Men Selling Sex to Men in Sweden: Balancing Safety and Risk

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine how men who sell sex to men perceive the risks in this activity and what experiences they have of actual denigration, threats, and violence in their relations with customers. We also discuss the self-defense strategies they have used to protect themselves. The study is based on an Internet survey on Swedish websites. Statistical analyses have been carried out, and in interpreting the results, Finkelhor and Asdigian’s revised routine activities theory has been used. The results show that the vulnerability of sellers of sex is greatest during the time when the sexual act is being performed, and that this is primarily linked to the customer’s antagonism and seeking gratification by overstepping agreed boundaries, particularly with regard to sexual services including BDSM. Their vulnerability was also connected to the seller’s diminished capacity for self-protection due to personal and external pressures. A smaller proportion of the men described risk prevention activities. These involved refusing a customer after an initial contact, protecting themselves from infection, being on their guard during the whole process, selecting the place, and deciding not to carry out certain sexual acts. An important implication concerns the occupational health and safety that men who sell sex to men can develop for themselves, while remaining within the law. International studies have demonstrated that selling sex in collective, indoor forms provides the greatest security. For decades, Swedish prostitution policy has had the ambition of reducing prostitution through targeting those who purchase sex, and those who promote prostitution in criminal legislation. This effectively prevents more systematic and collective attempts to create safer conditions for selling sex. In conclusion, it can be stated that while it is legal to sell sex in Sweden, this is done at the seller’s own risk.

Keywords

male sex worker revised routine activities theory vulnerability sexual violence Sweden

Both generally (Dennis, 2008) and particularly, when it comes to perceived risks of threats and violence, scientific evidence is sparse about men who sell sex to men. Since the 1980s, the issues that have received the most attention are related to health risks in connection with HIV/AIDS (Ballester, Salmerón, Gil, & Gómez, 2012; Landers et al., 2014). Studies of other forms of vulnerability and risk are far fewer, despite Browne and Minichiello (1996) specifically calling for this type of research. It appears that knowledge about how men who sell sex to men can mitigate risks related to these activities is sparse.

With our research, we want to contribute to this knowledge by studying how men who sell sex to men perceive the risks in this activity, and what experiences they have of actual denigration, threats, and violence in their relations with customers. We also discuss the self-defense strategies they have used to protect themselves.

In the research that does exist, knowledge about the risks involved in this sex trade varies. For example, Scott, Minichiello, and Mariño (2005) argue that clients seldom assault male sex workers. They refer to two larger studies from Australia where, in relation to around 2000 individual transactions, 3.9% of sex workers reported incidents of violence. In the other study, from Argentina, the number was even lower, 1.7% of men reporting experiences of violence. On the contrary, a relatively large number of men—some 11.8%—report violence on the part of the police. In half of these cases, it is reported that the police also demanded money.

The street is often described as a dangerous environment for sex transactions, for both women and men (Sanders & Campbell, 2007; Valera, Sawyer, & Schiraldi, 2001; Weinberg, Shaver, & Williams, 1999). In Kaye’s (2007) qualitative study of men selling sex on the street in the United States, informants experienced that they needed to be constantly on their guard. As selling sex was illegal, whenever they were victims of crime, they never reported it to the police. The men developed various self-defense strategies which included presenting themselves as tough and aggressive. In certain situations, they sought support from other men selling sex on the street. In addition, they tried to avoid clients who appeared dangerous. Even faith in higher powers, in the form of amulets, appeared as a strategy.

In a Danish study, comparisons of the risks associated with different types of activities and different environments were made (Kofod et al., 2011). Men and women who sold sex were asked about their experiences of non-consensual physical violence in connection with selling sex the previous year (i.e., 2010). When it came to escort services, 25% of the men and 35% of the women had experienced one or more occasions of violence. Of the different places of work, clinics¹ were regarded as the safest (4% experiencing violence), while the street was the most dangerous (41% experiencing violence). These figures refer to both women and men.

In the same study, there was an additional focus on the strategies used by men and women to mitigate risks. In escort services, assessments of the client were made from information available on the Internet, as well as telephone and chat conversations prior to the meeting. Informants also reported taking phones with them on assignments, so that they could remain in contact with others in case undesired situations arose. In some cases, it was also reported that they had a driver as a backup. At the clinics, they had video surveillance cameras, receptionists, other sex workers, and in some cases also alarms. For those selling sex on the street, there were no such risk prevention opportunities; instead, they attempted to carry out an overall assessment of the client, in terms of their appearance, the car driven, and what was inside. The experiences of other sex workers were also important. Similar to the men in Kaye’s study, these street sex workers demonstrated a tough attitude.

Similar preventive strategies have been found in a Swedish study by Larsdotter, Jonsson, and Gäredal (2011). Besides these, the authors also emphasize the importance of negotiations about price, the type of service, the place, and of creating clear boundaries to increase safety around the transaction. In this study too, it was found that those working alone were more vulnerable than those working with other men who also sold sex, or other friends.

Several of these studies indicate how both risks of violence and experiences of violence are lowest in environments where systematic precautions exist. These security measures are best achieved in indoor environments, such as clinics. Similarly, Weitzer (2005) suggests that the research indicates that the rates of all forms of violence are lower indoors, compared with the street. West’s (2013) study of men selling sex on streets and indoors and Brents and Hausbeck’s (2005) study of brothel prostitution, in Nevada, support this picture. At the same time, Sanders and Campbell (2007) argue that even if risks and violence are reduced in indoor environments, those selling sex can still be exploited by those who own and run the establishments.

