Experiences of interpersonal violence among a diverse sample of male sex workers

Abstract

A notable portion of men who have sex with men engage in exchange sex—i.e. the trading of sex for money, drugs, shelter or other material goods. Despite the risks for physical and sexual violence, threatening behaviour and robbery that male sex workers confront, very little is known about their experiences of such actions by clients. To gain more insight into male sex workers’ experiences of interpersonal violence, we analysed qualitative interview data from 180 men who have sex with men from 8 US cities who engaged in sex work with clients they had met primarily through dating/hookup websites and apps. Participants discussed their experiences of a range of untoward behaviours by clients including physical violence, sexual violence, threats and robbery. Healthcare and social services providers can play a significant role in violence prevention among male sex workers. The decriminalisation of sex work could also potentially reduce the risks many sex workers face by facilitating their reporting of harms suffered.

Keywords:

• Men who have sex with men
• male sex workers
• violence
• risk management

Acknowledgements

We thank Katharine E. Peglow for her assistance in the preparation of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the US National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities under grant R01MD011587, ‘‘Exchange Sex and HIV Risk Among MSM Online’’ (PIs: Siegel and Schrimshaw).