Journal Article

Sex Work in the Forest City: Experiences of Sex Work Beginnings, Types and Clientele Among Women in London, Ontario

Farr, Sara, Macphail, Susan, Wender, Cass, Young, Dawn, Orchard, Treena

2012

Overview

This paper presents findings from an ethnographic, community-based research project with women in the sex trade in London, Ontario, the first of its kind in this Canadian city. Drawing upon 19 semi-structured life-history interviews with women between 24 and 60 years of age who have taken part in various aspects of the sex trade (i.e. street-based, indoor, transactional), this discussion focuses on how they entered the trade, the types of sex trade work done and the relationships with their male clients. Among the most important findings is the diversity that informs the women’s experiences across these fundamental aspects of the trade, which is best understood against the trajectory of these women’s lives and their oscillating, complicated involvement in sex work over time. Unlike most studies of sex work entry, which contend that this is a singular occurrence, our participants experienced entry and re-entry many times as they transition between different types of sex work. Their involvement in the trade follows a basic pattern of beginning in privately arranged situations (i.e. exotic dancing, sugar daddies) and moving to primarily street-based work, a significant change that is mediated by structural and inter-personal factors like the loss of their children, inability to access social and health services and deepening addictions to drugs. The women’s experiences with their male clients are also characterized by diversity and change according to the kind of sex work done and a constellation of mutable forces like socioeconomic need and drug dependency. Our findings, especially those regarding the factors affecting the women’s transition to the most dangerous and criminalized form of sex work, street-based, represent important and much-needed information with which to develop tailored, effective social policies and service provision to make London’s sex trade more supported and safer for the women who work here.

• Publisher: Springer US,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Addictions / Behavioral Science and Psychology / Change agents / Cities / Community research / Cultural Pluralism / Dancing / Dependency / Drug Abuse / Drugs / Ethnography / Females / Health services / London, England / Males / Ontario / Prostitution / Psychology / Sex industry / Sex offenders / Sexual Behavior / Social policy / Social research / Social Sciences / Trade / Women / Work