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Young transgender women (YTGW) who sell or trade sex have among the highest HIV incidence rates in Thailand. Using qualitative methods, we assessed perceived acceptability, feasibility, and optimal design of a combination HIV prevention intervention including PrEP for YTGW. Key informant interviews were conducted during July 2016-July 2018 with 21 YTGW, aged 18-26 years, who sold sex and resided in Bangkok or Pattaya, Thailand. Grounded theory and content analysis were used for data analysis. Most YTGW interviewed reported high interest in HIV prevention research and believed participation in it supported sexual health. However, participants perceived HIV studies as complicated and time-consuming. Regarding PrEP, participants suggested more PrEP options beyond daily oral PrEP and expressed concerns related to perceived side effects of PrEP, including interaction with gender-affirming hormone therapy. Improving PrEP knowledge, being able to self-assess HIV risk, and reducing HIV/PrEP stigma could increase interest in research and PrEP uptake among YTGW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: People who trade sex face violence and discrimination across individual, community, and systemic levels. The goal of the current study is to examine the impact of the terms used for people who trade sex (e.g., sex worker, prostitute, individual who sells sex, whore, escort) on people's perceptions of individuals who trade sex within the United States. Methods: The current study used a prototype methodology to understand the impact of these terms. Data were collected in 2022 and participants were asked to provide 5 characteristics of each term describing a person who trades sex and designate these characteristics as positive, negative, or neutral. Results: Participants attributed more negative than positive characteristics to people who trade sex, broadly. When describing a Prostitute, an Individual who Sells Sex (ISS), and a whore, participants reported markedly more negative characteristics than when describing a Sex Worker or an Escort. Conclusion: Greater attention to the language used to describe people who trade sex is needed. Policy Implications: At present, the term prostitute and/or prostitution is used consistently in legal statutes and literature. Given the markedly negative perceptions associated with these terms, reforming social and legal policies utilizing this and other stigmatizing terms is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the dynamics of the sex trade in the context of the Colombian armed conflict. It argues that the sex trade has adapted to the conflict and its different actors and demonstrates how it operates in such constrained contexts. The article is based on ethnographic research with sex workers in Bogotá who have experience working in different conflict zones. It found that the sex trade is dynamic and that sex workers develop strategies to resist violence and adapt to the respective contexts. These sex workers are a type of ‘floating migrants’, living and surviving on the sex trade not only for the income it generates but also for the relationships they build with other sex workers, establishment managers, and combatants. The article concludes that the sex trade in Colombia did not arise as a result of the armed conflict. Rather, it is a phenomenon that exists as part of a broader market before, during, and after episodes of violence.

Abstract Background During the early period of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health orders disrupted income generation in numerous sectors and many governments provided emergency financial support. Access to government support and changes in engagement in sex work during the early period of the pandemic among people who use drugs (PWUD) are not well described. In the present study, we investigate the prevalence and correlates of engaging in sex work during the COVID-19 pandemic, among PWUD in Vancouver, Canada. Methods Data derived from three harmonized cohorts of PWUD. Using multivariable logistic regression, we characterized factors associated with engaging in sex work in the last month between July 17 and November 30, 2020. Reports of changes in frequency of engagement in sex work since the pandemic were also collected. Results Of the 864 individuals included in this analysis, 55 (6.4%) reported sex work engagement in the last month. Among these participants, 40.7% reported receiving COVID-19 income support in the past month vs. 52.7% of the rest of the sample, though receipt of income support in the past six months was similar between the two groups (72.2% vs. 75.7%, p = 0.624). In multivariable analysis, receipt of financial support in the last month was negatively associated with engagement in sex work in the last month (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.44 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.24–0.81]). Among 69 participants who responded to a question regarding changes in engagement in sex work, 38 (55.1%) reported a decrease, 11 (15.9%) reported an increase, 19 (27.5%) reported no change, and 1 (1.4%) reported cessation. Conclusions Findings document that engagement in sex work appears to have declined early in the pandemic. Participants who received income support in the past month were less likely to report recent engagement in sex work. Findings suggest that recent receipt of income support may have contributed to reductions in engagement in sex work. Additional investigation is warranted.

