Struyf Pia
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
Trauma Violence Abuse. 2023 Dec;24(5):3065-3077. doi: 10.1177/15248380221122819. Epub 2022 Sep 26.
Sex workers face high risks of violence both during and after the performance of their job, yet the prevalence and willingness to report victimization to the police is extremely low. International research on the motives of sex workers not to report violent crimes to police is scarce and fragmented. To address this knowledge gap, a systematic review was conducted to answer the following question: What reasons do sex workers articulate to explain their reluctance to report victimization to the police? After searching for peer-reviewed and grey literature in various databases, using systematic search terms, nine studies met the inclusion criteria. After thematic analysis, four main motivations for not reporting victimization emerged: (i) fear of punishment, (ii) fear of maltreatment, (iii) fear of exposure, and (iv) fear of impunity. The impact of intersectional and personal characteristics of sex workers (i.e., gender, migration status, type of sex work, etc.) were explored. The findings show that sex workers experience low levels of trust in the police which results in unwillingness to report victimization. The article argues that decriminalization of the sex industry, and action to improve procedural justice, are likely to increase the inclination of sex workers to report a crime to police.
性工作者在工作期间及工作后都面临着遭受暴力的高风险，然而向警方报告受害情况的发生率和意愿却极低。关于性工作者不向警方报告暴力犯罪动机的国际研究稀缺且零散。为填补这一知识空白，开展了一项系统综述，以回答以下问题：性工作者阐述了哪些原因来解释他们不愿向警方报告受害情况？在使用系统搜索词在各种数据库中搜索同行评审文献和灰色文献后，有9项研究符合纳入标准。经过主题分析，出现了不报告受害情况的四个主要动机：（i）害怕受到惩罚，（ii）害怕受到虐待，（iii）害怕曝光，以及（iv）害怕有罪不罚。探讨了性工作者的交叉性和个人特征（即性别、移民身份、性工作类型等）的影响。研究结果表明，性工作者对警方的信任度较低，这导致他们不愿报告受害情况。文章认为，性产业合法化以及改善程序正义的行动，可能会增加性工作者向警方报告犯罪的倾向。
