Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex Work

Imagine a dimly lit motel room where a transaction is about to unfold—money changes hands on floral bedcovers, a brief negotiation, and then the sudden intrusion of law enforcement. These moments, captured on camera, are more than just police evidence; they are a form of ongoing punishment and social control. Police sting operations have evolved into a spectacle where the arrest itself becomes a public shaming ritual, replayed and circulated widely, marking the individuals involved permanently. In the United States, one of the few industrialized nations that still criminalizes sex work, these tactics serve less to protect and more to punish.

Consider the practice of using condoms as evidence of prostitution. In cities like New York, police routinely seize condoms during arrests and document them as proof of intent to sell sex. This policy forces sex workers to choose between their safety and their freedom, often leading them to refuse condoms to avoid arrest, thereby increasing their health risks. This paradoxical outcome reveals the disconnect between law enforcement's stated goals and the lived realities of sex workers.

Police violence extends beyond physical abuse—it is embedded in the very act of policing. Sex workers report near-daily encounters with police that include harassment, threats, and sexual coercion. This systemic violence is not an aberration but a feature of criminalization, disproportionately affecting transgender women, women of color, and gender nonconforming individuals. Globally, similar patterns emerge, from forced HIV testing and public shaming in Greece and China to raids and illegal detention in Cambodia.

These tactics operate within what might be called the 'carceral eye'—a gaze that reduces sex workers to objects of suspicion and control, always presumed to be 'working' or committing a crime. The law criminalizes not just acts but presence and communication, creating a state of perpetual surveillance and fear. This policing extends into the digital realm, where online ads are monitored, and sex workers' private forums are infiltrated by law enforcement posing as clients.

Understanding these dynamics is essential to grasp the full scope of sex workers' struggles. It is not merely about breaking laws but about the social and institutional forces that seek to define, control, and punish them. As we transition to the next part, we will explore how the identity of the 'prostitute' itself is a social invention, shaped by these very forces of control and stigma, rather than a timeless reality.