COVID-19 and the shifting organisation of sex work markets in Singapore

Authors：Tan, Rayner Kay Jin^*; Ho, Vanessa; Sherqueshaa, Sherry; Dee, Wany; Lim, Jane Mingjie; Lo, Jamie Jay-May; Teo, Alvin Kuo Jing; O'Hara, Caitlin Alsandria; Ong, Clarence; Ching, Ann Hui; West, Brooke S.; Wong, Mee Lian

Source：Culture, Health and Sexuality, 2022, 24(12): 1744-1759.

DOI：10.1080/13691058.2021.2014975

• Brothels
• sex work
• prostitution
• occupational health
• netnography

While past studies have sought to capture how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted on the health and sexual lives of sex workers internationally, less attention has been paid to the reorganisation of sex markets as a result of COVID-19. We conducted a sequential exploratory mixed methods study using in-depth interviews, cyber ethnography and surveyor-administered structured surveys among sex workers. We report two key findings on how the pandemic has impacted sex markets in Singapore. First, the organisation of sex markets shifted as a result of lockdown and associated movement control measures. This shift was characterised by the out-migration of sex workers, the reduction in supply and demand for in-person sex work, and a shift towards online spaces. Second, we found that sex workers experienced greater economic hardship as a result of such changes. Given the potential shifts in sex markets as a result of the pandemic, we adopt a World Health Organisation Health Workplace Framework and Model to identify interventions to improve the occupational safety and health of sex workers in a post-COVID-19 era.

• Institution
  Southern Medical University