Elene Lam
Biographic Data
| ID | 1246662 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Elene Lam |
| GIVEN NAMES | Elene |
| FAMILY NAME | Lam |
| SIGNATURE | LAM E |
| AFFILIATIONS | York University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0832-1119 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 24 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 9 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Asian Women Workers in Massage Parlours and the Sex Industry and Their Fight Against Anti-Asian Racism
This article examines how Asian migrant sex workers have continuously been targeted by the “carceral web” of Canadian laws and policies at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels. A case study of Newmarket, Ontario’s municipal council’s recent “crackdown” on personal wellness establishments illustrates how systematic racism and “whorephobia” are embedded in the regulations targeting low-income Asian migrant women, particularly those who wor…
“Stand With Us”: Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Must Not Be Forgotten in Our Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic and Anti- Asian Racism
People all over the world have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, racialized, migrant, poor, criminalized, and otherwise marginalized people, including sex workers, have been disproportionately affected. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the inequality Asian sex workers continuously experience and how they have fallen through the cracks. The heavy economic, social, and mental impacts on them during the pandemic have exacerbated thei…
My journey with Kamala Kempadoo: Reflections on the anti-trafficking movement and sex work organizing
This article is a personal reflection on my 25 years of involvement with sex work organizing and the fight against the anti-trafficking movement, which is where I first encountered Kamala Kempadoo's scholarship, research, and activism. Using autoethnography and self-reflexivity, I focus on my journey into activism in the sex worker movement and the fight against the anti-trafficking movement, which began in Hong Kong and extended to countries aro…
Weaponized Licensure: Asian Migrant Sex Workers’ Struggle Against Discriminatory Licensing in Newmarket, Ontario
This article delves into the recent efforts of Asian migrant massage and sex workers in the Town of Newmarket, Ontario, and their struggle against a recently amended Personal Wellness Establishments (PWE) By-law. It starts with a historical overview of municipal licensing schemes and legislated migration controls in Canada, used to justify increased surveillance, control movement, and deny Asian women entry into Canada, before illustrating the en…
The Double-Edged Sword of Health and Safety: Covid-19 and the Policing and Exclusion of Migrant Asian Massage Workers in North America
Migrant Asian massage workers in North America first experienced the impacts of COVID-19 in the final weeks of January 2020, when business dropped drastically due to widespread xenophobic fears that the virus was concentrated in Chinese diasporic communities. The sustained economic devastation, which began at least 8 weeks prior to the first social distancing and shelter in place orders issued in the U.S. and Canada, has been further complicated …
Butterfly Voices – Creative Self-Representation of Migrant Sex Workers
Butterfly is an Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The organization was founded upon the belief that migrant sex workers, like all workers, are entitled to respect and human rights. The following essay on Butterfly Voices was written by the project’s co-creators, Alvis Choi and Elene Lam, and details the creative energies, political vision, and methodological steps that went into bringing the project …
Pandemic sex workers’ resilience: Covid-19 crisis met with rapid responses by sex worker communities
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the inequality of social support systems worldwide, revealing the gaps that further marginalize vulnerable people. Despite the fact that sex workers are adversely affected by the pandemic, they are excluded from government relief and protection programmes as well as health services. Sex worker communities have developed rapid response strategies to support their peers in overcoming these challenges. Sex worker or…
Migrant sex workers left behind during Covid-19 pandemic
Butterfly: Resisting the harms of anti-trafficking policies and fostering peer-based organising in Canada
Drawing on knowledge gleaned from over four years of community organising and from the ongoing compilation of the experiences of Asian and migrant sex workers in Canada, this article presents a case study of the work of Butterfly, a migrant sex worker-led and sex worker-focused organisation. It explores how Butterfly, through various mediums, has sought to challenge the discourses, laws, and policies that negatively impact Asian and migrant sex w…
Pandemic sex workers’ resilience: Covid-19 crisis met with rapid responses by sex worker communities
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the inequality of social support systems worldwide, revealing the gaps that further marginalize vulnerable people. Despite the fact that sex workers are adversely affected by the pandemic, they are excluded from government relief and protection programmes as well as health services. Sex worker communities have developed rapid response strategies to support their peers in overcoming these challenges. Sex worker or…
Butterfly: Resisting the harms of anti-trafficking policies and fostering peer-based organising in Canada
Drawing on knowledge gleaned from over four years of community organising and from the ongoing compilation of the experiences of Asian and migrant sex workers in Canada, this article presents a case study of the work of Butterfly, a migrant sex worker-led and sex worker-focused organisation. It explores how Butterfly, through various mediums, has sought to challenge the discourses, laws, and policies that negatively impact Asian and migrant sex w…
