‘He’s not my pimp’: toward an understanding of intimate male partner involvement in female sex work at the Mexico–US border

Abstract

Female sex work is often perceived as women being controlled by men. We used surveys and qualitative interviews with female sex workers and their intimate partners in two Northern Mexico cities to examine couples' own perceptions of their relationships and male partners' involvement in sex work. Among 214 couples, the median age was 34 and relationship duration was approximately 3 years. Only 10 women in the survey reported having a pimp, and the majority reported sole control over sex work decisions. Qualitative analyses revealed that while most men avoided direct involvement in sex work, they offered advice that was largely driven by concern for their partner's well-being. Our discussion of these results considers the broader socio-political context surrounding these relationships and how changing gender roles, economic insecurity and stigma shape couples' everyday social interactions. Assumptions that all sex workers' relationships are coercive and commercial marginalises these couples while leaving their health concerns unaddressed.

Rethinking Dignity and Exploitation in Human Trafficking and Sex Workers’ Rights Cases

“…Contemporary sex work includes such diverse jobs as survival sex, erotic massages, cam-girls and boys, high-end call girls, phone sex operators, pornography actors, sugar babies, sex for barter, and dominatrices. Of course, there are some who are street workers engaged in the classic pimp-prostitute relationship, but this is far from the norm, and such relationships seem to be much less exploitative than popular stereotypes, e.g., [33,35,36]. And many, perhaps most, sex workers over time will engage in several different forms of sex work and will move in and out of sex work.…”

Women exiting prostitution: Reports of coercive control in intimate relationships

“…These authors further highlighted a critical gap in the literature concerning the examination of coercive control in marginalized populations, such as women in prostitution, who are currently or formerly in intimate partner relationships. Understanding the role of coercive control within non-commercial intimate partnerships among women in prostitution is complicated as the role of partners frequently shifts in nature (Benoit et al, 2013;Fielding-Miller & Dunkle, 2017;Mittal et al, 2018). For example, among women in prostitution, some intimate partners reflect more traditional "boyfriend" relationship statuses while other intimate partners transition to engage in "pimp behaviors" (Shannon et al, 2008, p. 914).…”