Sex worker

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A sex worker in Germany.
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A sex worker in Germany.

A sex worker is a person who earns money by providing sexual services. The term is sometimes used as a synonym for prostitution, but most scholars define "sex workers" to include individuals who perform sexual or sexually oriented activities in the sex industry, such as strippers, erotic massage therapists, pornography actors and actresses, and telephone sex workers (Weitzer 2000).

Depending on regional law, sex workers' activities may be regulated, controlled, or prohibited. For example, prostitution is illegal in many countries, but is legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, New Zealand, Germany, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Nevada. In most countries, even those where sex work is legal, sex workers are stigmatized and marginalized, which can prevent sex workers from seeking legal redress for discrimination (e.g., racial discrimination by a strip club owner), non-payment by a client, assault, or rape.

Sex worker advocates argue that sex workers should have the same basic human and labour rights as other working people (Weitzer 1991). For example, the Canadian Guild for Erotic Labour calls for the legalization of sex work, the elimination of state regulations on sex work, which it deems are more repressive than those imposed on other workers and businesses, the right to recognition and protection under labour and employment laws, the right to form and join professional associations or unions (in order to engage in collective bargaining), and the right to travel and legally cross borders to work. Also, the legalization of sex work, would allow it to be carried out in better organized circumstances (e.g., legal brothels), where regulations (e.g., requiring condom use and regular health checkups for sex workers) could reduce the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

In the Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand and some Australian States, sex workers are already recognized by their governments. There, the term "sex worker" is often used by advocates of legal and economic rights for sex workers.

The growth in sex tourism has led to a corresponding growth in the sex industry. Illegal sex tourism with under-age boys and girls has become a notorious problem in Costa Rica and Thailand. Legal (above the age of consent) and consensual sex industries make a significant contribution to the local economies of some urban centers. The Hamburg Reeperbahn is a licensed and taxed prostitution zone serving tourists from all over the world.

Sex industries tend to thrive around military bases. The British naval port of Portsmouth had a flourishing local sex industry in the nineteenth century, and until the early 1990s there were large red light districts near American military bases in the Philippines. The notorious Patpong entertainment district in Bangkok, Thailand, started as an R&R (Rest and Recuperation) location for US troops serving in the Vietnam War in the early 1970s.

The euphemism adult service provider is sometimes used for sex workers. This may be an example of the euphemism treadmill, as British columnist Theodore Dalrymple has observed that "sex worker" is itself a euphemism, and that "medical journals fear to print the word "prostitute" and use the delicate euphemism "sex worker" instead."

Performance evaluations of the different local sex workers can be found at various escort review boards worldwide. Escort review boards are online-forums, which are used primarily to trade information between potential clients and sex workers. In addition, escort review boards are used to advertise the various services of sex workers.

Sex Work Support sites are also available for those who are thinking about entering the industry and are looking for inside information. These sites provide information on everything from getting started to safety. Check SWAG for a Canadian based site or HOOK for male sexwork info.

Contents

[edit] Sources

  • Weitzer, Ronald. 1991. "Prostitutes' Rights in the United States," Sociological Quarterly, v. 32, no.1, pages 23-41.
  • Weitzer, Ronald. 2000. Sex For Sale: Prostitution, Pornography, and the Sex Industry (New York: Routledge Press).
  • "Decriminalize sex trade: Vancouver report", CBC.ca, June 13th, 2006

[edit] External links

[edit] Advocacy

[edit] Regional

[edit] Articles and Links Critical of Prostitution

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