Ensuring the Safety of Streetwalkers

In contrast to modern concerns about the safety of women walking the streets at night, as seen below in the materials from Project SAFE, the police as evidenced by this 1830 document were more concerned with order and that the women present themselves decently (Leur mise devra être décente) rather than dress and prepare practically.

Then:

“Through Parent-Duchâtelet we have some evidence of women working together to build systems of harm reduction in 19th century Paris. They had similar concerns to modern streetwalkers about their personal safety and the danger of plying their trade between the public and private spheres. “A distinctive characteristic of prostitutes is that they rescue and help one another through pains and misfortunes,” writes Parent-Duchâtelet. He particularly cites that they would visit one another in the hospital, take up collections when in prison for girls without suitable shoes and clothing, and serve as nannies for one another’s children. [1] He also mentions instances of women collectively resisting when store merchants tried to force them off the sidewalks. They threatened to break their windows and sometimes did.[2]

Those most concerned with regulating streetwalkers and keeping the public safe, however, were the police, who were often more interested in keeping the streets clear of congestion and “moral” women safe from them. The surviving documentation we do have on prostitutes is usually of this ilk, telling them when they can and cannot appear in the streets, monitoring their dress and hairstyles, and so on. [3] The safety of the streetwalkers does not appear on the list of priorities for the police, and thus, like now, streetwalkers had to educate themselves about the best ways to navigate their situations.

Now:

Streetwalkers today continue to face extreme marginalization as a result of their illicit status. Because of the need to quickly enter into a less visible, more private space with clients, streetwalkers are especially vulnerable to violence. These situations become increasingly more dangerous when streetwalkers have substance use disorders. The illicitness of both sex work and drug use contributes to social isolation, which heightens the risks associated with these activities. [4]  Despite the structural oppression experienced by prostitutes with substance abuse disorders living in severe poverty, streetwalkers exercise agency and critical decision-making, notably through their methods of risk evaluation.  Hierarchies of risk and acceptable behavior become established among most contemporary streetwalkers through the use of oral-storytelling and urban legends. [4] Sex workers circulate oral accounts in which the validity of the details are irrelevant in order to share crucial daily safety practices. For example, because of urban legends about murderers waiting in the backseats of cars, many streetwalkers automatically check the backseats of all cars into which they enter. [4] Typically, these stories have underlying messages about safer sex practices, STI prevention, and dangerous client avoidance. Through shared harm reduction techniques, sex workers create networks of support among themselves to assert a sense of control over their safety and communities.

Unlike the “Prefecture de Police” posters (top) distributed in 1830s Paris which dictate how streetwalkers may acceptably move through public space, the safety tips from sex workers’ rights organizations are created and by and for sex workers, considering their lived experiences and immediate needs. The comic book (above right) contains safer sex information and was produced by and for sex workers with the help of the Dutch state. Similarly, the language guide (left) recognizes that language barriers often not only present the most critical safety risks to prostitutes, but also prevent them from being able to make the most informed choices. HYDRA, a German sex workers’ rights movement, created a language guide with essential German words and contemporary slang to help migrant prostitutes navigate their work more safely in Berlin.   

Project SAFE, a grassroots organization providing advocacy and support for sex workers in Philadelphia, similarly produces educational materials by sex workers for sex workers in order to reduce the risks involved with prostitution. The health guide (below) includes essential information learned from experience about preparation, bodily fluids, the buddy system, and negotiation practices. Unlike the 1830s posters which repeatedly state the specific behaviors in which streetwalkers are forbidden from engaging so as to ostensibly protect the welfare of the public, the Project SAFE health tips focus on the immediate health and social needs of those engaged in prostitution within an illegal and oppressive sociopolitical context. Like many other sex workers’ rights groups, Project SAFE offers comprehensive strategies to eliminate the possibility of attack via the Bad Date Sheet. Bad Date Sheets are given only to prostitutes and have descriptions of men who have inflicted violence toward prostitutes during the job, including their physical appearance, car type, and attack location and time. The Bad Date Sheet aims to raise awareness among streetwalkers and to give them a direct tool for avoiding an experience of assault. Furthermore, Project SAFE offers unwavering support for those who have experienced a rape or attack, not only answering questions and reviewing options, but also “transporting [them] to the hospital for an exam, or helping to file a police report,” essential actions that many streetwalkers do not have access to or do not pursue out of fear. Project SAFE, mostly comprised of people with experience in the sex industry, situates streetwalkers at the helm of control; it expressly notes, “decide what’s best for you,” and thus focuses solely on the well-being of the streetwalker, as opposed to the general public.