This article analyses the dynamics of the sex trade in the context of the Colombian armed conflict. It argues that the sex trade has adapted to the conflict and its different actors and demonstrates how it operates in such constrained contexts. The article is based on ethnographic research with sex workers in Bogotá who have experience working in different conflict zones. It found that the sex trade is dynamic and that sex workers develop strategies to resist violence and adapt to the respective contexts. These sex workers are a type of ‘floating migrants’, living and surviving on the sex trade not only for the income it generates but also for the relationships they build with other sex workers, establishment managers, and combatants. The article concludes that the sex trade in Colombia did not arise as a result of the armed conflict. Rather, it is a phenomenon that exists as part of a broader market before, during, and after episodes of violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prostitution is historically one of the most violent arenas for women, with exceedingly high rates of physical and sexual abuse reported by prostituted women. In this essay, I examine the debate over how best to provide safety and freedom for women involved in prostitution occurring between advocates for full decriminalization and advocates for the equality model, an abolition initiative led by survivors working for an end to the sex trade. Insights from cultural sociological analyses of actorhood and visibility are applied to reveal the divergent ontologies underlying these two policy pathways. While full decriminalization reforms aim to legalize and regulate prostitution within a capitalist, misogynistic marketplace, advocates for the equality model are committed to transforming social systems so that prostituted people have the opportunity to live their lives outside of the sex trade. Their systems‐changing policy, guided by sophisticated theorization of how best to support women's freedoms, is an exemplary model for ending violence against women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Espiga is the property of Revista Espiga and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Background: Globally, street-involved children and youth (SICY) who work and live on/of the streets are at higher risk of increased psychoactive substances and injecting drug use. Objectives: The present study aimed to identify the prevalence, distribution, sociodemographic factors, and risk-taking behaviors associated with psychoactive substances and injecting drug use among SICY. Methods: Studies in English published from December 1 1985 to July 1 2022, were searched for on PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane, and Web of Science to identify primary studies on psychoactive substances and injecting drug use among SICY. The pooled-prevalence estimates were obtained using a robust fixed-effects model. Results: The most commonly reported life-time and current psychoactive substance was tobacco followed by cannabis, LSD/ecstasy, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and injection drug use. The results showed that life-time and current prevalence of methamphetamine and cannabis use, as well as life-time prevalence of cocaine, LSD/ecstasy, heroin, tobacco, and injecting drug use increased as age rose while current prevalence of cocaine and tobacco use decreased as age rose. SICY who were male, homeless, had parents who had died, had history of substance use among family members or best friends, had experienced violence, had casual sex partners, had a history of working in the sex trade, and had unprotected sex were all related to psychoactive substance use and injecting drug use. Conclusions: Research examining this population suffers from lack of studies, therefore, improving the knowledge for interventions aimed at reducing risk behaviors, particularly those related to the transmission of sexually transmitted infections such as HIV is of great importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether and how university students exchange sex for financial compensation in the USA is critically understudied. The purpose of this secondary analysis was to determine whether undergraduate and graduate students at a large public university report exchanging sex for financial or other compensation, and identify factors (e.g., demographics, childhood adversity, mental health) associated with exchanging sex. Participants were 600 college students (Mage = 21.3 years [SD = 3.8]); 72% cisgender women; 43.4% racial/ethnic minority) from a large public university in the Northeastern USA who completed cross-sectional, online questionnaires about lifetime trauma, adversity exposure, sexual behaviors, and current mental health and substance use symptoms. A total of 4.5% of participants reported exchanging sex for money, alcohol/drugs, or other forms of compensation. Bivariate analysis revealed that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans students (versus cisgender, heterosexual students), students who had more severe childhood trauma, who reported being removed from their family home in childhood, and students who were diagnosed with a mental health disorder before age 18 were more likely to report exchanging sex. In a multivariable model, only emotional neglect and greater alcohol use problems were significantly associated with likelihood of exchanging sex. To our knowledge, this is the first US study to determine whether university students exchange sex for money, alcohol/drugs, or other compensation. Findings suggest that universities could consider addressing exchanging sex in person-centered, supportive sexual health programming, university health services responses, and community spaces that support LGBTQ+ students. Future research is needed to understand students' circumstances in exchanging sex and differentiate compensation type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Punto Género is the property of Revista Punto Genero and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Doxa Comunicación is the property of Fundacion