Abstract
Based on interviews with Toronto sex workers, this article argues that the impacts of criminalization on sex workers’ lives includes increased vulnerability to violence, decreased business, and the necessity for secrecy. Criminalization also impacts sex workers’ intimate and business relations by necessitating external support and protection, mythologies around pimping, and increased power by police and landlords. Sex workers’ lived and intimate knowledge lend them a greater awareness of the effects and consequences of the current Canadian legislative framework as well as a greater awareness of what social and legal changes are necessary to improve their lives.
Recommended Citation
van der Meulen, Emily
(2010)
"Illegal Lives, Loves, and Work: The Effects of Criminalization on Sex Workers in Canada,"
Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies: Vol. 8:
Iss.
1, Article 10.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.cortland.edu/wagadu/vol8/iss1/10