ABSTRACT
Sex industry-when the term ‘prostitution’ is used people focus on the prostitute as though prostitution were something that prostitutes do on their own and amongst themselves. Consumers, managers, police and other controllers of the sex industry are too often forgotten or ignored. Prostitution is a business which operates under commercial market forces; the work element and the impact that others have on the working conditions in the sex industry are often neglected. Sex worker is used to define those, both male and female, who accept some form of payment in return for physical sexual services. The term ‘prostitute’ often invokes a stereotypical image of a ‘street woman’ or ‘high class call girl’ and ignores the enormous range of people providing commercial sex. This paper addresses issues common to both male and female sex workers but focuses primarily on issues facing women as sex workers.