Universitaria San Pablo - CEU and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This research study is informed by anticarceral feminism to understand and highlight the experiences of violence and oppression that individuals in the sex trade experience as a result of police stings, raids, and incarceration. We present findings from 23 in-depth, qualitative interviews with men, women, and trans individuals who were arrested in the Los Angeles sex trade. More specifically, we explore experiences of violence that occurred interpersonally, systemically, and institutionally. Such experiences examine police violence, arrest and incarceration, coercion, and client violence. The findings from this research shed light on the impact the criminalization of sex work has had on research participants in terms of their physical health and mental health, economic security and opportunities for growth and education, and their sense of freedom and autonomy. We also attend to the role that intersecting identities might have played during their encounters with the police. This study explored these aspects while being mindful that the policies and procedures followed by the police are born out of a carceral state. We conclude with antioppressive and antiviolent implications for social work practice, policy, research, and education as we imagine the next decade of social work in relation to sex trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current estimates suggest there are between 800,000 and 2 million-plus individuals in Thailand that are currently selling sex and/or sexual services. Previous literature has shown that attitudes held towards individuals who sell sex (ISS) can have a significant impact on their day-to-day lives. Further, foreigners in Thailand are exhibiting increasing financial and social power in the country. Given this impact, it stands to reason that greater understanding of attitudes held by the growing population of foreigners in Thailand may have important implications worthy of further focus in both research and clinical settings. The current study examined the attitudes of 224 self-identified foreigners currently residing in Thailand towards ISS in the country. Results indicate significant differences in attitudes based on the gender of the participant, the gender of the individual selling sex, and whether participants had previously purchased sex in the country. Overall, men who have previously purchased sex reported a significantly more positive attitude towards ISS in Thailand when compared to women and men who had not previously purchased sex. Further, attitudes differed based on the gender of the individual selling sex. For instance, transgender individuals who sell sex were significantly more likely to be perceived as enjoying their work when compared to women and men who sell sex in Thailand. Ultimately, these results can help inform future awareness and educational interventions targeted at foreigners in Thailand to reduce violence and abuse of ISS in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sex workers are commonly claimed to be at heightened risk of fatal victimization. Although prior research indicates that the dynamics of sex worker homicides resemble sexual homicides more than nonsexual homicides, little is known about how these types of homicides compare in terms of offending patterns. This study considers a sample of 2,851 single‐victim, single‐offender homicide cases extracted from a 37‐year (1976–2012) US Supplementary Homicide Reports database, and compares the offender, victim, and offender characteristics of 243 sex worker homicides (189 males and 54 females) with those of 2608 sexual homicides (2474 males and 134 females). The findings suggest that the offender, victim, and offense characteristics of general, male‐offender, and female‐offender sex worker homicides are essentially different from the characteristics of sexual homicides. Logistic regressions further indicate that most offender, victim, and offense characteristics on the occurrence of general and male‐offender sex worker homicides were significantly associated with the perpetration of general and male‐offender sex worker homicides, with reference to sexual homicides. These findings offer insights relevant to the prioritization of criminal investigative practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of COVID-19 in the United States in early 2020 has severely disrupted the lives of most Americans, and people engaged in sex trade are no exception. People in sex work encounter multiple challenges when trying to access the services they need, particularly as they fear arrest, stigma, and pathology related to their work. These barriers have been amplified during the global COVID-19 pandemic, as sex trade workers may further lack access to crucially needed health care and may not have a mechanism for generating a basic income to meet their daily survival needs. Using an intersectional feminist lens, in this article, we discuss the impact of COVID-19 on people in sex work while highlighting sex workers' resiliency and community action in the face of the pandemic. We highlight empowerment work led by black and brown sex worker communities. As authors and advocates, we call for critical feminist social work action that situates social workers as advocates for the human rights, well-being, and health of individuals in sex work, with a focus on centering the voices of those with lived experience and a focus on harm reduction, during and in the lingering aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article compares the representation of Asian sex workers in William T. Vollmann’s Butterfly Stories(1993) and Michel Houellebecq’s Platform(Plateforme, 2001). Both the novels are set in South-East Asia, and both involve an apologetic and romanticised description of the sex trade. By comparing the two novels, I argue that both authors’ treatments of the sex industry develop a critique of Western Orientalism, and at the same time sympathy for and complicity with the colonial power dynamics that regulate the relationships between Asian countries and the West.

