV prevalence estimates, sex workers are disproportionally affected, with prevalence estimates higher than the general population. In a qualitative study of 61 male and female sex workers in Swaziland, we found that while poverty drove many into sex work, others reported motivations of pleasure or “sensation seeking”, and freedoms from the burden of marriage as perceived benefits of sex work. We also found that penile-vaginal sex was not universal in male-female sexual encounters; and motivation by sex workers for non-condom use included intention to earn more money from unprotected sex, desire for sexual pleasure, and not having time to use condoms. Many sex workers expressed doubts over an alternative lifestyle, even if that change afforded them money to meet their daily necessities. The findings from this study suggest that treating sex workers as a homogenous group that is driven into, or maintain sex work only because of poverty may be problematic, and could hamper HIV-relevant interventions aimed at reducing their vulnerability to sexually transmitted infections.

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“…(Weitzer, 1991;2009). Sex workers may be employed as prostitutes, strippers, brothel workers, or porn stars, among other things.…”

Section: Sex Work In Swazilandmentioning

confidence: 99%

An assessment of sex work in Swaziland: barriers to and opportunities for HIV prevention among sex workers

Chipamaunga

Muula

Mataya

2010

SAHARA-J: Journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS

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“…They generally charge about 70-110 USD for an hour. 15 Male sex workers concentrate on a specific street corner in Recoleta. In lower-class areas, like Once, Flores, and Constitución, many sex workers work during the day.…”

Section: Street Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…19 Yesenia, who works in the microcentro, said she used to get about 220 USD for one boliche client, while in the street she makes about 70-110 USD. 15 1000-1500 ARS at time of interview 16 100-200 ARS 17 400 ARS 18 2000-3000 ARS, minimum 1000 19 5000 ARS; 10,000 ARS Although many sex workers did not want to work in the street, some preferred it. Andrea, who had previously worked in a boliche that required her to give up half her earnings, explained, "In a boliche you had to present yourself.…”

Section: Street Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex Work and the Politics of Space: Case Studies of Sex Workers in Argentina and Ecuador

Meir¹

2017

Social Sciences

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While many studies examine how different legal approaches to prostitution affect sex workers' living and working conditions, few studies analyze how sex workers' physical workspaces and the policies regulating these spaces influence sex work conditions. Based on interviews with 109 current or former sex workers, 13 civil society representatives, 12 government officials, and 5 other actors in Ecuador and Argentina, this study describes sex workers' uses of urban space in the two countries and compares how they experience and respond to government regulation of locations of prostitution. Argentina and Ecuador took different approaches to regulating sex work space, which appear to reflect different political ideologies towards prostitution. Sex workers expressed different individual preferences for spaces, and government limitation of these spaces represented one of their major concerns. The results illuminate how sex workers' workspaces influence their working conditions and suggest that governments should consider sex worker preferences in establishing policies that affect their workspaces.

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“…We include dummies for the wave 2 (2007) and wave 3 (2009) surveys (reference = 2006). Because venue is a central stratifier (Murphy and Venkatesh 2006;Sanders et al 2009;Weitzer 2009), we include dummies indicating if the FSW worked in a brothel, street, lodge, or highway (reference = home).…”

Section: Independent Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brokers and the Earnings of Female Sex Workers in India

2015

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This study examines whether working with a broker increases or reduces the payment received for the last client among female sex workers. Building on research on the informal economy and sex work, we formulate a positive embeddedness hypothesis, expecting a positive association, and an exploitation hypothesis expecting a negative association. We analyze a large survey combined with intensive interview data on female sex workers in Andhra Pradesh, India. These data uniquely distinguish between the amount the sex worker actually received and the amount the client paid. The analyses show that brokers are associated with significantly lower last payment received. Although brokers are associated with a greater number of clients in the past week, this does not result in significantly higher total earnings in the past week. Further analyses suggest that much of the negative relationship with earnings is due to the fact that brokers lead to a lack of control over the amount clients are charged. At the same time, the results fail to show that brokers actually provide services of value. Ultimately, the results support the exploitation hypothesis. We conclude by encouraging the refinement of theories of embeddedness and exploitation and calling for greater research on workers in the informal economy of developing countries.

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Sociology of Sex Work

Cited by 393 publications

References 75 publications

An assessment of sex work in Swaziland: barriers to and opportunities for HIV prevention among sex workers

An assessment of sex work in Swaziland: barriers to and opportunities for HIV prevention among sex workers

Sex Work and the Politics of Space: Case Studies of Sex Workers in Argentina and Ecuador

Brokers and the Earnings of Female Sex Workers in India

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