Sex workers in research study call for greater legal protections against sexual violence
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Sex workers should be empowered to set boundaries, access justice, and receive specialist support according to a new study examining sexual violence in the sex industry across four legal jurisdictions.
The recommendations were made by sex workers involved in the study which found that those working in decriminalised or legalised settings – such as New Zealand and Nevada’s managed brothels – are better able to negotiate consent and seek support when violations occur.
By contrast, those in criminalised settings face legal barriers that leave them more vulnerable and less likely to report abuse.
Researchers from the Universities of Strathclyde and Leicester; Queen’s University, Belfast; the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; and the University of Otago, undertook interviews with more than 100 criminal justice professionals, support workers, and more than 700 sex workers to look at the situation in four different jurisdictions: the USA, where the sale and purchase of sexual services is illegal in most states; Nevada, where sex work is legal in certain counties but strictly regulated within brothels; the United Kingdom, where the sale of sexual services is legal but working in brothels is not; and New Zealand, where sex work is decriminalised.
They found that consent negotiation is shaped by the legal frameworks in each jurisdiction – sex workers in decriminalised settings have greater awareness of their legal rights and are better able to assert boundaries, including citing legal protections to clients.
Violations such as non-payment and ‘stealthing’ – non-consensual condom removal – are widespread: 76% of survey respondents who had experienced an incident reported a payment issue, while 44% had experienced stealthing. Many workers viewed these acts as violence, yet legal recognition and enforcement vary by country.
Distrust of authorities is a key barrier to reporting – 92% of survey respondents did not formally report the last boundary violation they experienced, citing a lack of trust in law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
Professor Teela Sanders, in the School of Criminology at the University of Leicester, said: “Stigma against sex workers — particularly in criminalised and partially criminalised settings – can be embedded within essential services such as healthcare and policing. This stigma often leads to compounded harm for sex workers, further alienating them from the services they need.
“This study highlights an urgent need for legal and policy reforms to protect sex workers’ rights and empower them to set and maintain boundaries, while providing effective mechanisms for redress.”
Key recommendations include ensuring survivors have choice and control in reporting, building trust through specialist support, and forming partnerships between mainstream services and sex worker-led organisations. The research also calls for full decriminalisation of sex work to improve protections and access to justice.
Deputy Chief Constable Dan Vajzovic, of the UK’s National Police Chiefs’ Council, said: “Across society, we need to do more to tackle violence against women and girls; this is especially true when considering under-protected communities such as sex workers. I welcome this contribution to strengthening our knowledge base and hope that it allows consideration of whether better legislative frameworks can be developed.”
A book based on the research, Voicing Consent: Sex Workers, Sexual Violation and Legal Consciousness in Cross-National Contexts, is available to read at www.sexworkandsexualviolence.com.