Tamara O’Doherty and Ian Waters. - Gender, Victimization, and Commercial Sex Work in Canada

main research questions

1. How does gender influence sex workers' experiences of violence and victimization

2. How do male and female sex workers differ in their experiences of the industry?

3. How does criminalization affect sex workers' safety?

4. How can research and public policy better represent all sex workers?

main ideas

1. Gender influences experiences of sex work, but it does not determine them

2. The sex industry is more diverse than research and public policy often suggest

3. Criminalization can increase vulnerability rather than improve safety

4. Sex work is not inherently violent

5. Sex workers should be treated as workers with labour rights

research methods

online surveys

1. 98 adult sex workers across Canada.

2. Anonymous online questionnaires.

in-depth interviews

• 31 sex workers.

• conducted in 2012.

key findings 1 and 2

• Male sex workers reported lower levels of violence than female sex workers

• Male sex workers still experienced other forms of victimization (harassment, theft, etc.)

key findings 3 and 4

• Workers' ability to control client interactions influenced their safety

• Male and female workers approached safety differently (females emphasized safe strategies and men less likely to)

key findings 5 and 6

• Criminalization can make it harder for workers to protect themselves

• Policies based primarily on female vulnerability overlook other workers