ABSTRACT

Research on public perceptions of sex work in the United States (U.S.) has narrowly focused on street sex work, rather than including many other forms of sex work, such as sexual services provided online. With recent federal legislation aimed at addressing human trafficking (FOSTA-SESTA) facing criticism for harming sex workers, especially those who work in online spaces, examining policy preferences for a wide range of forms of sex work is necessary. Analyzing these preferences can help inform policy development that reflects the realities of sex work and protects sex workers’ physical and economic health. Using a web-based survey of U.S. adults (N = 549), policy preferences were examined for the legalization and regulation of sex work. Thirteen forms of sex work were included, varying along dimensions of contact, space (in-person vs virtual), and entrepreneurship. Using a one-way analysis of variance, we examined generational differences in these attributions and found important age-related differences in both policy preferences and the reasons why respondents thought sex work should be illegal. We also addressed previously unexamined attitudinal correlates of these policy preferences using multivariate regression. We found that policy preferences for the illegality of sex work were negatively associated with attitudes toward abortion and positively associated with perceptions of government legitimacy. The findings of this study suggest that there are nuances in public opinion of sex work that are not currently reflected in U.S. policy, with generational differences indicating a shift away from criminalization.

摘要

美国公众对性工作看法的研究主要集中在街头性工作，而不包括许多其他形式的性工作，例如在线提供的性服务。由于最近旨在解决人口贩运问题的联邦立法（FOSTA-SESTA）因伤害性工作者，特别是那些在网络空间工作的性工作者而受到批评，因此有必要审查对各种形式的性工作的政策偏好。分析这些偏好有助于为政策制定提供信息，以反映性工作的现实并保护性工作者的身体和经济健康。通过对美国成年人（N = 549）进行的网络调查，研究了性工作合法化和监管的政策偏好。其中包括十三种形式的性工作，在接触、空间（面对面与虚拟）和创业方面各不相同。使用单向方差分析，我们研究了这些归因的代际差异，发现政策偏好和受访者认为性工作应该非法的原因方面存在与年龄相关的重要差异。我们还使用多元回归解决了之前未经检验的这些政策偏好的态度相关性。我们发现，对性工作非法性的政策偏好与对堕胎的态度呈负相关，与对政府合法性的看法呈正相关。这项研究的结果表明，公众对性工作的看法存在细微差别，而这些细微差别目前并未反映在美国政策中，代际差异表明人们不再将性工作定为犯罪。