Trafficking of women is a serious global concern today that threatens many women's lives and security and violates their rights and dignity. This represents a cross-border criminal trade, mainly for the purpose of marketable sexual exploitation. India has rampant and widespread trafficking of women and comprehensive studies are required to assess its dynamics for prevention. This paper attempts a study of the spatio-temporal variations of women's trafficking in India from 2001 to 2015. It also seeks to identify underlying factors in its regional variations in the study period and highlights possible strategies for combating it. In spite of its persistence, the absolute numbers of trafficked women show a decreasing trend during this period. Historical tradition, socio-economic deprivation and cultural rigidity are major contributing factors in its regional variations. Awareness generation and empowerment of women are considered to play key roles for eradicating it apart from enforcement of legal provisions and active involvement by NGOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research will describe the different spaces and modalities in which the sex trade is carried out in two municipalities in the state of San Luis Potosí. The complexity of dealing with this phenomenon begins with the knowledge that there is no reliable information about the people who perform it; it is a phenomenon that presents different ways and places of practicing it, which shows a continuum that goes from relative freedom to coertion this research will seek to analyze whether it is possible to affirm that women autonomously manage their body, specifically their sexuality, to obtain an economic benefit. The methodology was qualitative, semi-structured interviews were conducted with women in the sex trade, and context observation was carried out for a period of approximately two years, beginning in mid-2017 and ending in mid-2019. Before starting the fieldwork, the zones and places were located in the municipalities of Ciudad Valles and San Luis Potosí. In order to be able to carry out the observation and the interviews, the researchers carried out a previous work with the women. The results show that there are great differences and variants within the sex trade, some women exercise it voluntarily, others seem to be doing it in a forced manner. In all the variants identified in this research, there were some common characteristics: no woman exercised the sex trade as a chosen option, they do so because of the need to have a source of income, because they do not have education and studies or as a learned activity of their mothers or grandmothers; and all the women constantly suffer violence, this leads us to affirm that women do not manage their bodies autonomously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Iberoamericana de Turismo is the property of Revista Iberoamericana de Turismo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Sex work is often characterized by images of coercion, poverty, destitution and lack of agency, but research indicates that sex work in India is more diverse than these popular representations. Moving beyond inaccurate tropes of sex workers as solely being oppressed victims, this paper aims to shed light on the diversity of sex work in India by sharing themes found across four studies conducted in three different urban areas of India: Mumbai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. Our research highlights that within the diverse umbrella of sex work in India, there are unique subgroups of sex workers whose particular issues often become lost in a monolithic and reductionist narrative of sex work. From our research, we found that, contrary to popular myths, (1) sex workers are not passive recipients of the trade; (2) sex workers often live in families and have multiple identities as mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers; (3) sex workers increasingly operate from non-brothel-based settings; (4) sex workers are not only women, but also identify as cisgender male and third gender/transgender; and finally, (5) HIV is often not the most pressing, self-reported health concern for sex workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural interpretations of the sex trade are pervasive in Southeast Asia, in particular, the argument that daughters enrol in sex work to repay a debt of life and support their parents. While useful to illuminate the role of culture in shaping economic action, this narrative carries the risk of viewing people as robots guided by stable and supra-individual forces. Drawing on ethnographic data collected in Southern Vietnam and Cambodia on precarious and indebted Vietnamese families that encourage their daughters to sell sex, this article disturbs deterministic cultural accounts of sex work by describing how families interpret, negotiate and (re)produce cultural scripts through relational work. More specifically, it shows how these families draw from familistic scripts about hierarchy, duty and sacrifice conveyed in popular culture to assemble relational packages. Deeply imbued in affective undercurrents and power asymmetry, these packages allow families to negotiate taboo trades like the repayment of debt through the sale of their daughter's virginity. Overall, a relational work framework provides a better understanding of female participation in the sex trade in Vietnam than explanations based on normative accounts of culture or problematic trafficking binaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attitudes of others towards individuals who sell sex (ISS) can have a significant impact on how the population is treated in interpersonal interactions and social systems. The current study outlines the development and validation of Attitudes Towards