Summary

Sex work, also referenced here as sex trade, is defined as a wide range of activities related to prostitution, stripping, pornography, exotic dancing or lap dancing, webcam activity, and other sexual services that are sold or traded; sex work can involve a range of choices situated along a continuum from empowerment to exploitation. Also recognized is a distinction between sex work and sex trafficking, the latter of which includes elements of force, fraud, or extreme coercion. Sex trafficking is germane to a conversation on sex work and social work as it relates to the criminalization of communities impacted by intersecting oppressions involved in the sex trades.

Sex work is a diverse profession comprised of many trades and social identities; for example, sexual services are traded on the streets, through escort agencies, in massage parlors, and in other venues. Notably, sex workers include men, women, and transgender and nonbinary individuals who cut across lines of economic status, age, ethnicity, (dis)ability, and sexual identity. In addition, some people make an explicit decision to engage in sex work, while others do so in order to survive or due to accessibility or other circumstances.