Violence along the Periphery of the Margins

Workplace violence of People who are sex workers and Transgender and Non-Binary

The practice of selling sexual services spans human history, from ancient civilisations to modern portrayals on television. Feminist perspectives vary, with some attributing the sex trade primarily to the economic pressures of capitalism, as posited by Marxist analysis. Another liberal viewpoint advocates for legitimising sex work as a valid profession alongside calling for decriminalisation and supportive agencies for sex workers. However, some see it as a manifestation of patriarchal oppression, viewing prostitution as the commodification of women's bodies and the ultimate rape of women by men: a radical critique that argues against considering sex as work. Over cultures and epochs, the exchange of sexual services for goods, money, or status has persisted, reflecting both on the complexities of human desires and telling the stories of the people who participate in the trade, namely cisgender individuals. This essay sheds light on the realities of the community the history books barely mention or fail to represent altogether. Specifically, this text will focus on the compromising violent experiences made by Transgender and Non-Binary (TNB) people who work in the sex industry and how these experiences generate responses from the media and produce the knowledge we consume as their audience.

This essay will explore the unique challenges encountered by TNB individuals in their interactions with law enforcement, delving into how their gender non-conformity contributes to a myriad of obstacles, including workplace violence. Subsequently, it will delve into the scholarly contributions of specific researchers to uncover the root causes of these experiences, as well as how systemic decisions within the criminal justice system and the handling by law enforcement contribute to their worsening. Lastly, the text will examine contemporary media representations and suggest why certain (mis)understandings of TNB people come to pass by critiquing structural data collection.

The Dual Burden: Gender Identity and Workplace Violence in Sex Work

In the eyes of many, sex work as a profession has negative connotations; it is understood, if at all, as a profession that includes risks for the individual with profound health implications, aggressive confrontations with Police and ends regrettably, though too often, lethal (Panter, 2023), especially for TNB individuals of colour (Dinno, 2017). It is understood that the bearings of this profession often demand individuals to work outside of secure workspaces that offer them means of intervention in situations that pose difficulties or even a threat. The social stigmas attached to this line of work hang like a dark shadow over the population who work within it. As such, this places them on the sidelines, where they must wait for recognition, representation, and compensation from a society that refuses to see them for who they are. These are often realities faced by women in the sex industry, though said challenges compound themselves when trying to navigate the experiences of people who are not cisgender. Specifically, the experiences of TNB sex workers face a high level of minority stress (Meyer, 2003) due to their gender nonconformity (Hendricks & Testa, 2012),  leading to ‘negative life events’ (p.465), as well as physical and mental implications (She et al., 2021). Moreover, the pressure of constantly having to fight for their place in society as well as the struggle of needing to justify and reaffirm their gender adversely affects their health and well-being but also creates a double burden for trans women involved in sex work.
Nuttbrock (2018) contends that this dual impact of societal ostracisation towards the sex industry doubled with the gender nonconformity of TNB people compounds the stigmatisation of their occupation as sex workers. The persistent doubt of their gender identity due to external factors has the effect of internalising this doubt and producing a false internal self (Barreto & Ellemers, 2003; Gagné & Tewksbury, 1998) and the need for reassurance. Consequentially, the initial engagement in sex work may fulfil this need for TNB individuals, particularly when combined with economic hardship, potentially explaining the relatively high prevalence of sex work among this demographic. Understanding the heightened ‘risk factors’ for the TNB community in the context of sex work, we can move to examine how these factors lead to the heightened probability of workplace violence (Operario et al., 2018, p.85).
When examining workplace violence against TNB people, information from surveys helps understand the prevalence and reasons for the issue. While academic research is relatively scarce and thus contributes to the problem, which will be discussed later on, there are findings from different countries that can help understand the broader scope of the experiences of this minority group. For example, the United States Trans Gender Report (2015) presents the most extensive research in the United States, with more than twenty-seven thousand participants aged 18 and older. Numerous participants, particularly transgender women of colour, noted that police frequently presumed they were engaged in sex work, even when they were not. A total of 86% of individuals who encountered law enforcement either while involved in or suspected of sex work recounted instances of mistreatment, such as 'verbal abuse, physical assault, or sexual harassment by police' (p.164). Building on this data, Enogieru et al. (2024) examined the specific cases of workplace violence due to gender identity and found that more than 50% of the participants experienced everyday violence. Still, notably, physical assault was twice as common. Additionally, the authors note that their examination of only one type of workplace violence suggests the presence of multiple forms of violence that collectively shape the experiences of TNB individuals in their workplaces. This assumption is further expounded on by Sears et al. (2021) highlighted that 44% of TNB individuals experienced verbal harassment, 28% endured physical harassment, and 26% faced sexual harassment at some point in their working careers. 