Individuals Who Sell Sex Inventory (ATISS), an instrument designed to reliably and validly assess attitudes towards ISS. The authors present three studies outlining the development and validation of the ATISS. Study 1 revealed a four-factor structure across 21 items including social distance, human value, impact on society, and parenting. Study 2a and 2b revealed sufficient construct, convergent, and discriminant validity for the ATISS including adequate test-retest reliability. Findings indicate that the ATISS is a psychometrically sound instrument to measure attitudes towards ISS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term the "oldest profession in the world" often refers to prostitution which had withstood the test of time and thrives in different social orders and societies around the world since antiquity. However, the laws and regulations overseeing this trade will in general vary from nation to nation. In a few nations, the sex trade has been legitimised while in others, it has been criminalised and even decriminalised. Also, there are nations around the world that adopted unregulated policies with respect to the sex trade. This paper distinguishes the kind of legitimate strategies existing around the world in terms of managing the sex trade and analyses the approaches that are adopted by selected nations; which are India, Singapore, Hong Kong and Turkey. Based on the legal framework in the selected countries, the paper recommends conceptual approaches to be undertaken as an alternative to outright criminalisation of the sex trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the authors examine the value of survivor leaders in organizations helping women transition out of the sex trade and how organizations can best utilize survivor leaders. They interviewed 10 women who have been out of the sex trade from between 3 and 20 years. They found survivor leaders (a) created relatability for participants exiting out of the sex trade, (b) modeled a hopeful future, and (c) mitigated power issues. The authors uncovered three ways organizations can engage survivor leaders: (a) on boards, (b) in paid staff positions, and (c) as volunteers. They discuss the ethical and financial issues associated with organizations using unpaid and paid survivor leaders. Furthermore, the authors recommend practical ways organizations can improve by engaging survivor leaders in peer education, policy setting, and management. They also encourage organizations to view survivors as experts. The authors' findings move adult education beyond a focus on peer education to considering peer leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Results from an evaluation of a juvenile human trafficking court are presented to explore the ways in which tensions between (a) human trafficking rhetoric, (b) a legal framework that cannot resolve the conflict inherent in the victim-delinquent identity required by Safe Harbor legislation, and (c) the lived experiences of youth in the program do not support youth actually quitting the sex trade. Practical hurdles to implementation of the program are also discussed, and recommendations on how other jurisdictions might approach the issue are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I analyze the creation and feminization of the position of watchmen of prostitution in Oaxaca City at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. Using administrative documents, I identify the historical causes of the involvement of women in surveillance and security activities, the reasons that led authorities to accept women in a traditionally male job, as well as the immediate changes and continuity produced. Th is analysis shows how, by means of this specialized job, a small group of women entered the public space and started to work as watchwomen from early on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article compares the representation of Asian sex workers in William T. Vollmann's Butterfly Stories (1993) and Michel Houellebecq's Platform (Plateforme, 2001). Both the novels are set in South-East Asia, and both involve an apologetic and romanticised description of the sex trade. By comparing the two novels, I argue that both authors' treatments of the sex industry develop a critique of Western Orientalism, and at the same time sympathy for and complicity with the colonial power dynamics that regulate the relationships between Asian countries and the West. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) are more likely to have a history of trading sex, but little research has examined whether trading sex is associated with lower health care utilization amongst PLWH. This study assesses this association with PLWH (N = 583) recruited and surveyed from seven community sites in six US cities participating in a multi-site community-based HIV test and treat initiative. Participants were 90.6% Black or Latino, 30.4% homeless, and 9.0% (1 in 11) sold sex (past 90 days). Most reported receiving HIV clinical care (63.9%, past 6 months) and HIV case management (68.9%, past year), but 35.7% reported a missed health care appointment (past 3 months). In adjusted regression models, trading sex was associated with a missed health care appointment (OR = 2.44) and receiving psychological assistance (OR = 2.31), past 90 days, but not receipt of HIV care or supportive HIV services. Trading sex may compromise consistent health care utilization among PLWH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Almost all of the studies of prostitution in Republican era China have focused on big cities. Using recently rediscovered field notes from a social survey of the small town of Gaoyang in Hebei province, this article describes the practice of prostitution in the mid-1930s and considers how small-town prostitution differed