## Sex Work

#### Sex work decriminalization decreases violence and displacement while supporting risk reduction and peer support networks among sex workers

*   [PLOS Medicine - Platt et al. 18](https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002680) [(cited here)](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-women-prostitution/legalizing-prostitution-lowers-violence-and-disease-report-says-idUSKBN1OA28N)
    *   HUGE **META-ANALYSIS** of **130 studies** on **33 countries** on the legalization and policing of sex work and workers.
        *   Studies were published in scientific journals between 1990 to 2018.
    *   It showed that in contexts of criminalisation, the threat and enactment of police harassment, repressive policing, and arrest of sex workers or their clients:
        *   **increased risk of sexual/physical violence** from clients or other parties
        *   **displaced sex workers** into isolated work locations
        *   **Disrupted peer support networks** and service access
        *   **limited risk reduction** opportunities.
        *   **discouraged** sex workers from obtaining and carrying methods of safe sex
        *   **exacerbated existing inequalities** experienced by transgender, migrant, and drug-using sex workers.

> *“Those of us who work on the street are running from the police, pushed into more isolated areas because clients are **fearful of arrest**”*
 
 ~ Niki Adams of the English Collective of Prostitutes
 
 * [Bisschop et al. 17](https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pol.20150299) [(pdf)](https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/pol.20150299)
   * Study of street prostitution in 25 Dutch cities between 1994-2011 shows that "safe prostitution zones" (tipplezones) decrease instances of sexual abuse and other forms of criminal activity.
   * *"Opening a tippelzone decreases registered sexual abuse and rape by about 30-40 percent in the first two years.*"
   * *"For cities which enforced licensing in tippelzones, we also find reductions in drug-related crime and long-term effects on sexual assaults."*