By Derek J. Demeri
Every day, sex workers must navigate complex social attitudes as they seek to access public accommodations, housing, healthcare, financial services, alternative forms of employment, and other fundamental necessities.
All too often, enjoyment of these life activities is denied or altered for no reason other than for someone having engaged in — or perceived as having engaged in — sex work. Even if sex work was performed only once, this stigma attaches as a lifelong, permanent scarlet letter that grants the malevolent a license to victimize.
This historical and persistent discrimination has a deep and lasting effect on sex workers’ existence. Take for example a high school educator with over 20 years of experience who was targeted in a morality crusade because she previously worked as an exotic dancer.
Or consider a young person barely surviving on minimum-wage jobs while they are sexually harassed by their landlord because of their perceived involvement in sex work. Should someone in this common scenario be forced to endure a hostile living environment without legal recourse?
As the New Jersey Red Umbrella Alliance, our state’s only sex worker rights and support organization, describes in a needs assessment conducted in 2017-18, approximately six out of 10 New Jersey sex workers have been discriminated against because of perceived discrimination against sex workers.
Thankfully, a framework already exists to address this systemic discrimination. The New...
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