Sex Workers and Violence

It is self-evident that financial reasons for sex work are most prominent. Surprisingly near to 40% indicate that they like this kind of work. About one-third of the women are offering sex services for altruistic reasons, as they want to help. Thus, sex work obviously also serves very personal reasons; sex work can enhance self-esteem, allow the person to be their own master give a feeling of power (pg. 149).

In a study performed by Koken (2012), the researcher approaches prostitution as a form of paid labor that women may choose to engage in under circumstances ranging from the luxurious to the destitute. Results from the study showed that women articulated feelings of pride about their work, their body, and their ability to use sex work to help stabilize their lives financially. Sex work was also portrayed as an effective way to supplement meager incomes from mental or physical disabilities; and feelings were expressed that affirmed positive attention from clients who valued appearances and did not view clients as a ‘disabled’ or ‘pathological’.

A research project done in Canada in 2001 by Benoit and Millar found that after talking with 201 currently active adult sex workers about their experience in the sex industry, all of the respondents stated that, “they struggle to resist the popular depiction that portrays them as mere victims. Despite past and present hardship, they describe themselves as active agents with varying degrees of control over their work and health. More than anything else, this report aims to confirm respondents’ agency, to give them a voice and an opportunity to be heard.”

Sadly, even happy sex workers are not free from violence and assault. With the amount of violence reported and experienced by sex worke...

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...var surmises that the government should “treat adult women who become prostitutes as adults who are capable of making choices for their own lives. Stop trying to impose moral or social values on us” (Procon.org, 2013).

Sex workers often fear going to the police for fear of getting arrested “it’s hard to go up to someone who’s arrested you the night before and say, look, I need your help, my life is in danger. They fear that if they report it, they will be arrested themselves for solicitation” (Benoit, 2012). This is a reality for these women who must rely on themselves for protection. “Police officers complain that the revolving door of arrest, punishment, and return to the same community means that the problem is never really.” (Jeffrey & McDonald, 2006); with this in mind it is time to start finding solutions that will help both community and sex-workers alike.