Reproductive Health Matters
Volume 17, Issue 34 , Pages 38-46 , November 2009

Criminalization, legalization or decriminalization of sex work: what female sex workers say in San Francisco, USA

  • Alexandra Lutnick

      Affiliations

    • Public Health Analyst, Research Triangle Institute International, San Francisco CA, USA
    • ,
  • Deborah Cohan

      Affiliations

    • Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco CA, USA

References 

  1. Klausner JD. Decriminalize prostitution - vote yes on Prop K. San Francisco Chronicle. 8 September 2008;
  2. Wolfers I. Violence, repression and other health threats: sex workers at risk. Research for Sex Work. 2001;4:1–2
  3. Shannon K, Kerr T, Allinott S, et al. Social and structural violence and power relations in mitigating HIV risk of drug-using women in survival sex work. Social Science & Medicine. 2008;66:911–921
  4. Alexander P. Sex workers fight AIDS: an international perspective. In:  Schneider BE,  Stoller NE editor. Women Resisting AIDS: feminist strategies of empowerment. Philadelphia: Temple University Press; 1995;
  5. Alexander P. Contextual risk versus risk behavior: the impact of the legal, social and economic context of sex work on individual risk taking. Research for Sex Work. 2001;4:3–4
  6. Albert A. Brothel: The Mustang Ranch and its women. New York: Random House; 2001;
  7. Thukral J. Decriminalization. In:  Ditmore MH editors. Encyclopedia of prostitution and sex work. Connecticut: Greenwood Press; 2006;p. 129
  8. Lutnick A. The St. James Infirmary: a history. Sexuality & Culture. 2006;10(2):56–75
  9. Board of Supervisors of the City and County of San Francisco. San Francisco Task Force on Prostitution: Final Report, 1996.
  10. <YesOnPropK.org>. Vote November 4, 2008: Yes on Prop K. San Francisco, 2008.
  11. CBS News. Election results: San Francisco Prop K - decriminalize prostitution. At: < http://elections.cbslocal.com/cbs/kpix/20081104/race2131.shtml>. Accessed 12 November 2008
  12. No on K. No on K: Say no to all human trafficking. San Francisco. At: < http://noonk.net>. Accessed 12 November 2008
  13. Corbin J, Strauss A. Grounded theory research: procedures, canons, and evaluative criteria. Qualitative Sociology. 1990;13(1):3–21
  14. Strauss A, Corbin J. Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. 2nd ed.. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications; 1998;
  15. Heckathorn D. Respondent-driven sampling: a new approach to the study of hidden populations. Social Problems. 1997;44(2):174–199
  16. Iguchi MY, Ober AJ, Berry SH, et al. Simultaneous recruitment of drug users and men who have sex with men in the United States and Russia using respondent-driven sampling: sampling methods and implications. Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine. 2009;86(1):S5–S28
  17. Crago AL. Our lives matter: sex workers unite for health and rights. New York: Sexual Health and Rights Project: Open Society Institute; 2008;
  18. Demaere K. Decriminalisation as partnership: an overview of Australia's sex industry law reform model. Research for Sex Work. 2005;8:14–15
  19. Hay J. Police abuse of prostitutes in San Francisco. Colorado Springs: Gauntlet Magazine; 1994;
  20. Sex Workers Project. Unfriendly encounters: street-based sex workers and police in Manhattan, 2005. New York: Urban Justice Center; 2006;
  21. Simon S, Thomas R. Eight working papers/case studies: examining the intersections of sex work law, policy, rights and health. New York: Sexual Health and Rights Project: Open Society Institute; 2006;
  22. Thukral J, Ditmore M, Murphy A. Behind closed doors: an analysis of indoor sex work in New York City. New York: Urban Justice Center, Project SW; 2005;
  23. Thukral J, Ditmore M. Revolving door: an analysis of street-based prostitution in New York City. New York: Urban Justice Center, Project SW; 2003;
  24. Cohan D, Lutnick A, Davidson P, Cloniger C, Herlyn A, Breyer J, et al. Sex worker health: San Francisco style. Sexually Transmitted Infections. 2006;82:418–422
  25. Shannon K, Kerr T, Strathdee SA, et al. Prevalence and structural correlates of gender based violence among a prospective cohort of female sex workers. BMJ. 2009;339(b2939):
  26. Blankenship KM, Koester S. Criminal law, policing policy, and HIV risk in female street sex workers and injection drug users. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics. 2002;30:548–559
  27. Weinberg MS, Shaver FM, Williams CJ. Gendered work in the San Francisco Tenderloin. Archives of Sexual Behavior. 1999;28(6):503–521

PII: S0968-8080(09)34469-9

doi: 10.1016/S0968-8080(09)34469-9

Reproductive Health Matters
Volume 17, Issue 34 , Pages 38-46 , November 2009

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