Research and Resources on Sex Work

Amnesty International Policy on State Obligations To Respect, Protect and Fulfil the Human
Rights of Sex Workers This policy has been developed in recognition of the high rates of
human rights abuses experienced globally by individuals who engage in sex work; a term that
Amnesty International uses only in regard to consensual exchanges between adults. It
identifies the most prominent barriers to the realization of sex workers human rights and
underlines states obligations to address them.
The Real Impact of the Swedish Model on Sex Workers A collection of eight evidence-based
fact sheets and advocacy tools on the harmful Swedish model. It can be used to challenge the
widespread promotion of this detrimental legal and political approach to the regulation of sex
work. A Community Guide is also available. The first four papers document the impact of the
Swedish model on the lives of sex workers in Sweden. The final four papers highlight how
criminalization violates sex workers human rights.
Fact Sheet: Sex Work & Sexual Violence by Sex Workers Outreach Project - Sex workers
experience high levels of sexual violence, in the U.S. and globally. They also frequently
experience victim blaming, exclusion from victim funds and services, and violence at the hands
of police. This fact sheet, Developed for International Day to End Violence Against Sex
Workers in 2015, provides a quick overview of the intersection between criminalization and
violence against sex workers.
Fact Sheet: Violence Against Trans Sex Workers by Sex Workers Outreach Project - Trans
individuals, especially trans women and trans women of color, face particular structural and
interpersonal violence stemming from intersectional marginalization based on race, class,
gender identity, and engagement in street-based economies and the sex trade. This fact sheet,
created for Trans Day of Rememberance in 2015, specifically looks at the disproportionate
violence trans members of the sex worker community face.
 Statistics and Citations
Violence (General)

In one study, over 80% of street-based sex workers reported experiencing violence in
the course of their work.1

Nationally, 12.9% of trans sex workers have experienced physical abuse from police,
and 9.2% have experienced sexual abuse from police.2

Nationally, 29% of trans people who experienced domestic violence reported engaging
in sex work for income.3

A study of indoor sex work in New York found that 46% of sex workers had experienced
violence on the job, and 42% had been threatened or beaten for being a sex worker.4

23% of LGBT murder victims on the 2012 Anti-Violence Project report were killed while
engaging in sex work.5

The homicide rate for female sex workers is estimate to be 204 per 100,000, according
to a 2004 longitudinal study. This constitutes a higher occupational mortality rate than
any other group of women ever studied.6
Sexual Violence

In DC, one in five sex workers (or individuals profiled as sex workers) have been
approached by police asking them for sex.7

In Phoenix, AZ, 37% of prostitution diversion program participants reported being

raped by a client.8

1
Revolving Door: An Analysis of Street-Based Prostitution in New York City, report (New York City: Sex Workers
Project at the Urban Justice Center, 2003).
2
Erin Fitzgerald, Sarah Elspeth, and Darby Hickey, Meaningful Work: Transgender Experiences in the Sex Trade,
December 2015, 5.
3
Fact Sheet: Violence Against Trans Sex Workers, Sex Workers Outreach Project USA, 2015.
4
Behind Closed Doors: An Analysis of Indoor Sex Work in New York City, report (New York City: Sex Workers
Project at the Urban Justice Center, 2005).
5
Invitation to Recognize Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, Sex Workers Outreach Project USA.
6
John J. Potterat et al., Mortality in a Long-term Open Cohort of Prostitute Women, American Journal of
Epidemiology 159, no. 8 (April 15, 2004).
7
Move Along: Policing Sex Work in Washington, D.C., Different Avenues, 2008: 1-2.
8
Fact Sheet: Sex Work & Sexual Assault, Sex Workers Outreach Project USA, 2017.
 In San Francisco, 93% of rape victims engaged in street-based sex work did not seek
formal help, and 96% did not report the rape to the police.9

In Chicago, 30% of exotic dancers and 24% of street-based sex workers who had been
raped identified a police officer as the rapist. Approximately 20% of other acts of sexual
violence reported by study participants were committed by the police.10

One study found that more than one in five sexual assault police reports from an urban
emergency room were for sex worker victims.11
Demographics

85% of DCs trans sex workers are Black and Latinx.12

Nationally, 73.1% of trans sex workers are Black and Latinx.13

Homelessness

Nationally, 48.1% of trans sex workers have experienced homelessness at some point in
their lives.14

37% of DCs trans sex workers are homeless.15

Trans people who had experienced homelessness were 2.5 times more likely to have
been incarcerated (34%) than those who had not (13%), and were more than four times
more likely to have done sex work for income (33%) than those who had not (8%).16

9
Fact Sheet: Sex Work & Sexual Assault, Sex Workers Outreach Project USA, 2017.
10
Fact Sheet: Sex Work & Sexual Assault, Sex Workers Outreach Project USA, 2017.
11
Janice Du Mont and Margaret J. McGregor, Sexual Assault in the Lives of Urban Sex Workers: A Descriptive
and Comparative Analysis, Women & Health 39, no. 3 (2004): 89.
12
DC Trans Coalition, Access Denied: Washington, DC Trans Needs Assessment Report, November 2015, 36.
13
Fitzgerald et al., Meaningful Work, 4.
14
Fitzgerald et al., Meaningful Work, 5.
15
DC Trans Coalition, Access Denied, 36.
16
Fact Sheet: Violence Against Trans Sex Workers, Sex Workers Outreach Project USA, 2015.