This thesis develops a new theoretical framework outside the research that assumes women engaging in the street sex trade are 'victims' or 'workers', and instead examines the possibility that elements of both categories may be present in their reality. Street sex work is considered as labour, while leaving room for the possibility of the existence of survival sex. This qualitative research consists of an exploratory study of the viability, utility and limitations of a labour framework for understanding and analyzing the experiences of adult female street sex workers interviewed in the Ottawa area.
The findings reveal a number of characteristics unique to street sex work that challenge existing labour frameworks and direct us to rethink street sex work beyond employment. These characteristics are specifically related to the criminalized nature of the work and include, among other things, the reported violence perpetrated by police and clientele. Moreover, by deconstructing common stereotypes attributed to female street sex workers, we are able to normalize sex work and address issues of stigma. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uottawa.ca/oai:ruor.uottawa.ca:10393/26707 |
| Date | January 2004 |
| Creators | Maloney, Emma |
| Publisher | University of Ottawa (Canada) |
| Source Sets | Université d’Ottawa |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 120 p. |
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