| Title |
Social and Structural Factors Shaping High Rates of Incarceration among Sex Workers in a Canadian Setting
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
Journal of Urban Health, August 2015
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s11524-015-9977-9 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
M. E. Socías, K. Deering, M. Horton, P. Nguyen, J. S. Montaner, K. Shannon |
| Abstract |
In light of the emphasis on enforcement-based approaches towards sex work, and the well-known negative impacts of these approaches on women's health, safety and well-being, we conducted a study to investigate the prevalence and correlates of recent incarceration among a cohort of women sex workers in Vancouver, Canada. Data were obtained from an open prospective community cohort of female and transgender women sex workers, known as An Evaluation of Sex Workers' Health Access (AESHA). Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses, using generalized estimating equations (GEE), were used to model the effect of social and structural factors on the likelihood of incarceration over the 44-month follow-up period (January 2010-August 2013). Among 720 sex workers, 62.5 % (n = 450) reported being incarcerated in their lifetime and 23.9 % (n = 172) being incarcerated at least once during the study period. Of the 172 participants, about one third (36.6 %) reported multiple episodes of incarceration. In multivariable GEE analyses, younger age (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.04 per year younger, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.02-1.06), being of a sexual/gender minority (AOR = 1.62, 95 % CI 1.13-2.34), heavy drinking (AOR = 1.99, 95 % CI 1.20-3.29), being born in Canada (AOR = 3.28, 95 % CI 1.26-8.53), living in unstable housing conditions (AOR = 4.32, 95 % CI 2.17-8.62), servicing clients in public spaces (versus formal sex work establishments) (AOR = 2.33, 95 % CI 1.05-5.17) and experiencing police harassment without arrest (AOR = 1.82, 95 % CI 1.35-2.45) remain independently correlated with incarceration. This prospective study found a very high prevalence and frequency of incarceration among women sex workers in Vancouver, Canada, with the most vulnerable and marginalized women at increased risk of incarceration. Given the well-known social and health harms associated with incarceration, and associations between police harassment and incarceration in this study, our findings further add to growing calls to move away from criminalized and enforcement-based approaches to sex work in Canada and globally. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 13 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 5 | 38% |
| Canada | 3 | 23% |
| Unknown | 5 | 38% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 12 | 92% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 8% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 149 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Unknown | 149 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Master | 22 | 15% |
| Researcher | 20 | 13% |
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 17 | 11% |
| Student > Bachelor | 16 | 11% |
| Student > Doctoral Student | 12 | 8% |
| Other | 21 | 14% |
| Unknown | 41 | 28% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine and Dentistry | 26 | 17% |
| Psychology | 26 | 17% |
| Social Sciences | 23 | 15% |
| Nursing and Health Professions | 17 | 11% |
| Arts and Humanities | 2 | 1% |
| Other | 6 | 4% |
| Unknown | 49 | 33% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 8. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 27 December 2023.
All research outputs
#4,630,197
of 25,360,284 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Urban Health
#491
of 1,384 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#53,109
of 271,045 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Urban Health
#9
of 14 outputs
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