Labouring in the Sex Industry: A Conversation with Sex Workers on Consent and Exploitation

Abstract

Sex work in all its forms is an occupation that belongs to the service industry, and like any other work, sexual labour is open to exploitation. However, the reason why sex work is seen to be different from other forms of labour is that it betrays the socially accepted rules of love and intimacy and is exercised within a criminalised environment. As a cultural symbol, sex work remains steadfastly linked to aberration and dangerousness. This article juxtaposes the legal and lay definitions of consent and exploitation based on conversations with fourteen Canadian sex workers. The objective of this exploratory article is to delve within two ill-defined and highly contested notions related to the sex industry—consent and exploitation.

New Zealand’s Approaches to Regulating the Commodification of the Female Body

“…It was, however, the model proposed by the most vocal sex workers’ rights group, NZPC, who were very influential in lobbying for this legislative change (Barnett et al 2010 ). The full decriminalization approach to prostitution takes the feminist-Marxist view that sex work is simply one of many forms of labour exploited under a capitalist system (Tremblay 2021 ). This view holds that sex workers are made vulnerable not because of the nature of their work qua sex work but the fact that a criminalized environment leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and violence from sex buyers.…”