Impacts of Sex Work Criminalization and Censorship for Indoor Workers: Exploring How Barriers to Online Advertising Shape Occupational Health and Safety

Advertising tools used by sex workers for solicitation and client screening have been identified as supporting occupational health and safety (OHS); however, sex work legislation continues to criminalize advertising by third parties. We explored how the criminalization of third-party advertising and online censorship shapes indoor sex workers’ access to OHS measures such as client screening, and negotiation of prices and services, in addition to income security. As part of a community-based study in Vancouver, this analysis drew on 47 interviews (2017–2018) with indoor sex workers and third parties (e.g., managers, receptionists). Interview transcripts were coded by applying a collaboratively- developed framework drawing on structural determinants of OHS to explore multilevel risk and protective factors shaping sex work environments, including access to advertising. Participants’ narratives highlighted that most third parties provide support with online advertising on behalf of sex workers; however, criminalization limits potential safety and income security mechanisms. Third parties take on the financial and labour burdens of advertising and screening for indoor workers, particularly for racialized, im/migrant workers who might face language barriers. Sex work laws and online censorship severely restrict communication, and resulting vague advertisements undermine sex workers’ OHS by limiting advance screening, and negotiation of prices, services, and use of PPE. Third-party criminalization, coupled with online censorship, hinders advertising, with related harms exacerbated for im/migrant sex workers who would otherwise benefit from the OHS measures offered through advertising. Legislative reforms to decriminalize all aspects of the sex industry, including sex workers’ right to third-party advertising, are urgently needed to increase OHS of sex workers.