Care in the time of COVID-19: sex workers in Paris
Migrants to Europe from the Global South sometimes end up in prostitution, whether forced or voluntary, prompting public health and safety concerns amongst researchers and policymakers. “COVID-19 was a turning point for many involved in prostitution, making their lives even more precarious,” says Brigida Proto, project coordinator of CosmopolitanCare. The project, hosted by the School of Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS) in France, focused on the interaction between welfare workers and Nigerian female sex workers in Paris.
Adapting ethnography for COVID-19
Studies into prostitution and public health have traditionally followed a qualitative or quantitative research perspective. For Proto, this division between observers and observed potentially limits results. Instead, this Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions supported project was designed along ethnography and participatory research principles. “Ethnography makes it possible for researchers to experience daily life, while participatory research enables moments of collective exchange,” explains Proto. Unfortunately, the restrictions put in place during the pandemic’s height meant that Proto had to adapt her approach. “I focused more on networking, both at the local level and internationally, thanks to digital means,” adds Proto. Proto was trained as a volunteer by Aux captifs, la libération (website in French), an association working with refugees and migrants in Paris. During lockdowns she worked as a driver and helped provide welfare assistance alongside social workers and medical professionals on street tours. “Working with the association, I was trusted. I saw the everyday stresses of these women, such as the aftermath of clients’ violence and the consequences of legal limbo,” says Proto.
Grassroots care initiatives
Proto points out that the pandemic actually provided a unique opportunity. “I witnessed first-hand how opportunities for emancipation were influenced by a public health emergency,” she says. According to Proto, the pandemic spurred some sex workers to move from street prostitution to online prostitution, highlighting the welfare link concerns in this area too. Positively, she cites instances of grassroots care initiatives. For example, one trans sex workers’ association quickly set up a social care fund, prior to the first Parisian lockdown, providing health kits, food parcels and a solidarity network to help with housing. While at Aux captifs, la libération, the Nigerian women engaged in initiatives to promote self-esteem and self-care, such as art-based activities for victims of violence and support for women living with HIV. “A new sense of community care seemed to be emerging, holistically focused, but grounded in preventive medicine and an awareness of the specific risks of prostitution,” remarks Proto. The pandemic did seem to encourage some to leave prostitution altogether. According to Proto, during the first lockdown in Paris, demand to transition out of prostitution more than doubled. “The Nigerian women I met were tightrope walkers, balancing traditions with a desire for emancipation – neither purely passive victims of trafficking nor proud militant sex workers,” notes Proto.
A new perspective on human trafficking
CosmopolitanCare challenges the prevailing view that human trafficking is primarily an international human rights or national criminal justice issue. Instead, it suggests it is as much about urban welfare. “We highlight how responding to shocks, such as COVID-19, will increasingly rely on new forms of cooperation between local authorities, institutions and civil society,” says Proto. Proto will now focus on ethnographic observations of asylum procedures alongside reviews of legal dossiers to investigate how justice procedures affect public health issues and Nigerian women’s emancipation. Her research will also collaborate with a UN policy expert on human trafficking and in conjunction with the Safer Cities Programme of UN-Habitat and the European Forum for Urban Security in Paris.
Keywords
CosmopolitanCare, prostitution, sex worker, Paris, welfare, COVID-19, social worker, ethnography, trafficking, violence
