THE INHERENT FAILURE OF CURRENT OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY LEGISLATION IN PROSTITUTION
I co-authored this article with Mrs Anushka van der Veen to challenge the new and dominant discourse emerging in prostitution research, that sex work is not unlike any other occupation and that labour normalisation and the introduction of OHS principles have notably improved the health and safety of sex workers. Examination of the available literature on OHS in prostitution however, evidences that, in those jurisdictions where OHS guidelines are in place, implementation and enforcement has proved to be poor.
“An examination of the ‘occupational hazard’ of violence in sex work reveals that even within so-called ‘safer’ indoor brothel work, workers are exposed to significant levels of violence that are unique to the sex industry when compared with other occupations. The practices of prostitution, even in legal and regulated brothels, place workers in situations of danger to their health and safety that would be inconceivable in any other employment context. Within industry-specific OHS literature itself, violence is identified as an inevitable part of sex work, undermining the core principle of OHS, that is, that all workers, no matter what industry they work in, have the right not to suffer harm through carrying out the normal requirements of their work. In contrast to the argument that it is the legal setting which determines the health and safety of sex workers, this paper argues that prostitution is inherently harmful and involves significant levels of risk to mental and physical health for workers that has not been authentically addressed by current OHS principles, even where the industry has been legalised or decriminalised. Indeed this paper argues that a new model of legislation is needed in order to combat the inherent risks of the sex industry.”
To access this complete article, click here