Examining the Unseen Realities by Law Reforms

As exemplified thus far, we have seen that the relentless stigmas placed on TNB sex workers, which in turn create struggles of questioning their own gender identity, are continuous challenges this minority face daily (Bockting et al., 2013). These societal issues are deeply ingrained and originate from systemic beliefs shaped by the dominant cultural norms. However, amidst this dichotomy between striving for societal inclusion and recognition of their own identity, TNB individuals are additionally overlooked by legislation and laws that fail to recognise their realities, leading to further marginalisation.
Gilmour's (2020) scholarly work examines how decriminalisation in Aotearoa, New Zealand, through the Prostitution Reform Act (PRA) in 2003, impacted marginalised communities. Specifically, she explains the understanding that the TG population face a ‘broader pattern’ (p. 90) of discrimination, which increases the probability of violence toward them. The Author builds on the work of Worth (2000), who likewise asserts that violence is an omnipresent threat to sex workers, even to those who work in the ‘commercial’ (p.20) sex industry. Furthermore, Gilmour argues that while the PRA bill saw a significant advancement for the rights of sex workers, it at the same time had unexpected implications for TNB people. For example, the harassment through misgendering of TNB sex workers persisted after decriminalisation, and though the participants perceived the new law as good, they simultaneously stayed cautious towards the police due to the over-policing. The author makes a point in saying that the continuous ‘attack’ (p.104) on their gender identity based on stereotypical misconceptions of sex work and TNB people contributes to gender dysphoria and produces a ‘normalisation of violence’ (p.105) towards them.
The nuanced analysis by Gilmour remains one of the few scholarly attempts to understand further and highlight the realities of TNB sex workers. Expounding on this issue, Lyons et al. (2017) explores the socio-structural components that perpetuate violence experienced by this minority group. While previously examining the context of a country where sex work is decriminalised, the author situates their study in Canada and conducted multiple interviews with 33 TG sex workers. Their findings are consistent with previous mentions of how social interactions by police result in mental health implications as well as physical health care neglect due to fear (Poteat et al., 2015; Sausa et al., 2007). However, what stands out in the analysis by Lyons et al. (2017) is that their findings furthermore discuss the risks of clients becoming violent. Specifically, in situations marked by transphobia, individuals expressed concerns about their safety and well-being, particularly regarding the possibility of violence from clients if their gender identity was revealed. Moreover, the author points out that TNB sex workers adopted strategic disclosure methods to protect themselves from potential violence by clients. These tactics used are primarily because most of the violence in the sex work industry originates from clients upon learning about the worker's gender identity.(Cohan et al., 2006; Nemoto et al., 2004).

Throughout this text, it has been established that TNB people face various forms of violence, both by known individuals and strangers, occurring across different settings, including public spaces and workplaces. However, despite growing awareness, there are significant limitations in existing data sources, such as police reports and self-report surveys, which hinder a comprehensive understanding of the nature and extent of this violence (Stotzer, 2009). Efforts to address these shortcomings are crucial for informing effective policies and support services for transgender individuals facing violence. In the following part, we will examine how the media plays a role in contributing to these public responses and why government data collection strategies need to be reformed.

Understanding Victimhood and Representation by the Media

The criminological discourse by Nils Christie’s (1986) theory of ‘the ideal victim’ provides a conception of victimology that breaks down the dynamics between offenders and victims. But more importantly, it analyses the traits of victims to which the public responds best. Christie's concept does not evolve around which person or group of people runs a higher risk of assuming victim roles or is at greatest ‘danger’ of being victimised. The criminologist merely refers to the way a person or a specific group, when subjected to a crime, gains the ‘complete and legitimate status of being a victim’ (p.18). Drawing on Christie's theory as a foundational framework for understanding public responses towards victims, we can begin to discern the political factors contributing to the oversight of individuals from marginalised communities, such as TNB people, in being validated as victims. For example, Stringer (2014) connects the concept of victimhood to neo-liberal motivations by arguing that these structures rob cis-gender women, and we include transgender women in this debate, of their agency and legitimacy. With 'the stigmatisation of victim subjects' (p.53), they politicise their experience only to advance economic and corporate growth. This correlates not only with the experience of cis-gendered women by feminist activism flag-planting for government agendas but parallels the experiences of TNB people who become sensationalised by the media based on their identity. Thus, they find their identities and struggles exploited through click-bait news for monetary gain through publicity and exposure for the news outlet rather than being recognised and supported authentically. 

