Access Denied: Sex Worker Health and Well-Being in the Context of Criminalization

This chapter is based on findings from a study funded by HIV Ireland, in collaboration with the Sex Workers’ Alliance of Ireland (SWAI) focusing on the impact of the recent sex purchase ban on sex workers’ health and well-being in the Republic of Ireland. Through a participative framework, employing peer led focus groups, this study explores how sex workers in Ireland are navigating their health and well-being within a restrictive legal environment. This research positions sex workers as experts in their own lives, challenging dominant discourses which discredit sex workers’ realities when they trouble abolitionist frameworks. This chapter reports on key findings emerging from sex worker voices collected in this study including impacts of sex working laws on health, safety, well-being and access to justice and indicates recommendations for rights based and inclusive policy for sex workers.