In a society when sex work is often misunderstood and misjudged, a San Francisco based infirmary is on a mission to change the societal stigma while making sex workers more comfortable with their lives. During the WGS 302 Queer Lecture Series, they held an information session over zoom to share their mission; “Saint James Infirmary is an occupational health and safety clinic for sex workers. We focus on holistic approach to health care for sex workers, of all genders, and we have an emphasis on social justice as well.”
Priscilla Alexander, author of “Sex Work and Health”, defines these men and women as people who engage in the , “provision of sexual services or performances by one person (sex worker) for which a second person (client to observer) provides money or other markers of economic value.”
Sex work is an umbrella term that includes; street work, escorts, strippers, dominatrix’s, cam girls, phone sex, pornos, sugar babies, and more.
Anita “Durt” O’Shea, a former sex worker who works for the infirmary, addresses the huge societal stigma surrounding sex work. That stigma manifests in multiple ways; violence, rape, murder, mental health issues, family estrangement, police harassment and many more issues. “At St. James Infirmary we’re really trying to address the stigma that happens with sex work… this is where most of the danger of being a sex worker comes from.”
A few types of sex work are legal in the Bay Area, American poet Maya Angelou, who is also known as a former sex worker, participated in stripping/pole dancing, adult films, BDSM and escorting with no penetrative contact.While it is legal, sex workers live with this stigma that makes getting accessible healthcare difficult.
Decriminalizing sex work is an uphill battle, one of which will stop the societal stigma that sex workers face daily. “Sex work is not trafficking. Whole trafficking is a violation of consent that needs to stop, sex workers need to be supported to have the work and the lives that they do consent to, with the most dignified and healthy options given their conditions.” Sex work is consensual and voluntary, while trafficking involves force, abduction, and exploitation.
The 2015 U.S. Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report states that, “When an adult engages in a commercial sex act, such as prostitution, as the result of force, threats of force, fraud, coercion or any combination of such means, that person is a victim of trafficking.” Many anti-trafficking organizations will combine sex workers with trafficking survivors even when there are no markers that they are connected, since a lot of sex workers are doing it consentually.
Brooke Lober, the Harm Reduction Director at St. James, shared more about the healthcare services that they offer. “St. James’ approach is a collective care approach that focuses on “non-judgmental peer-based health care” using the “integration of medical and social services.” Three times a week they bring a van called the “naughty nurse mobile” to well known areas for sex workers so they can distribute safer supplies. They also have the walk-in clinic that is open a couple days a week offering their services. Their clinic services, which range from STI testing to peer to counseling to trans healthcare, to a clothing closet and everything in between.
If you would like to assist St. James with helping sex workers, you can make a one-time donation, or become a monthly sustainer. You can always donate clothing, buy their merchandise, or volunteer remotely during the pandemic. For more information about how they help sex workers, you can visit stjamesinfirmary.org.
