1 / 23

“Sex in the City” Male prostitution and recreational drugs

GLEN GAY & LESBIAN EQUALITY NETWORK. “Sex in the City” Male prostitution and recreational drugs. Who are we talking about?. Rent boys Escorts Independent escorts Men involved in prostitution Male Sex workers Punters People who pay for sex. Twenty years ago in London.

daniel_millan
Download Presentation

“Sex in the City” Male prostitution and recreational drugs

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. GLEN GAY & LESBIAN EQUALITY NETWORK “Sex in the City” Male prostitution and recreational drugs

  2. Who are we talking about? Rent boys Escorts Independent escorts Men involved in prostitution Male Sex workers Punters People who pay for sex

  3. Twenty years ago in London

  4. 2005

  5. Why work with sex workers? Work with sex workers takes place precisely because they are selling or exchanging sex, not because they have been labelled as needy or deviant.

  6. So why do men get involved in sex work? • Range of experiences • Degree of control • What are the choices? • How crucial is the route of entry?

  7. Changes in the last twenty years • History of SW5 • The changes on London scene • The issues • Some data on SW5 clients

  8. Streetwise Youth to SW5 • Founded in 1986 in Earls Court • Philosophy • Meet practical needs first • Establish relationship • Network of services • Partnership working

  9. The issues in 1986 • Homelessness: on the streets yet largely invisible • Alcohol and drugs • Physical safety • STI risk • Physical and sexual abuse • Survival sex • Absence of pimps

  10. Nineteen years later • Gay scene and free gay press • Impact of technology • Age range • Female punters • Reduction of stigma • Human rights • So why are we dealing with many of the same issues?

  11. Is it the route into sex work? • Age of entry is crucial • All over the UK • Childhood experiences • Drugs use/homelessness • Trafficking

  12. Factors of control • Alcohol and recreational drugs • Finance; survival vs. planned work • Self-esteem • Migrant workers • Agency interventions..”people like us”

  13. Age selling sex

  14. Meeting clients

  15. Use of drugs

  16. Career or financial necessity? • “the majority of contact that we have..guys in the park, there is a high incidence of drug use, homelessness, marginalisation, working class background. The guys who work for agencies are more in control of the sex they sell..more middle class..more articulate, talking about what they do and the reasons why they do it. Such a Taboo INMP

  17. Safety issues • 80% use drugs while selling sex • 60% less frequently since using SW5 • It may be with punter or not • 65% say awareness of safer drugs use is better • 65% feel OK about drugs use

  18. Safety • Improved awareness of safer sex • How safe is the sex? • How many men? • HIV testing

  19. Experiences • 20% in care • 80% Homeless • 50% arrested • 45% cautioned • 50% in court • 45% fined • 28% imprisoned

  20. How many want to stop? • 30% have stopped • 25% want to stop now • 30% in a year • 5% don’t want to stop but to sell less frequently • 10% express no desire to stop

  21. People like us..what do we do? How should drugs agencies respond? • Why are we involved? • Funding sources and social concerns • Harm reduction or exiting • Support or saving • Is sex work inherently exploitative?

  22. Value statement • The work is within a culture of consultation with sex workers • It utilises a harm reduction model without necessarily assuming a goal of exiting sex work • It recognises that sex workers may often be socially excluded • It has a focus on sexual health and recognises the social and emotional factors involved

  23. Male sex work Ireland “Male prostitutes in Ireland constitute an extremely under-identified, under-resourced and, all too often, misinterpreted population. The lack of recognition of this sub-culture is largely determined by a constellation of societal myths or beliefs regarding what it is to be male and straight in Irish society” E Kearins: Rent (2000)

More Related