‘The Law Was in My Favour’: Sex Work Laws, Police Power and the Experiences of Sex Workers in New Zealand, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland

Abstract It is widely acknowledged that sex workers face barriers accessing justice globally, due to variants of criminalization. As gatekeepers to the formal justice system, the police have a crucial role in facilitating access to justice. It is important to examine how sex workers perceive and experience police, and how laws may impact this. This article compares the experiences of 70 sex workers interviewed in New Zealand, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland. The findings demonstrate that the Nordic model and other forms of criminalization inhibit access to justice, expand police power over sex workers and enable police violence. We argue that the decriminalization of sex work is essential to support access to justice and limit police power over sex workers.