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Workplace violence among female sex workers who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada: does client-targeted policing increase safety?

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Abstract

Workplace violence, by clients or predators, poses serious negative health consequences for sex workers. In 2013, the Vancouver (British Columbia), Canada Police Department changed their guidelines with the goal of increasing safety for sex workers by focusing law enforcement on clients and third parties, but not sex workers. We sought to examine the trends and correlates of workplace violence among female sex workers (FSW) before and after the guideline change, using data collected from prospective cohorts of persons who use illicit drugs in Vancouver, Canada. Among 259 FSW, 21.0% reported workplace violence at least once during the study period between 2008 and 2014. There was no statistically significant change in rates of workplace violence after the guideline change. In our multivariable analysis, daily heroin use was independently associated with workplace violence. The 2013 policing guideline change did not appear to have resulted in decreased reports of workplace violence. Increased access to opioid agonist therapies may reduce workplace violence among drug-using FSW.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the study participants for their contribution to the research, as well as current and past researchers and staff.

Funding

The study was supported by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) (U01DA038886, R01DA021525). This research was undertaken, in part, thanks to funding from the Canada Research Chairs program through a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Inner City Medicine which supports Dr. Evan Wood (Director, BC Centre on Substance Use, BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS and Professor, Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia), as well as a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Foundation Grant that supports Dr. Thomas Kerr (20R74326). Dr. Kanna Hayashi is supported by a CIHR New Investigator Award (MSH-141971) and a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) Scholar Award. Dr. Kate Shannon is partially supported by a Canada Research Chair in Global Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS and NIH (R0120R64007). Dr. M-J Milloy is supported by a CIHR New Investigator award, a MSFHR Scholar Award, and the US NIH (R01-DA0251525). Dr. Kora DeBeck is supported by a MSFHR / St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation–Providence Health Care Career Scholar Award and a CIHR New Investigator Award.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, St. Paul’s Hospital, 608-1081 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC, V6Z 1Y6, Canada

    Amy Prangnell, Kate Shannon, Ekaterina Nosova, Kora DeBeck, M.-J. Milloy, Thomas Kerr & Kanna Hayashi

  2. School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Amy Prangnell

  3. Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Kate Shannon, M.-J. Milloy & Thomas Kerr

  4. School of Public Policy, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Kora DeBeck

  5. Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada

    Kanna Hayashi

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  1. Amy Prangnell
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  2. Kate Shannon
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  3. Ekaterina Nosova
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  6. Thomas Kerr
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  7. Kanna Hayashi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kanna Hayashi.

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Prangnell, A., Shannon, K., Nosova, E. et al. Workplace violence among female sex workers who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada: does client-targeted policing increase safety?. J Public Health Pol 39, 86–99 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41271-017-0098-4

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