In March 2023, during a scheduled public talk in Auckland's Albert Park by anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull, also known as Posey Parker, an incident occurred where trans activist Eliana Rubashkyn poured tomato juice over Parker's head moments after taking the stand. In September 2023, the New Zealand Herald (Block, 2023) reported on the incident using the term 'assault' in their headlines, implying physical violence by the TNB activist towards Parker. Furthermore, wordings used by news outlets like ‘Nana Bashing’ (Los’e, 2024) of an older audience member in follow-up reports play on the audience's heartstrings, sensationalising the story while advocating for sympathy for the victim. While actions of violence are in no way legitimate, and the health implications of tomato juice on the human body might be subject to debate (Salehi et al., 2019), the underlying reasons for Rubashkyn's actions are less ambiguous. As such, it is crucial to question why The New Zealand Herald did not publish any articles or links to any information explaining the protest against Parker, yet using the rhetoric around the polarising narratives around TNB experiences for their capital gain.

These incidents occurred amidst the backdrop of heightened debates on TNB, individuals posing potential risks to themselves, asserting their presence in specific spaces, and questioning medical support methods (Tafford, 2023; Edwards, 2024; Sample, 2024; Alfonseca, 2024). Recognising the divisive nature of this topic, media like the NZ Herald have begun to engage with the issue actively and produce reports that use the realities of TNB populace to gain track of their outlets while ignoring the impact of the rhetoric of these sensation articles. Research has shown that the effects of clickbait headlines prove to draw users' attention and to engage with articles more frequently (Pengnate et al., 2021) by sharing information within their social surroundings and networks (Jung et al., 2022). Furthermore, the sensationalised portrayal of TNB individuals by the media seldom addresses the realities this minority group is confronted with. One reason is the lack of empirical data used in academic research. Data collection is scarce due to the lack of inclusion of government-based surveys that often only provide gender and sex as exclusive demographic variables (Lenning & Brightman, 2024). Furthermore, as previously mentioned, sharing their stories with the police exposes sex workers to heightened scrutiny and potential harm. Thus, as Collins (2015) asserts, TNB people must be able to ‘perform their gender’ (p.214) even if it does not conform to binary conceptions from the authorities that have put this binary system into place. If not, the common cultural and societal attitudes create stigmas surrounding their profession, perpetuating the notion that sex workers are deserving of abuse, fostering a culture of victim blaming and undermining their credibility as survivors of sexual violence. This systemic discrimination results in their exclusion from mainstream discussions about workplace sexual violence, exemplified by the focus of the #MeToo movement on experiences outside the sex industry (West et al., 2021).

Conclusion – Ask a Sex worker

This essay set out to unravel the intricate factors contributing to the heightened threat of TNB sex workers in their workplaces. These individuals navigate through a complex terrain rife with discrimination, marginalisation, stigma, institutional neglect, and perpetuated cycles of violence. Additionally, the examination of legal frameworks and media representations have shed light on how systemic barriers exacerbate the challenges faced by TNB sex workers, reinforcing damaging stereotypes and hindering efforts towards meaningful societal inclusion.
The limitations in data collection and academic research underscore the urgent need to prioritise including diverse voices and experiences, amplifying their narratives, and advocating for policy reforms. The ingrained belief that TNB sex workers inherently merit abuse and exploitation fosters a pervasive culture of victim blaming. This way of thinking diminishes their credibility as survivors of sexual violence and triggers systemic discrimination that sidelines them from the mainstream discourse in research on workplace violence. Thus, prioritising the modes of inquiry is essential for comprehensively understanding, critiquing, and addressing the challenges TNB people face. Consequently, advocating for an empirical approach that incorporates personal testimonies and perspectives shared by TNB sex workers in both informal platforms and formal literature can produce valuable information. Only through concerted efforts to challenge prevailing norms, address systemic inequalities, and centre the voices of marginalised communities can our society begin to provide a safer environment for trans and non-binary individuals who work in the sex industry.

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