“Sex work” refers to the act of selling sex. As a term, “sex work” was coined by activist Carol Leigh in 1978 and subsequently popularized in the United States through multiple campaigns led by sex workers who demanded protection, decriminalization, end to their stigmatization, and equal rights(1). Thus, the use of the term “sex work” can be regarded as a statement in support of sex workers’ rights and to an end to their criminalization and discrimination(2). Sex work includes all acts of selling sex: prostitution, porn, stripping, internet and phone sex, etc. The term “prostitution” continues to be used by some, but is associated with several negative connotations and a history of stigmatization. Prostitution has been linked with dire economic conditions, poverty, war, and with trafficking in women who are then forced into the sex industry against their will. Recent policies have attempted to separate the crime of trafficking from consensual sex work.

Contemporary debates on sex work as well as policies towards it have been split along at least three different lines, including abolitionism, legalization, and decriminalization(3). The abolitionist stance argues that the sale of sex to men should be eliminated primarily because its existence is only possible due to unequal patriarchal gender relations which facilitate men’s access to women’s bodies, who are frequently socially disadvantaged (see Patriarchy and Feminism). Radical feminism has traditionally supported the abolitionist stance arguing that overall discrimination against women is only further perpetuated through the sex industry, but often failed to see the class dimensions of sex work (see Intersectionality).

Legalizing and decriminalizing(4) sex work are two different approaches to regulating the sex industry. Legalizing means creating laws that regulate the buying and the selling of sex, with for example forced health check-ups for sex workers and specified places of work. Decriminalization refers to cancelling all laws that criminalize buyers and sellers of sex work (but does not equate to cancelling of laws against trafficking) thereby easing sex workers’ ability to report crimes against them and access adequate health care services. Various states have experimented with the above approaches to different degrees of success and criticism. For example, the “Swedish model” includes punishing the buying of sex but does not criminalize selling it. While this approach aims to facilitate sex workers’ access to rights, health care, and protection, it still drives a part of sex work underground.

In Lebanon, legal sex work is regulated only through the so-called super nightclubs, which are allowed to hire foreign workers under the “artist” visa. However, women who are hired in these clubs are sometimes trafficked and forced into the industry, and usually their passports are taken away from them upon their entry to the country(5). Sex work outside of these clubs is criminalized through a number of articles in the Penal Code which not only target sex workers themselves but also those who facilitate sex work or administer it(6). The issue continues to be debated publicly mainly through initiatives, research(7), and a campaign by the local NGO Kafa targeting primarily male sex buyers and the patriarchal attitudes that enable violence against women through the form of forced sex work(8). The campaign overall favors abolitionism and has been critiqued for not taking into account the different ways in which sex work is organized in Beirut outside of the super nightclubs, and how criminalization affects certain groups of sex workers including transwomen(9) and gay and queer men.