Thread:

How is the overdose crisis impacting interactions between sex workers & clients?

Our new paper drawing on complementary ethnographic studies in Vancouver, Canada's Downtown Eastside examines these dynamics.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13691058.2020.1785550

We found that the overdose crisis shifted responsibility for harm reduction to sex workers, who often provided support to clients in addition to - or instead of - sex.

This included supervising injections, assisting with injections and providing a space to use drugs.

Many sex workers noted that attending to emotional needs was a core component of their work.

Some emphasized how it was important "being there for people", while others noted that, along with having to frequently respond to overdoses, this required burdensome emotional labor.

Sex workers were commonly responding to overdoses and yet the everyday violence experienced from police made it challenging to do so.

Some sex workers described being harassed, arrested, and otherwise victimized by police, including 'starlight tours'.

Unsurprisingly, sex workers did not trust police and this meant that, when an overdose happened, they were afraid of calling for help despite Good Samaritan laws.

This could have disastrous consequences.

So what can we learn from this? Well, here's a few take-aways:

First, sex workers are navigating a complex landscape of criminalization and stigma during the overdose crisis and this is shaping how they interact with clients.

Second, sex workers and, by extension, sex worker organizations are vital to the overdose response and we need to do a much better job at supporting them.

Finally, the criminalization of drug use and sex work is a deadly combination - something that undermines Good Samaritan Laws. We need urgently need full decriminalization of both and to implement measures to protect sex workers and people who use drugs from police.

And I'll add:

Unfortunately, this paper is paywalled and we can't get the 'sharing link' to work. Slide into my DMs if you want a copy.