from that in big cities. The women working in the sex trade in Gaoyang were all "clandestine" or unregistered prostitutes, who had been attracted to the town, which was the center of a major rural weaving district where there was a large number of unattached males who had migrated to the locale to work. Cautionary tales, popular in the local community, described the dangers of prostitution, including the spread of venereal diseases and the loss of job or reputation that resulted from spending too much time and money on the pleasures of the sex trade. County government approaches, including a "don't ask, don't look" policy, allowed the practice of prostitution to persist despite its illegal nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prostitution is illegal in China and is frequently the target of law enforcement crackdowns. In recent years, the country's growing emphasis on combating human trafficking has also increased the profile of these anti-prostitution campaigns. This is seen in China's current anti-trafficking roadmap, which identifies the nationwide eradication of prostitution as an important prong of the country's anti-trafficking campaign. The two phenomena of prostitution and trafficking in women, or female trafficking, are nevertheless not equivalent. This article argues that, in the contemporary discourse on prostitution and female trafficking in China, the two issues are often conflated. The two terms are used interchangeably in a way that has affected the conceptualisation of female trafficking as a phenomenon that is largely synonymous with prostitution. This problem is exacerbated by the social stigma attached to women who are engaged in prostitution, regardless of the circumstances of their entry. Another aspect of this discourse is its dissociation from historical context, despite the fact that neither prostitution nor the trafficking in Chinese women for the exploitation of prostitution are newly arrived challenges for the present generation. The article therefore argues that discussions on prostitution and female trafficking in China would benefit from a conceptually clear framework that examines these challenges as more than a singular purpose of exploitation or a challenge of modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of the article is to describe selected aspects of the sex trade as viewed by clients who make use of the services provided by sex workers. We use data obtained through a content analysis of selected topics discussed on an erotic forum called Nornik.net. The topics were: Can a person stop “screwing”?; what was your first contact with the sex trade and how can a person hide their visits to sex workers? In the course of the analysis, we identified an additional category that featured in all the topics: “trophy collecting”. The discussants perceive sex workers as a commodity to be purchased and subsequently evaluated. The discussants tended to compete among themselves to visit the most sex workers or to be first to visit the latest sex worker. The discussion forum serves as a support centre and contains hints and tips on different areas of “screwing” and related issues. The forum also displays certain features of a community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media does not just lead to new ways of social participation; it creates new opportunities for serving difficult-to-reach groups in the community. This study examined the experiences and processes of a pioneering cyber youth work project working with young people involved in drug use and the sex trade in Hong Kong. A thematic analysis of online communication records and interviews of social workers and clients was conducted to determine the relating factors concerned, namely, 'social presence', 'autonomy and 'privacy', 'use of text and media', and 'time dimension'. The results suggest practice insights for youth workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sexual exploitation of youth is a complex and multidimensional social problem. Understanding the antecedents and factors that entrap youth into the world of sexual exploitation is imperative for effective interventions. This article presents a visual entitled the Waters of Sexual Exploitation that is used as a training tool for social service personnel to understand the world of sexually exploited youth. The visual was developed through an extensive review of the literature as well as interviews with individuals involved in the sex trade, with specific focus on the overrepresentation of Aboriginal youth who are sexually exploited. The Waters of Sexual Exploitation visual helps to capture the complex relationships that develop between sexually exploited youth, the people that exploit the youth, and the helpers working with youth exiting this world. The visual is enhanced by the inclusion of the lived experience of a survivor of this world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The liberalization of sexual customs in late capitalism, together with neoliberal market deregulation, encouraged the expansion of a sexual market in which certain businesses operate illegally, as in the case of people trafficking. In these pages, I reflect on the disagreement between feminists who support the new abolitionism and those that advocate new forms of organizing labor and labor rights for sexual workers. This opposition is a significant expression of the Sex Wars, waged particularly in the United States parallel to the development of feminism, whose theoretical and political influence has framed the feminist debate worldwide. In addition to this, there is the punitive approach of criminological and judicial policy regarding sexual trade, which further expands the political gap between feminists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]