Radical Professionals? Sex Worker Rights Activists and Collaboration With Human Service Nonprofits

ABSTRACT

Professionalization of the human service nonprofit (HSNP) sector has been well documented. While professionalization of the human services can result in improved client outcomes, it may also lead to a reduction of political participation of these organizations. For “underground” service providers, organizations providing unsanctioned services to populations engaged in illicit behavior, professionalization accompanies the transition of organizations to sanctioned service providers. Using qualitative methodology, this paper explores the professionalization of an underground service organization for sex workers. I argue that professionalization, while not a panacea, may increase underground organizations’ ability to engage in politics by establishing credibility within their institutional environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Community engagement and advocacy
• organizational theory and analysis

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Jennifer Mosley, Ron Weitzer, and anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier drafts. A special thanks goes out to members of the Sex Workers Outreach Project in Chicago, and all other anonymous nonprofit respondents.

Funding

Research for this article was conducted while the author was a PhD Candidate at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration. This work was supported by a grant from the Fahs-Beck Fund.

Notes

¹ Throughout this paper, I use the term “sex work” as referring to the exchange of adult sexual services for money or other tangible goods (Leigh, 1997). Individuals who consensually engage in sex work are “sex workers.” Sex work differs from sex trafficking in that there is no force, fraud, or coercion involved.

² In this paper, I refer to an individual who sells sexual services as a “sex worker” and a “person in the sex trade” interchangeably.

³ This model is also sometimes referred to as the Swedish model, as it has roots dating back to Sweden’s Violence Against Women Act of 1999 (Scott & Lovell, 2010).

⁴ For a list of similar organizations, refer to the website www.endslaverynow.org.

⁵ According to Oselin and Weitzer (2013), there were only 37 organizations providing sex worker (or trafficking victim) specific services in the United States as of 2012. They divide these organizations into the following ideologies: (1) Radical Feminist, also referred to as abolitionist; (2) Sex work, those that advocate sex work empowerment and decriminalization; (3) Youth, those that exclusively work with minors; and (4) Neutral, harm reduction organizations that are nonjudgmental and do not take a stance explicitly for or against sex work.

⁶ I interviewed two individuals at two organizations, which brings the total to 33 distinct human service nonprofits. At the two organizations for which I interviewed two different individuals, these were managers of two different departments in the organization, each of which had very different viewpoints on the questions that were asked.

⁷ The prostitution courts were established in Cook County (where the city of Chicago is located) in May 2015. Instead of arrest and then a fine/jail time, individuals who are arrested for prostitution are sent to court and are provided with services at a local human service nonprofit. They are able to have their prostitution charges dismissed if they successfully complete the program.

⁸ Although the outreach was scheduled weekly, it would typically be cancelled at least once a month for weather concerns or holidays during which most members would be out of town.

⁹ One HSNP respondent declined to be recorded, and thus, the analysis of that interview is based on copious notes I took during and after the interview.

¹⁰ The Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) is an attempt to blend both traditional and alternative policing strategies in order to address high-crime areas. It consists of a series of meetings between police officers, policy makers, and community members to come together to prioritize how to address crime and formulate preventative solutions.

¹¹ John schools are programs that are instituted for the purpose of educating men who are arrested for purchasing sexual services. There are a variety of different types of John schools: some are diversion programs, some are conditions of a sentence, some result in dismissed charges, some are one-day classes, some consist of multiple classes. They are currently located in 50 cities across the United States (Shively, Kliorys, Wheeler, & Hunt, 2013).

¹² For a thorough account of how End Demand started in Chicago, please see Morris-Hoffer (2010).

¹³ The Young Women’s Empowerment Project (YWEP) was a member-based social justice organization in Chicago that was led by youth of color with current or former experience in the sex trade. They closed in 2013 after a decade of organizing, research and support work. More information is available at www.youarepriceless.org.

¹⁴ SWOP is even able to operate in the area without problems from the police, which is an important development considering the population they are serving. Several times while conducting outreach, police officers have stopped and asked whether or not they are SWOP—upon answering yes, the police officers say, “Thanks, have a great day.” This is something that has surprised members, but they have seen it as a positive development in the recognition of their organization.

Additional information

Funding

Research for this article was conducted while the author was a PhD Candidate at the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration. This work was supported by a grant from the Fahs-Beck Fund.