2021/11/29 by Chien-Chun Tzeng, Fabien Ohl · 3 citations
Medicine · Psychology · Social Sciences · #2019-20 coronavirus outbreak #Adaptation (eye) #Business #Context (archaeology) #Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) #Demographic economics #Demography #Digital Economy and Work Transformation #Economic growth #Economics #Geography #Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) #Medicine #Pandemic #Political science #Psychology #Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) #Sex work #Sex work and related issues #Sex workers #Sociology #Work (physics)
paper · doi:10.17730/1938-3525-80.4.292
published in Human Organization 80(4), 292-301 (Society for Applied Anthropology)
openalex publication_date 2021/11/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The COVID-19 pandemic primarily affects people in precarious conditions, and sex workers are in a vulnerable position because their occupation is usually considered “dirty work.” Examining the cases in Taiwan, we find that contrary to general imagination, sex workers managed to make their living not only by diversifying their economic activities but also by reorganizing their core services—sex. Moreover, they were able to adapt their relations with peers and clients and gained social capital that empowered them to alleviate negative impacts brought by the pandemic.