The Double-Edged Sword of Health and Safety: Covid-19 and the Policing and Exclusion of Migrant Asian Massage Workers in North America
Migrant Asian massage workers in North America first experienced the impacts of COVID-19 in the final weeks of January 2020, when business dropped drastically due to widespread xenophobic fears that the virus was concentrated in Chinese diasporic communities. The sustained economic devastation, which began at least 8 weeks prior to the first social distancing and shelter in place orders issued in the U.S. and Canada, has been further complicated …
My journey with Kamala Kempadoo: Reflections on the anti-trafficking movement and sex work organizing
This article is a personal reflection on my 25 years of involvement with sex work organizing and the fight against the anti-trafficking movement, which is where I first encountered Kamala Kempadoo's scholarship, research, and activism. Using autoethnography and self-reflexivity, I focus on my journey into activism in the sex worker movement and the fight against the anti-trafficking movement, which began in Hong Kong and extended to countries aro…
Migrant sex workers left behind during Covid-19 pandemic
Butterfly: Resisting the harms of anti-trafficking policies and fostering peer-based organising in Canada
Drawing on knowledge gleaned from over four years of community organising and from the ongoing compilation of the experiences of Asian and migrant sex workers in Canada, this article presents a case study of the work of Butterfly, a migrant sex worker-led and sex worker-focused organisation. It explores how Butterfly, through various mediums, has sought to challenge the discourses, laws, and policies that negatively impact Asian and migrant sex w…
Butterfly Voices – Creative Self-Representation of Migrant Sex Workers
Butterfly is an Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The organization was founded upon the belief that migrant sex workers, like all workers, are entitled to respect and human rights. The following essay on Butterfly Voices was written by the project’s co-creators, Alvis Choi and Elene Lam, and details the creative energies, political vision, and methodological steps that went into bringing the project …
Pandemic sex workers’ resilience: Covid-19 crisis met with rapid responses by sex worker communities
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the inequality of social support systems worldwide, revealing the gaps that further marginalize vulnerable people. Despite the fact that sex workers are adversely affected by the pandemic, they are excluded from government relief and protection programmes as well as health services. Sex worker communities have developed rapid response strategies to support their peers in overcoming these challenges. Sex worker or…
Migrant sex workers left behind during Covid-19 pandemic
The Double-Edged Sword of Health and Safety: Covid-19 and the Policing and Exclusion of Migrant Asian Massage Workers in North America
Migrant Asian massage workers in North America first experienced the impacts of COVID-19 in the final weeks of January 2020, when business dropped drastically due to widespread xenophobic fears that the virus was concentrated in Chinese diasporic communities. The sustained economic devastation, which began at least 8 weeks prior to the first social distancing and shelter in place orders issued in the U.S. and Canada, has been further complicated …
Weaponized Licensure: Asian Migrant Sex Workers’ Struggle Against Discriminatory Licensing in Newmarket, Ontario
This article delves into the recent efforts of Asian migrant massage and sex workers in the Town of Newmarket, Ontario, and their struggle against a recently amended Personal Wellness Establishments (PWE) By-law. It starts with a historical overview of municipal licensing schemes and legislated migration controls in Canada, used to justify increased surveillance, control movement, and deny Asian women entry into Canada, before illustrating the en…
Asian Women Workers in Massage Parlours and the Sex Industry and Their Fight Against Anti-Asian Racism
This article examines how Asian migrant sex workers have continuously been targeted by the “carceral web” of Canadian laws and policies at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels. A case study of Newmarket, Ontario’s municipal council’s recent “crackdown” on personal wellness establishments illustrates how systematic racism and “whorephobia” are embedded in the regulations targeting low-income Asian migrant women, particularly those who wor…
“Stand With Us”: Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Must Not Be Forgotten in Our Response to the Covid-19 Pandemic and Anti- Asian Racism
People all over the world have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, racialized, migrant, poor, criminalized, and otherwise marginalized people, including sex workers, have been disproportionately affected. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the inequality Asian sex workers continuously experience and how they have fallen through the cracks. The heavy economic, social, and mental impacts on them during the pandemic have exacerbated thei…
My journey with Kamala Kempadoo: Reflections on the anti-trafficking movement and sex work organizing
This article is a personal reflection on my 25 years of involvement with sex work organizing and the fight against the anti-trafficking movement, which is where I first encountered Kamala Kempadoo's scholarship, research, and activism. Using autoethnography and self-reflexivity, I focus on my journey into activism in the sex worker movement and the fight against the anti-trafficking movement, which began in Hong Kong and extended to countries aro…
Sex work and related issues (8 works) · Sex workers (6 works) · Sociology (6 works) · Economic growth (5 works) · Political science (5 works) · Sex work (5 works) · Gender Studies (4 works) · Criminology (3 works) · Demography (3 works) · Economics (3 works)