Strategies and Challenges in Preventing Violence Against Canadian Indoor Sex Workers

Abstract

Objectives. To examine indoor sex workers' strategies in preventing workplace violence and influential socio-structural conditions.Methods. Data included qualitative interviews with 85 sex workers in British Columbia, Canada, from 2014 through 2016. For analyses, we used interpretive thematic techniques informed by World Health Organization position statements on violence.Results. Robbery, nonpayment, financial exploitation, and privacy violations were frequent types of violence perpetrated by clients, landlords, and neighbors. We identified 2 themes that depicted how sex workers prevented violence and mitigated its effects: (1) navigating physical spaces and (2) navigating client relationships.Conclusions. Sex workers' diverse strategies to prevent violence and mitigate its effects are creative and effective in many circumstances. These are limited, however, by the absence of legal and public health regulations governing occupational health and safety and stigma associated with sex work. Public Health Implications. Occupational health and safety regulatory policies that set conditions for clients' substance and condom use within commercial sex transactions are required. Revisions to the current legal regulations governing prostitution are critical to support optimal work environments that reduce the likelihood of violence. These revisions must recognize sex work as a form of labor versus victimization. (Am J

Information and Communication Technologies in Commercial Sex Work: A Double-Edged Sword for Occupational Health and Safety

“…Though there are many facets to the working conditions experienced by sex workers, stigma and legal regulation are particular socio-structural features of occupational health and safety of importance in our study (Benoit et al 2017;Benoit et al 2018;Bungay and Guta 2018;O'Doherty 2011). Sex workers regularly experience symbolic stigma (Herek et al 2005), where they are perceived as contributing to societal harms such as crime, disease, and moral corruption.…”

“…In the most general sense, occupational health and safety refers to a system of policies, procedures, and practices that aim to optimize working conditions that reduce the likelihood of work-related injuries and illnesses (International Labour Organization 2016). Occupational health and safety also aims to foster workers' emotional, social, and financial wellbeing (Bungay and Guta 2018;Sanders et al 2018a) and, as such, is concerned with the immediate working conditions and socio-structural features of society that can promote or negate the health and safety of the workforce (International Labour Organization 2016).…”

“…ICTs are creating unprecedented opportunities for sex workers to determine how they will conduct business and allowing for greater control over their work (Pitcher 2015). The increased use of ICTs has also been associated with increase depression, isolation, and violence among sex workers, but the mechanisms by which these occur remain unclear (Bungay and Guta 2018;Minichiello et al 2015). More research about the interrelationships between ICTs, their uses, and sex workers' occupational health and safety is urgently needed.…”

“…Generally, service providers experience significant threats to their occupational health and safety, including physical and sexual assault, robbery, violation of privacy, harassment, and non-payment by clients (Bungay and Guta 2018;Bungay et al 2012;Church et al 2001;Harris et al 2011;Jones 2015;O'Doherty 2011;Sanders and Campbell 2007). ICTs are also contributing to new threats, including the inadvertent disclosure of their status as a provider to family or general public, harassment and threats, persistent unwanted contact or stalking, and the misuse of information, including images (Campbell et al 2019;Sanders et al 2016;Sanders et al 2018a).…”

“…Unfortunately, the existing body of knowledge is largely limited to countries that have vastly different socio-political and legal contexts than Canada, such as Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. As socio-structural factors such as the law can impact both the occupational health and safety concerns that providers experience, as well as the prevention and mitigation strategies that they employ (Bungay and Guta 2018;Deering et al 2014), it is important to generate knowledge that is specific to the Canadian context.…”