KTD LGBTQ

Towards action research with trans women sex workers: Policy, space and social challenges

Authors: Anna Zoli Katherine Johnson Giorgio Cingolani Gianmarco Pulcini

Published: 22 January 2021, Journal of Community Psychology. Available here.

Abstract

Trans women face multiple social, economic and health inequalities and the impact of gender oppression and violence is even more profoundly experienced by trans women sex workers, although in culturally specific ways. This paper presents a pilot study conducted to explore and engage with the context of trans women sex workers in Lido Tre Archi, Italy. In line with the community psychology values of social justice, social change and participation, we outline our engagement process and key challenges observed when attempting action research with such a highly marginalised group. Data were collected in the form of ethnographic notes from informal consultations with different stakeholders and participant observations, and of documents (newspaper articles, picture captions) and were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings are organised in three themes relating to the social, policy and physical context in Lido Tre Archi demonstrating evidence of the contextual challenges and how they intertwine to generate a spiral of marginalisation and social exclusion for the participants. We take a collaborative and reflexive stance in our work and conclude with recommended steps and potential limitations to initiate an action research project.

KTD LGBTQ, Police violence

Stonewalled: Police Abuse And Misconduct against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People in the U.S.

Stonewalled: Police Abuse And Misconduct against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People in the U.S.

United States: Amnesty International, 2005.

Description:

Nearly four decades after Stonewall, and despite significant progress in the recognition of human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, the targeting of LGBT individuals for police abuse and misconduct remains a persistent and widespread problem in the US. In this book, Amnesty International documents a serious pattern of police abuse and misconduct including: profiling and discriminatory enforcement of certain laws and ordinances against LGBT people; sexual, physical and verbal abuse, including incidents constituting torture or ill-treatment; and, failure to respond or inappropriate response to “hate crimes” and domestic violence.

KTD LGBTQ

Meaningful Work: Transgender Experiences in the Sex Trade

Fitzgerald, Erin; Patterson, Sarah Elspeth; Hickey, Darby; Biko, Cherno and Tobin, Harper Jean.

Meaningful Work: Transgender Experiences in the Sex Trade

National Center for Transgender Equality. Dec 2015.

Description:

A report by the National Center for Transgender Equality, Best Practices Policy Project, and Red Umbrella Project that details transgender experiences in the sex trade, including interactions with the police (pp. 9, 17, 26-29) and experience with incarceration.

KTD LGBTQ, Youth

Serving Our Youth: Findings from a National Survey of Service Providers Working with LGBT Youth who are Homeless or At Risk of Becoming Homeless

Authors: Soon Kyu Choi, B. Wilson, J. Shelton, G. Gates

Serving Our Youth: Findings from a National Survey of Service Providers Working with Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth who are Homeless or At Risk of Becoming Homeless.

Los Angeles: The Williams Institute with True Colors Fund and The Palette Fund. 2012.

Abstract:

This report summarizes findings from the 2014 LGBTQ Homeless Youth Provider Survey, a survey of 138 youth homelessness human service agency providers. The survey explored LGBTQ youth access to services, the needs of LGBTQ youth, and reasons for success in serving LGBTQ homeless youth.

KTD Criminalization, Harm Reduction, LGBTQ, Trafficking, Youth

Surviving the Streets of New York: Experiences of LGBTQ Youth, YMSM, and YWSW Engaged in Survival Sex

Meredith Dank, Jennifer Yahner, Kuniko Madden, Isela Banuelos, Lilly Yu, Andrea Ritchie, Mitchyll Mora, Brendan Conner

Surviving the Streets of New York: Experiences of LGBTQ Youth, YMSM, and YWSW Engaged in Survival Sex

Urban Institute. February 25, 2015.

Abstract:

Based on interviews with 283 youth in New York City, this is the first study to focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning (LGBTQ) youth; young men who have sex with men (YMSM); and young women who have sex with women (YWSW) who get involved in the commercial sex market in order to meet basic survival needs, such as food or shelter. The report documents these youth’s experiences and characteristics to gain a better understanding of why they engage in survival sex, describes how the support networks and systems in their lives have both helped them and let them down, and makes recommendations for better meeting the needs of this vulnerable population.

KTD Criminalization, Harm Reduction, HIV, LGBTQ, Public Health

Sex Workers at Risk: The Use of Condoms as Evidence in Four US Cities

Sex Workers at Risk: The Use of Condoms as Evidence in Four US Cities

Human Rights Watch. (July, 2012) [public health, HIV, United States]

From the Summary:

Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 300 persons for this report, which focuses on police use of condoms as evidence to enforce prostitution and sex trafficking laws, as part of an investigation into barriers to effective HIV prevention for sex workers in the four cities covered by this report. Those interviewed included nearly 200 sex workers and former sex workers as well as outreach workers, advocates, lawyers, police officers, district attorneys, and public health officials. In New York, Washington, DC, and Los Angeles our investigation focused on complaints of police using condoms as evidence while targeting sex workers on the street. In San Francisco, condoms were used as evidence for street enforcement to some extent, with police photographing rather than confiscating condoms, in what appeared to be a dubious nod to public health concerns. In San Francisco, much of the anti-prostitution enforcement using condoms as evidence targeted women working in businesses such as erotic dance clubs, massage businesses, and a nightclub with transgender clientele.

Police use of condoms as evidence of prostitution has the same effect everywhere: despite millions of dollars spent on promoting and distributing condoms as an effective method of HIV prevention, groups most at risk of infection—sex workers, transgender women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth—are afraid to carry them and therefore engage in sex without protection as a result of police harassment. Outreach workers and businesses are unable to distribute condoms freely and without fear of harassment as well.