Legally and in other meaningful ways, sex work and sex trafficking are different.
Sex work is consenting adults engaging in transactional sex. In almost all U.S. states, it is a criminal offense, punishable with fines and even jail sentences.
Sex trafficking is nonconsensual, and it is generally treated as a more severe crime.
Most sex workers' groups acknowledge that sex work is not inherently sex trafficking but that sex workers can face force, fraud and coercion because they work in a criminalized, stigmatized profession. Sex workers whose experiences meet the legal standards of trafficking may nonetheless fear disclosing that to police and risking arrest for prostitution.
Conversely, sex workers can be mistakenly labeled by police and advocates as “trafficked" and find themselves in the custody of law enforcement or social service agencies.
Based on my research, reducing sex trafficking requires changes that might prevent it from occurring in the first place. That means rebuilding a stronger, supportive U.S. social safety net to buffer against poverty and housing insecurity.
[Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation's newsletter to understand the world.Sign up today.]
In the meantime, trafficking victims would benefit from efforts by frontline workers to combat the racism, sexism and transphobia that stigmatizes and criminalizes victims who don't look as people expect – and are struggling to survive.
Corinne Schwarz, Assistant Professor of Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies, Oklahoma State University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.