Sex Worker Facts

Want to get an "A" on your sex work research paper? Study up!

Lies, Damned Lies, and Sex Work Statistics

Why do actual research when you can just make stuff up about the sexy? Excellent WaPo article by Maggie McNeill, The Honest Courtesan, on the damned lies spread about the sex industry.

10 Reasons to Decriminalize Sex Work

Open Foundation research paper documenting global examples of the positive effects of decriminalizing sex work.

The Economist Explains: Why Decriminalising Sex Work is a Good Idea

Yah think? Succinct summation of major research outlining benefits of decriminalization for sex workers.

A Personal Choice

Cover article of The Economist, August 9, 2014. A free-market/ libertarian argument for decriminalization.

The laws that Sex Workers Really want

TED Talk by activist Juno Mac explains four legal models that are being used around the world and shows us the model that she believes will work best to keep sex workers safe and offer greater self-determination. "If you care about gender equality or poverty or migration or public health, then sex worker rights matter to you," she says. "Make space for us in your movements."

Policing Sex Work

Statistics on incidents of police brutality against sex workers.

Meaningful Work: Transgender Experiences in the Sex Trade

Results from the 2008-9 National Transgender Discrimination Survey of 6,400+ U.S. transgender adults, along with policy recommendations. Required reading.

Gender, Violence & Health: Contexts of Vulnerabilies, Resiliences, and Care Among People in the Sex Industry

Research paper presented in 2014 on working conditions in Canada for sex workers, coworkers, and partners in the biz. Main conclusions include:

  • Most sex workers do not feel exploited

  • Most sex buyers are not oppressors

  • Tensions exist between workers and sellers and management, but are not more prevalent than other service industries

  • Sex work provides an opportunity for some sex workers

  • Much of the stress some sex workers encounter is not due to the job itself but stigma, isolation, and loneliness

  • Punitive laws make sex workers less safe