Third Parties (Venue Owners, Managers, Security, etc.) and Access to Occupational Health and Safety Among Sex Workers in a Canadian Setting: 2010-2016.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the impact of engagement with third parties (i.e., managers, receptionists, or owners of in-call venues; advertisers; security; spotters; and others) on sex workers' occupational health access.

METHODS

We drew longitudinal data from An Evaluation of Sex Workers' Health Access, a community-based cohort of more than 900 women sex workers. We used multivariable logistic regression and generalized estimating equations to (1) examine factors correlated with accessing third-party administrative or security services and (2) evaluate the impact of third-party services on access to mobile condom distribution and sex worker and community-led services (2010-2016). Finally, we evaluated changes in accessing third-party services pre-post end-demand criminalization (2010-2017).

RESULTS

Im/migrant sex workers (persons with any type of legal status who were born in another country; adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.32; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.35, 3.98) had higher odds of accessing third-party services. In confounder models, third-party services were independently correlated with increased access to mobile condom distribution (AOR = 1.84; 95% CI = 1.47, 2.31) and sex worker and community-led services (AOR = 1.61; 95% CI = 1.15, 2.24). End-demand criminalization was linked to a decrease in access to third-party services (AOR = 0.79; 95% CI = 0.63, 0.99).

CONCLUSIONS

This research suggests that access to administrative and security services from third parties increases sex workers' occupational health and safety. Policy reforms to ensure sex workers' labor rights, including access to hiring third parties, are recommended.