Strategies and Challenges in Preventing Violence Against Canadian Indoor Sex Workers

Abstract

<p class="first" id="d15181902e136"> <i>Objectives. </i>To examine indoor sex workers’ strategies in preventing workplace violence and influential socio-structural conditions. </p><p id="d15181902e141"> <i>Methods. </i>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. </p><p id="d15181902e146"> <i>Results. </i>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. </p><p id="d15181902e151"> <i>Conclusions. </i>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. </p><p id="d15181902e156"> <i>Public Health Implications. </i>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. </p>