Sex Work and Policing in the United States

Prior research on sex worker–police interactions in the United States has primarily focused on regional samples and negative interactions. The current study draws from national sex worker survey data ( N = 440) and seeks to answer two questions: (1) What types of interactions do sex workers have with police, and how frequently do these interactions occur, and (2) Is there an association between legal status of sex work and type of police interactions? Results suggest that sex workers interact with police officers frequently in a range of ways, and that participants’ type of sex work at the time they completed the survey explains the variation in these interactions. The findings support the decriminalization of sex work, the removal of punitive laws, and the implementation of tailored harm reduction strategies. Future research should employ qualitative approaches to explore sex worker–police interactions nationally.