Negotiating Violence in the Context of Transphobia and Criminalization

Abstract

A growing body of international evidence suggests that sex workers face a disproportionate burden of violence, with significant variations across social, cultural, and economic contexts. Research on trans sex workers has documented high incidents of violence; however investigations into the relationships between violence and social-structural contexts are limited. Therefore, the objective of this study was to qualitatively examine how social-structural contexts shape trans sex workers' experiences of violence. In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with 33 trans sex workers in Vancouver, Canada between June 2012 and May 2013. Three themes emerged that illustrated how social-structural contexts of transphobia and criminalization shaped violent experiences: (1) transphobic violence, (2) clients' discovery of participants' gender identity, and (3) negative police responses to experiences of violence. The findings demonstrate the need for shifts in sex work laws and culturally relevant anti-stigma programs and policies to address transphobia.

The impact of construction and gentrification on an outdoor trans sex work environment: Violence, displacement and policing

“…Like participants in our study, trans sex workers in Ross’ studies recounted that working conditions in the West End in the 1970s and early 1980s were safer because sex workers were included in the community and were working closely with each other; however this changed dramatically with the 1984 legal injunction (Hamilton, 2014; Ross, 2012). Gentrification promotes middle-class lifestyles as well as middle-class values that regard sex work as inappropriate, which leads to policy changes and/or community campaigns to remove sex work(ers) from the neighbourhood (Lyons et al, 2015). Additionally, as has been documented in Amsterdam’s red-light district, areas to where ‘disposable’ bodies were once displaced often shifts when land value shifts due to globalization (Edelman, 2014; Poteat et al, 2016).…”

The impact of end-demand legislation on sex workers’ access to health and sex worker-led services: A community-based prospective cohort study in Canada

“…The PCEPA also targets third party self-advertising, which has the potential to detrimentally impact sex workers' health and safety, and conflates sex workers with victims of violence and trafficking. Further, the PCEPA focuses on cisgender women sex workers and makes no mention of sex workers who do not identify as cis women (i.e., LGBTQ, men) [12], failing to acknowledge gender and sexual diversity of individuals who sell sex and the unique vulnerabilities faced by gender and sexual minorities [14][15][16].…”

Who has the worst attitudes toward sexual minorities? Comparison of transphobia and homophobia levels in gender dysphoric individuals, the general population and health care providers

“…Concerning transphobia, different studies showed that also transgender individuals reported frequent experiences of violence and discrimination, which they ascribed to their belonging to a sexual minority group [37][38][39][40][41]. There is some evidence to support the idea that, among sexual minorities, transgender people are the most stigmatized, as they clearly violate the rules concerning gender roles [38,[42][43][44].…”