Patrons of the sex industry: Perceptions of risk

Abstract

This paper reports on an in-depth study of how men who buy sex construe risk in relation to their sexual activities. Twenty men were contacted in a massage parlour, four more through sex workers or newspaper advertisements. In-depth, face-to-face interviews were recorded. Two main discourses were articulated by the men to 'manage' risk. Parlour clients articulated a discourse of the 'cordon sanitaire' which they defined in various way to encompass elements of both commercial and non-commercial sex. Most felt while they operated within this they ran only those risks inevitable in life. Outside the cordon were dangerous venues, especially the streets. A few felt either fatalistic or invulnerable about possibilities of risk even within this 'cordon sanitaire'. Street clients articulated a different discourse about risk, based on a strategy of discrimination between women.