Thursday, January 26, 2012

Survival Sex Work

The language used around something or someone frames the way in which we understand it. Recently I was reading an online discussion around the term “survival sex work.” I found the discussion around the terminology of survival sex work brought up a lot of interesting and insightful reflections which highlights the diversity of the experience of people involved in sex work and the way in which those experiences are understood.

What is “survival sex work”?
The term refers to individuals who are engaging in sex work due to outside circumstances. In other words, survival sex workers are not engaging in sex work of their own volition but out of environmental factors & need that could be related to poverty, addictions or mental health concerns as example. There is a sense of vulnerability related to survival sex work because those involved may have an increase chance that they will take risks to obtain and maintain clients. As example, when faced with poverty the opportunity for a sex worker to negotiate safer sex is diminished –have sex without a condom or risk losing the date and not be able to pay rent. A sex worker who isn’t involved in survival sex work could say “no” to sex without a condom because he/she wouldn’t risk losing housing. Having said all that, it is important to be clear about the difference between survival sex work and sexual exploitation. A person may experience sexual exploitation if she or he is being forced into sex work without their consent and do not have control or choice over their work, earnings, services provided etc.

What is really interesting in this conversation is that it highlights the diversity of the experience of people involved in sex work

Why is the term “survival sex work” controversial?
There are always challenges that arsis when we begin to put a label on a group of people because it boxes the experiences of many into one, singular reality. Labels also stigmatize those who fall under them. The term survival sex work creates the image of a victim, helpless and not in control. The label of “survival sex worker”, then, can take away the power and the voice of those involved.

Some argue not to use the term survival sex worker. People who fall under this category state that those involved in the supposed “survival sex work” should not be named as “sex workers” as sex work is about the consensual exchange of sexual services for money or goods. Those that argue this point might assert that if outside circumstances are influencing the sex worker, it is no longer consensual and no longer sex work. Others argue that the term is loaded with stigma and infers that sex work is harmful and damaging, when in fact it is not the sex work that is harmful for survival sex workers but the circumstances. As well, some people maintain that the term is redundant as regardless of the motivating facts, survival sex work is still work and should be understood in the same way as sex work.

On the other side, some people reason that it is important to have the term survival sex worker to fully understand the unique experiences and vulnerabilities of survival sex workers so that those involved can be understood & supported. As well, sex work is often seen by the outside community as one blanket experience where all involved are vulnerable. The term can help people understand that survival sex work is one experience of many in the sex industry.


It is valuable to explore and reflect on the language used to describe those involved in sex work and how that shapes our understanding. Most importantly, it is our language that ultimately impacts people, people who have a diverse experiences and diverse needs. Whatever words are used, they should always reflect and represent the person.

6 comments:

Clarisse Thorn said...

I like this post a lot! One note -- I think that in the second paragraph you probably meant to use the word "volition" instead of "violation"?

Shift Program said...

Good catch! Thank you!

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is sometimes difficult if there are other types of work but like easy money or sometimes if it's poverty is very unfortunate

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