Editing Sex worker (section)

==Discrimination==
Sex workers may be stereotyped as deviant, hypersexual, sexually risky, and substance abusive. Sex workers may cope with this [[Social stigma|stigmatization]] in ways such as hiding their occupation from non-sex workers, social withdrawal, and creating a [[True self and false self|false self]] to perform at work.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Weitzer |first=Ronald |date=2017-01-18 |title=Resistance to sex work stigma |journal=Sexualities |volume=21 |issue=5–6 |pages=717–729 |doi=10.1177/1363460716684509 |issn=1363-4607 |s2cid=151608068}}</ref> Sex-work-related stigma may help perpetuate [[rape culture]] and can lead to [[slut-shaming]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Krüsi |first1=Andrea |last2=Kerr |first2=Thomas |last3=Taylor |first3=Christina |last4=Rhodes |first4=Tim |last5=Shannon |first5=Kate |date=2016-04-26 |title='They won't change it back in their heads that we're trash': the intersection of sex work-related stigma and evolving policing strategies |journal=Sociology of Health & Illness |volume=38 |issue=7 |pages=1137–1150 |doi=10.1111/1467-9566.12436 |issn=0141-9889 |pmc=5012919 |pmid=27113456}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Oliveira |first=Alexandra |date=2018-03-01 |title=Same work, different oppression: Stigma and its consequences for male and transgender sex workers in Portugal |journal=International Journal of Iberian Studies |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=11–26 |doi=10.1386/ijis.31.1.11_1 |issn=1364-971X}}</ref>

Sex work is also often conflated with sex trafficking, despite the fact that most sex workers choose to consensually engage in the sex trade. For example, the [[FOSTA|Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act]] in the United States was passed to ostensibly protect victims of sex trafficking but included language making it illegal to advertise consensual sex online. Such laws have a significantly negative impact on sex workers.<ref name="Eichert-2022"/>

Globally, sex workers encounter barriers in accessing health care, legislation, legal resources, and labor rights. In a study of U.S. sex workers, 43% of interview participants reported exposure to [[intimate partner violence]], physical violence, armed physical violence, and [[sexual violence]] in the forms of sexual coercion and rape.<ref name="Decker-2013">{{Cite journal |last1=Decker |first1=Michele R |last2=Pearson |first2=Erin |last3=Illangasekare |first3=Samantha L |last4=Clark |first4=Erin |last5=Sherman |first5=Susan G |date=2013-09-23 |title=Violence against women in sex work and HIV risk implications differ qualitatively by perpetrator |journal=BMC Public Health |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=876 |doi=10.1186/1471-2458-13-876 |issn=1471-2458 |pmc=3852292 |pmid=24060235 |doi-access=free }}</ref> In this same study, a sex worker reported, "in this lifestyle, nothing's safe".<ref name="Decker-2013" /> Sex workers may experience [[Police misconduct|police abuse]] as well, as the police may use their authority to intimidate sex workers. Police officers in some countries have been reported to exploit street-based sex workers' fear of incarceration to force them to have sex with the police without payment, sometimes still arresting them after having coerced sex.<ref name="Decker-2013" /> Police may also compromise sex workers' safety, often holding sex workers responsible for crimes perpetrated against them because of the stigma attached to their occupation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Maticka-Tyndale |first1=Eleanor |last2=Lewis |first2=Jacqueline |last3=Clark |first3=Jocalyn P. |author-link3=Jocalyn Clark |last4=Zubick |first4=Jennifer |last5=Young |first5=Shelley |date=2000-09-18 |title=Exotic Dancing and Health |journal=Women & Health |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=87–108 |doi=10.1300/j013v31n01_06 |issn=0363-0242 |pmid=11005222 |s2cid=35709367}}</ref> There is growth in [[List of sex worker organizations|advocacy organizations]] to reduce and erase prejudice and stigma against sex work, and to provide more support and resources for sex workers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Weitzer |first=Ronald |date=2010-02-21 |title=The Mythology of Prostitution: Advocacy Research and Public Policy |journal=Sexuality Research and Social Policy |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=15–29 |doi=10.1007/s13178-010-0002-5 |issn=1868-9884 |s2cid=144735092}}</ref>