The Oldest Profession: Homelessness, Sex Work, and Survival Sex

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According to a 2004 study on drug-involved female sex workers in Miami, Florida, nearly 45% (44.7%) of the participants in the study were homeless.(Surratt, H. L., Inciardi, J. A., Kurtz, S. P., & Kiley, M. C. (2004). Sex Work and Drug Use in a Subculture of Violence. Crime and Delinquency, 50(1), 43–59. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128703258875)


A large number of sex workers are homeless and due to the legal charges many of them faced, they carry a criminal record. This forces them not to have access to housing. The vast majority of renters will refuse to rent to tenants with a criminal history. 


Sex workers are defined as “...adults who receive money or goods in exchange for consensual sexual services or erotic performances, either regularly or occasionally”(“Clearing up Some Myths about Sex Work.” Open Society Foundations. Accessed March 15, 2023. https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/explainers/understanding-sex-work-open-society). On the other hand, “Survival Sex” is the “exchange of sex for food, money, shelter, drugs, and other needs and wants” (Walls NE, & Bell S (2011). Correlates of engaging in survival sex among homeless youth and young adults. Journal of Sex Research, 48, 423–436. doi: 10.1080/00224499.2010.501916).


Unhoused sex workers who may have started as consenting and participatory members of the sex trade industry, because of their record and subsequent inability to access safe and reliable housing, are forced to rely on sex to fulfill their basic needs where the “conversion” from the sex trade to survival sex takes place.


Housing is a human right regardless of your profession, that’s why No Justice No Pride (NJNP), located in Washington DC aims to provide housing, and community support to BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color), Queer, and Trans unhoused sex workers in their communities. NJNP provides permanent, long-term, short-term, and transitional housing to their community. In addition to housing, they support their community with “...finding employment, access to the jail and legal support, help to access financial services, government administration services and more.


If you would like to help support the work NJNP is doing to build community and empowerment in their community, they offer multiple ways to support beyond donating on their “Ways to Support” page on their website.


Works Consulted:


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3170620/

https://www.pdxswrp.org/get-involved

https://www.pdxmonthly.com/news-and-city-life/2018/10/this-nonprofit-supports-portland-s-sex-workers

https://givingcompass.org/article/prostitution-and-homelessness

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