The Loss of Boystown and Transition to Online Sex Work: Strategies and Barriers to Increase Safety Among Men Sex Workers and Clients of Men

Abstract

Men sex workers in Vancouver have largely transitioned from street to online solicitation coinciding with losing “Boystown,” the main outdoor sex work stroll for men. This article explores strategies and barriers to increase safety among men and trans sex workers and clients of men in Vancouver, Canada. Qualitative interviews were conducted (2012–2013) with 61 self-identified men who currently buy and/or sell sex in a community-based research project known as CHAPS (Community Health Assessment of Men Who Purchase and Sell Sex). Drawing on a socioecological framework, thematic analysis of interview transcripts was conducted utilizing ATLAS.ti 7 software among men (39 workers; 8 buyers). Narratives indicate that gentrification and urban planning led to social isolation and loss of social support networks among men in the sex industry. Concurrently, the restructuring of sex work to online increased workers’ safety and control. Narratives reveal how the Internet can provide greater opportunities to negotiate terms of sex work and enhanced screening using webcams, reducing risks of violence, stigma, and police harassment for both workers and clients compared with the street. This study highlights how losing Boystown led to a loss of community and solidarity: key protective measures for sex workers. Online solicitation increased workers’ capacity to screen prospective clients and prevent violence. Recent legal reforms in Canada to further criminalize sex work raise significant concern for human rights and health of individuals in the sex industry, and point to the critical need to include voices of men and trans sex workers and buyers in policy discussions.

Risking safety and rights: online sex work, crimes and ‘blended safety repertoires’

“…While the concerns around the implications of the move online to safety, risk and crimes experienced by sex workers has begun to emerge (Argento et al ), the connections between crimes, under‐reporting and safety strategies are questions that our research has addressed, filling the gaps noted by other scholars (Jones ).…”

“…It has been established that sex workers develop a range of protective strategies (Harris, Nilan and Kirby ; Sanders ) and skills to manage and negotiate the risks involved in selling sexual services are part of the occupational culture (O’Neill ; Pitcher ). Beyond the Gaze research has found that at all stages of commercial sexual encounters negotiated or delivered online, particularly early interactions with clients, it is important that sex workers are enabled to put in place protective strategies (Ray ; Argento et al, ; Cunningham 2011). In our study, we asked sex workers if the internet was important for their safety and about the safety methods they employed.…”

“…Cunningham and De Angelo (2017) have identified the increased screening carried out by online sex workers as one of the factors making this method of work safer compared to street sex work. Argento et al (: 1) found that male online sex workers had more opportunity to screen potential customers compared to their street working counterparts, and they could use technology to better negotiate the terms of commercial sex transactions, which they argued ‘reduced risks of violence, stigma’.…”

“…Argento et al () stressed the greater opportunities and increased capacity which the internet gave male sex workers for screening and violence prevention. Screening practices using online technology in the Beyond the Gaze study were diverse and included: not taking a booking without having spoken to the customer over the phone or if a withheld number is used, or if it is a number they had previously blocked, using number check applications linked to sex industry warning schemes and generic online and phone number ID and blocking applications.…”

A Content Analysis of Health and Safety Communications Among Internet-Based Sex Work Advertisements: Important Information for Public Health

“…Health-related benefits associated with Internet-based sex work, defined as the use of Internet by adults to facilitate consensual exchange of sexual services for money, include increased income, autonomy, and safety when compared with street-level sex work or working for a third party [1,4-6]. Internet-based sex workers can also, however, experience depression, isolation, violence, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and substantial barriers in accessing and receiving health services [2,7-13].…”