Strategies and Challenges in Preventing Violence Against Canadian Indoor Sex Workers

Bibliographic Data

ID11040255
AuthorsVicky Bungay (0000-0001-6440-7182, Vicky Bungay is with the School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia. Adrian Guta is with the School of Social Work, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario.), Adrian Guta (0000-0002-1380-2016, Vicky Bungay is with the School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia. Adrian Guta is with the School of Social Work, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario.)
Year2018
Volume108
Issue3
Pages393-398
Publication date2018-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0090-0036 • E-ISSN: 1541-0048
PublisherAmerican Public Health Association (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2105/ajph.2017.304241
PMID29346001
OpenAlexW2782987702
LanguageEN
Citations received26
References cited24

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

Condom · Criminology · Environmental health · Family medicine · Occupational safety and health · Poison control · Political science · Psychiatry · Public health · Public relations · Qualitative research · Sex work · Sociology · Stigma (botany) · Suicide prevention · Thematic analysis · Workplace violence · Law · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Sex work and related issues · Sexual Assault and Victimization Studies · Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology

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