Stigma, decriminalisation, and violence against street-based sex workers: Changing the narrative

Abstract

It is well documented that sex workers manage risks in their work – such as the potential for violence and the multiple risks associated with stigma. While sex workers are commonly understood to be a stigmatised population, few studies have considered in depth how stigma operates in different legislative contexts, how it relates to sex-worker safety, and how it may be reduced. Stigma is understood to be exacerbated by the criminalisation of sex work, which defines sex workers as deviant others and consequently renders them more vulnerable to violence. However, as full decriminalisation of sex work is still relatively rare, there has been little in-depth exploration into the relationship between this legislative approach, risks of violence, and stigma. Drawing on the findings of in-depth interviews with street-based sex workers and sex-worker rights advocates, in this article I explore the links between stigma and violence, and discuss the challenges of reducing stigma associated with sex work in New Zealand, post-decriminalisation. I argue that while decriminalisation has undoubtedly benefited sex workers in New Zealand, stigma continues to have a negative impact – particularly for street-based sex workers. Decriminalisation should therefore be considered an essential starting point. However, ongoing work must focus on countering stigmatising narratives, to enable a safer society for all sex workers.

Who Takes Part in the Political Game? The Sex Work Governance Debate in Israel

“…As to the instrumental goal of the law, the purpose was to criminalize clients and provide aid for women working in the industry who are now seen as victims, prostituted women, sex slaves, or survivors. This is despite evidence that a victim narrative deprives sex workers of their agency (Armstrong, 2019 ; Brown & Sanders, 2016 ; Pitcher, 2019 ) and that “risk discourses” function to exclude so-called non-normative and deviant activities such as sex work (Sanders, 2006 ). Israeli lawmakers’ broad generalization of sex workers as victims creates, according to Brooks ( 2020 ), a binary dichotomy between good and evil; generalizations are therefore inappropriate and exclude sex workers from this discourse.…”

“…However, it should be remembered that simply adopting a model from another country because it appears to work does not, as Kingston and Thomas (2018) showed, consider wider social issues and, therefore, may not work in another country. Furthermore, as was demonstrated by Fuckförbundet (2019) in Sweden and by others (Armstrong, 2019;Bettio et al, 2017;Huschke, 2017) elsewhere, the legislation to criminalize clients has led to sex workers being increasingly stigmatized, hunted by the police, and disempowered. In other words, the state is becoming a primary source of violence and exploitation of sex workers (Hammond & Attwood, 2015).…”

“…We noticed in our interviews that sex workers allied around a joint mission of preventing the deepening of already challenging stigma. This stigma is twofold: first, the well-known universal "whore stigma" of sex work (Armstrong, 2019;Gira Grant, 2014;Hardy & Cruz, 2019;Sanders, 2005;Weitzer, 2018), which the Nordic Model aimed to pass from the sellers to consumers who now perceived as the perpetrators; and second, the stigma created by legislation advocates who refer to sex workers as "victims" (Armstrong, 2019;Bettio, Della Giusta, & Di Tommaso, 2017;Filar, 2020;Huschke, 2017;Pitcher, 2019;Weitzer, 2019). For most sex workers, it is not the actual work that causes the most harm; rather, it is the stigma attached to earning an income through sex work in a context where it is criminalized and being justified for their degradation (Gira Grant, 2014;Huschke, 2017).…”

“…Joining the criticism of sex work scholars regarding the disregard of the voices of sex workers (Agustín, 2008 ; Armstrong, 2019 ; Pitcher, 2019 ; Sanders & Campbell, 2014 ; Weitzer, 2017 ; Yarbrough, 2020 ), this article addresses the question of how Israeli sex workers perceive the public debate over the governance of the sex industry in Israel. Based on fieldwork observations and interviews with both women working in the sex industry and legislators, we argue that the Israeli legislative proceedings initiated in 2007 discredited, silenced and excluded sex workers’ voice, thus, denying them parity of participation in democratic spaces which, as was shown by FitzGerald and McGarry ( 2016 ), perpetuates inequalities against an already disenfranchised group.…”

Navigating Intersecting Identities, Self‐Representation, and Relationships: A Qualitative Study with Trans Sex Workers Living and Working in Los Angeles, CA

“…Stigma is universal in the sex trade and remains an occupational hazard for sex workers in all nations (Abel and Fitzgerald ; Armstrong ; Oliveira ; Weitzer , ). Erving Goffman defines stigma as not something that is inherent in a type of behavior or physical condition, but as an attribute that is deeply discrediting and reduces the bearer to a tainted and discounted person (Goffman ).…”