4. The Business of Sex Businesses: Management in the Incall/Outcall Sector

Condoms and sexual health education as evidence: impact of criminalization of in-call venues and managers on migrant sex workers access to HIV/STI prevention in a Canadian setting

“…managers, owners, bodyguards, drivers, etc.) and their influence on the health, safety and operation of sex work venues [1, 3, 28]. Just as criminalization of clients reproduces harms of violence and HIV/STI risks to sex workers [14], our research indicates that the criminalization of managers diminishes sex workers’ access to sexual health resources and safe working conditions, and as such infringes on health and human rights of sex workers.…”

“…In addition to these harms, criminalization leaves sex workers with little capacity to organize for labour rights and no access to police or regulatory bodies if managers or owners breach labour standards or violate workplace health and safety standards [50]. By contrast, in a decriminalized environment, sex workers could more easily access a fuller range of rights and legal provisions against instances of labour, health or safety violations [3]. According to a recent systematic review of research focused on community organizing among sex workers in lower and middle income countries, the ability to organize collectively is essential for sex workers’ health and safety but is often constrained by laws criminalizing sex work [54].…”

“…While most of the research to date has focused on the criminalization of sex workers themselves a few studies have recently documented how the criminalization of sex buyers [14] and third parties [3] reproduces the negative effects of the broader criminalization on sex work. This research is of particular importance given efforts across the global north and south aimed at adopting the “Nordic model” of criminalizing sex buyers and third parties, while leaving the selling of sex legal, in an attempt to protect women.…”

“…However, there is very limited research on the health consequences of this approach, particularly on how policing and criminalizing third-party actors impacts managerial practices and HIV/STI prevention among indoor sex workers, including access to condoms, sexual health training and health outreach services. There is a dearth of research on the impact of laws and policing targeting sex work businesses and third party actors on health and safety of workers, outside of critical work by Bruckert and Tu [3]. …”

‘It’s a Puzzle You Have to Do Every Night’: Performing Creative Problem Solving at Work in the Indoor Canadian Sex Industry

“…quitting a particular establishment (Bruckert, 2002)) or becoming ‘independents’ (i.e. small business operators (Bruckert and Law, 2013)). In this context, Hampson and Junor’s (2015) argument for a conceptualization of skill that acknowledges skills that have so far been uncodified but are based on learning, takes on particular complexity as sex workers navigate industry norms, hierarchies and expectations against a backdrop of prohibitive regulation (e.g.…”