ABSTRACT
To explore the circumstances of attacks on sex workers while they are ‘at work’ and the characteristics of assailants, I have examined reports of judicial proceedings against 139 individuals for non-fatal attacks on over 200 sex workers between 1990 and 2007. My main source of information has been reports in newspapers or on the Internet which identify victims as sex workers. Initially I studied the collection of press cuttings and Internet news items that have come my way over the years, later expanding this collection by repeated Internet searches using a variety of key words such as ‘prostitute attack’. It was noticeable that the search terms ‘prostitute attack’ often produced more reports on initiatives to attack prostitution than reports of violence against sex workers. I have not selected particular types of attack – my only criterion has been that the victim appeared to be at work when attacked, and I have included every case I have found.
