Grant: CIHR Fellowship

This research will consult sex workers in two sectors-massage parlours and porn production-about their occupational health concerns. The consultation process will involve a survey and focus groups with people of all genders working in Canada in one of these two sectors. The insights gained from the consultation process will be used to develop a resource-such as a smartphone application-that sex workers can use to inform their occupational health and safety protocols at work, including how to reduce the possibility of harm even when ideal standards cannot be met due to ongoing criminalization and stigmatization. The tool will be designed to offer context-specific guidance rather than broad educational content. This is an important tool to develop because sex work entails several health considerations, such as sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections, HIV, and other viral, bacterial and fungal infections, as well as musculoskeletal and repetitive strain injuries. But because sex work in Canada is criminalized and marginalized, workers do not have access to the protections afforded by occupational health and safety law, nor can they access benefits like paid sick leave or worker's compensation. In the absence of these protections, self-regulation is the only recourse most sex workers have to protect themselves at work. Therefore, facilitating the participatory development of workplace safety assessments will benefit sex workers across the country by preventing illness and injury, and this in turn will benefit their families and larger communities.