A presentation by Mira Fey

Report by Vanessa Gauthier Vela

In the context of the Gender Seminar Series, Mira Fey presented her research on the implementation of the Geneva prostitution law of 2009. She asked how prostitution policies affect the policing of prostitution. The subject of how the law translates into everyday interactions between sex workers and police is a part of her PhD research at the Graduate Institute.

Using document-based research, semi-structured interviews, participant observation and direct observation, Fey gathered a rich data collection in relation to legal Geneva sex workers interacting with the prostitution task force and the local police. On the different levels of policing, going from complete prohibition to decriminalisation, she focuses on the regulation system enforced in Geneva, drawing on scientific literature that is still underdeveloped.

Her first findings highlight a mismatch between the goals and directives of the prostitution law. The protection logic is unclear compared to the importance and the clarity of the regulation logic. Protection thus becomes regulation and it remains unclear how to protect sex workers compared to simply controlling them. The analysis of gender attitudes in the Prostitution Unit reveals a masculinist logic. The officers’ understanding of this task is to protect women from male violence and one can further find a contradictory position on the question of the inclusion of more women officers in the unit. Thus, the officers understand their task as outreach work, implying that they need to build relations of trust with sex workers because knowing them makes their work more efficient. The officers also state that they do not face direct violence. Still their masculinist logic is further revealed when they claim that the strength of a man is necessary when dealing with dangerous situations. The researcher furthermore observes a non-recognition of male sex workers. The translation of directives into practices is also challenging when it comes to the relationship between the police and sex workers. In this respect, another set of factors need to be considered. Indeed, this relationship is dynamic and depends as much on the script of practices of the police and the repeated interactions as it depends on prior attitudes towards the police of the sex workers who come from different countries. Then, the most marginalised and least protected sex workers are those for whom the informal scripts of practice are not applicable because repeated interactions seldom occur and might be hindered by control through pimps or traffickers. If they come from countries with low trust in police generally, they may be more reluctant to address the police in the case of violence also in Geneva. Thus, interactions with police officers are highly connected to migration policies.

Underlining the interactions between police and sex workers in a regulatory framework, Fey’s research is showing us aspects of prostitution that are not well known yet. Her substantial data collection in the context of Geneva helps us understand how protection is translated into practices, and what protection means for the protectors.

Mira Fey is a Ph.D. candidate in International Relations/Political Science at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. In her research, Mira carries out ethnographic research in the Geneva red-light district and beyond, looking at how international norms on prostitution and trafficking are translated into everyday police action through the Geneva prostitution law. She carries out participant observation and interviews with the police, sex worker support organizations, and sex workers. Mira is a PhD Affiliate with the Gender Center at the Institute. She is also a Research Assistant for the Garrison State Project. Within the Garrison State Project, she is focusing mainly on translating and coding debates from the German parliament from 1952–2003.