Direct from owner : sex workers’ perspectives on the legislative and social changes necessary in Malta

Abstract

There remains limited research on the opinions of voluntarily engaged sex workers on social and legislative changes that would potentially guarantee their safety and interests. This while it remains non-existent within the local context. This research sought to give a voice to an otherwise unheard community in Malta. This qualitative research saw the participation of four voluntarily engaged sex workers, recruited through social media. All participants have worked in Malta for at least some point in the past five years, in efforts to provide a voice to sex workers to inform national legislation, policy, and service provision. Individual interviews were conducted using the Biographical Narrative Interpretative Method. The emerging themes suggest the complexity of sex work (both the sex worker and the client), as to also how both the geographical and societal smallness of Malta affects sex workers. In this study it is suggested that Malta’s sex industry heavily relies on tourism and migratory sex workers as service providers. This research also raises to prominence the ‘work’ aspect in ‘sex work’ suggesting how participants navigate the stigma, take active decisions concerning their business, also in how they market themselves and the quality of life sustained through sex work. This study reveals tactics to how the participants protect themselves from abusive clients, primarily using technology and by being public about their work, but also bringing to light the lack of trust in the authorities. All participants describe the decriminalisation approach as the legal model where they feel the most secure to operate in, placing them at an advantage to broker arrangements with clients without the need to rush into it. Anti-discrimination legislation is also identified as a necessary step in the efforts to safeguard the interests of sex workers, irrespective of whether an abolitionist or decriminalisation approach is adopted, as this guarantees the opportunity of alternative employment.