Beyond Ingrained Stigma

A Critical Intersectional Analysis of Sex Work, Social Equity, and Canada’s PCEPA Legislation

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12801596
AutoresKatherine Chernick (University of Rhode Island, autor correspondente), Karen D Sweeting (0000-0002-6211-4682, University of Rhode Island)
Ano2025
Volume23
Fascículo1
Páginas488-508
Data de publicação2025-07-15
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoSexuality Research and Social Policy (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1553-6610 • E-ISSN: 1868-9884
EditoraSpringer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1007/s13178-025-01158-9
OpenAlexW4412457826
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas81

Introduction In this research, we grapple with stigmatization of sex work and ways to prioritize both equity and protection of vulnerable individuals. Drawing on Canadian policy perspectives and using an intersectional policy analysis framework, we examine how sex work legislation, often justified to protect communities and exploited persons, has instead created detrimental impacts on the safety, well-being, and human rights of sex workers, particularly those from vulnerable and marginalized groups and communities. Methods An intersectional-based policy analysis (IBPA) framework is applied to provide critical insight into understanding the broader issues of governing and legislating sex work. The IBPA framework offers a structured approach to understanding the complex impacts of the Protection of Exploited Persons and Communities Act (PCEPA) by considering the interplay of various factors and power dynamics. It allowed us to critically engage descriptive and transformative questions that go beyond identifying harms to prompt consideration of historical context, the role power in shaping policy, and broader implications for diverse groups and communities. Results We critically analyze Canada’s PCEPA legislation through an IBPA framework that prompted a multi-level analysis, considering the role of power and equity in policy outcomes. The analysis reveals disproportionate harm to marginalized groups such as Indigenous women, im/migrants, and people of color due to intersecting systems of racism, sexism, and colonialism. We explore existing inequities in legislation to identify where and how targeted interventions can be made, and propose actionable short, medium, and long-term solutions with a focus on decriminalizing sex work as the end goal to reduce inequities. We outline pathways for empowering sex workers and prioritizing their agency through decriminalization and other measures with the potential to lead to more just reforms. Conclusions The IBPA framework helps elucidate how current policies such as PCEPA fail to address real and lived experiences of sex workers while perpetuating harm. We conclude with ways forward and key indicators drawing insight from diverse knowledge in pursuit of reduction in inequities and social justice. Policy Implications Sex work policies have been shaped by progress, persistent challenges, and a diversity of perspectives that continue to inform legislative and policy developments. Using the IBPA helps to understand how alternative policy options are better suited to the diverse nature inherent within the sex work profession. Decriminalization is considered to be the ideal policy alternative in this vein as it has been proven to produce positive effects for various members of the sex worker community by providing freedom of choice at the individual level. However, a political climate marked by increasing anti-rights measures brings into question how this might be readily accomplished

Biology · Criminology · Economics · Equity (law · Intersectionality · Labour economics · Legislation · Pay Equity · Political science · Sex work · Social equality · Sociology · Stigma (botany · Gender Studies · Global trade, sustainability, and social impact · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · Law · Psychology · Sex work and related issues