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Primary or first-hand stigma, associated with sex work, sometimes disparagingly referred to as "prostitution" or "whore" stigma, was a fundamental cause of social inequities for sex workers before the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, courtesy stigma, or stigma by association linked with involvement with a stigmatized group, has long limited the ability of sex worker organizations to secure adequate funds to meet the needs of sex workers in their communities. In reaction to the pandemic, sex worker organizations quickly responded and in a variety of ways have been helping to ease the impact of the pandemic on sex workers in their communities. In November 2020, we interviewed 10 members of sex worker organizations from seven different communities across Canada about how they have been dealing with the immediate and longer-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in their communities. Three strategic actions stood out in the interviews: (1) challenging stigma to help sex workers access government emergency funding; (2) reorganizing and adapting services to provide outreach to sex workers in their communities; and (3) advocating for continuous organizational funding. The findings show that primary stigma and courtesy stigma have further marginalized sex worker organizations and their clients during the pandemic. We conclude with participants' recommendations to address avoidable harms of COVID-19 among sex workers and to better support sex worker organizations in Canada. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Research shows criminal code laws negatively affect the health and safety of sex workers and hinders their ability to access protective and other services. Less is known about sex workers' views on how to improve their occupational and broader social rights. This paper aims to help fill in this knowledge gap. Methods: In 2017, a cross-section of active sex workers (N = 60) from Victoria, Canada, were interviewed about their personal and work lives under Canada's 2014 criminal code law, Bill C-36, the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA). Thematic analysis was carried out using the participants' (n = 57) who answered these two open-ended questions: What changes are needed to improve health, safety and rights for sex workers? What would be your dream list of services sex workers need right now? Results: Participants recommended elimination of Canada's criminal code law governing consensual sex work, and policy change in two main areas: (1) occupational health and safety and (2) access to non-judgmental protective, health, and other community services. Conclusion: Sex workers are an important source of insight regarding the unintended consequences of the PCEPA and its stated commitment to improve their safety and ensure the protection of their occupational and social rights. Policy Implications: Consensual adult sexual commerce should be decriminalized and governed by health and social welfare policies, just as other service jobs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Researchers have recently increased their efforts to find more effective strategies to reduce the gap between the production of academic knowledge and its uptake in policy and practice. We focus attention on sex workers in Canada who have limited access to societal resources and are hampered by punitive laws prohibiting their work. The initial aim of our study was to work with sex worker organizations and allied agencies to develop a training program for sex workers to help them understand Canada's most recent criminal justice approach to adult sex commerce. What has emerged from our integrated knowledge translation process during the first year of the study's operation has been a change to a broader focus on mobilizing sex workers around their occupational and social rights. In this paper, we first give an overview of recent changes in Canada's prostitution laws and then report qualitative findings from interviews with members of our partner organizations. Interviewees appreciated the change in research direction and the emergent collaborative process among themselves and the authors, but also noted challenges regarding shifting research timelines, balancing power between themselves and the academic researchers, and reaching consensus on research plans among community partners themselves. We discuss the findings in relation to successful knowledge translation strategies that aim to ensure the research questions we ask, and the empirical processes we engage in, are advantageous to those we aim to benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]