Perspectives on Violence and Expressive Crimes

In their classic routine activities theory, Cohen and Felson (1979) argue that crimes occur when the perpetrator is motivated and directs attention to a particular object/individual that lacks sufficient protection. Originally, this theory was developed to explain property crimes in the United States but without further analysis of the perpetrator’s drivers. This theory has been revised by Finkelhor and Asdigian (1996) to explain more expressive and emotionally related crimes, with a focus on the perpetrator’s motives and how these are connected to the selection of the victim. They call the interaction between the perpetrator and the victim “target congruence,” which in turn comprises three components: antagonism, gratification, and vulnerability.

Waldner and Berg (2008) have used this revised routine activity theory to analyze antigay violence. When it comes to antagonism, their view is that it is linked to the perpetrator’s aggression, grounded in homophobia, and in defense of heterosexual masculinity norms. Gratification relates to the fact that the victim is, or represents, something that provides a type of reward for the perpetrator. Vulnerability in turn involves the perpetrator’s evaluation of the defense capabilities of the victim. Waldner and Berg concluded, the evaluation that the victim is weak can be consequent on the effects of alcohol or drugs, or because the victim is perceived as being physically weak.

Finkelhor and Asdigian (1996) also discussed the influence of the context and general perceptions. For example, Waldner and Berg stated in their study that negative views of homosexuality among the general public contributed to an increased tendency for crimes to be committed against gay people, and well-known gay hangouts were often places where this violence took place.

We believe that the concept of target congruence, when it comes to interaction and correspondence between perpetrator and victim, can be used to analyze perceptions of risks and experiences of denigration, threats, and violence in our study. In contrast to Waldner and Berg’s study, as both the sellers and buyers of sex are of the same gender, it would be expected that this nexus reduces the likelihood of antigay violence and antagonism. However, the men in our study who sell sex are both homosexual and bisexual and, based on this, are affected by what is termed the “double closet” (Koken, Bimbi, Parsons, & Halkitis, 2004) which creates a strong stigmatization in relation to society as a whole. This in turn may lead to increased isolation and vulnerability. Other contextual factors that can be mentioned include social policy and legislation. In contrast to the previously mentioned study of Kofod et al. (2011) which referred to Denmark, where neither buying or selling of sex is prohibited, in Sweden buying sexual services has been a criminal offense since 1999.² Indeed, even the promotion of prostitution is forbidden by law.³ However, the selling of sex is not a criminal offense.

Several researchers argue that these contextual and structural factors are important for how the use of violence against those who sell sex is legitimized. For example, Scott, Minichiello, and Mariño (2005) argue that violence in sexual transactions is not a consequence of public policy, but constitutes an important part of it, in that policy instantiates certain gendered and sexual regimes and social order. Other researchers as Williamson and Folaron (2001) discuss violence in sexual relations in similar terms, arguing that women can be attacked simply because gender norms are established from a nonfeminist perspective. Men who sell sex can be attacked because they represent a threat to male norms.

Method

The study reported in this article is part of a larger research project conducted during the period 2011-2015. The aim of this larger project was to examine how men and transgender individuals with experience of receiving and/or providing sex for payment think about and relate to the possible risks that are involved.

The quantitative and qualitative analyses in this study and the current article are based on the responses of individuals who self-identified themselves as only men and who reported experiences of selling sex. Because transgender respondents were so few, about 10, we have not been able to include them in this study.

The purpose of this study was to examine how men who sell sex to men perceive the risks involved in this activity and what experiences they have of actual denigration, threats, and violence in their relations with customers. We also discuss the defense strategies they have used to protect themselves.

Internet Survey as a Method

The literature on Internet surveys describes both pros and cons of this method in relation to paper-based surveys. The Internet survey is perceived as cost-effective and fast to do compared with posted paper surveys. Furthermore, the Internet survey can reduce the errors that easily occur when respondents physically complete a survey (Rhodes, Bowie, & Hergenrather, 2003). One of the major benefits is that, through the Internet, researchers can reach anonymous individuals and groups whose contact details are unavailable. Through websites and chat forums, one can effectively come into contact with these individuals, and also protect their anonymity better than in a posted paper surveys. This is particularly important when studying stigmatized groups and sensitive themes (Trost & Hultåker, 2016). One of the disadvantages of Internet surveys which by their nature entail self-selection of respondents is that it is very difficult to create statistically representative groups. It is also difficult to check if one and the same person has responded to the survey more than once. Other problems that may arise are that those who do not have computer or have outdated software cannot participate in such surveys (Trost & Hultåker, 2016). There are several studies about how valid Internet surveys are compared with paper surveys, but few of them concern as sensitive a subject area as our study. Ross, Tikkanen, and Månsson (2000) compared these two models in a study of the sexual habits of men who have sex with men . They found that, in relation to respondents to the paper survey, those who participated in the Internet survey were younger, more frequently lived with their parents or a girlfriend, lived less frequently in metropolitan areas, had lower levels of education, had had fewer sexual experiences, where more often bisexual, and were on the Internet more often than those who responded to paper survey.

Even though we cannot do this kind of comparison in our study, it is very likely that even in our study there is bias of similar kinds. But because we have nothing to compare with, it is difficult to estimate the extent of this bias. However, in our opinion, the value of our study is not found in statistical representativeness, but in the fact that in our study we have managed to get many men to participate and communicate their experiences and knowledge on highly sensitive issues. This is of particular value in an important area that remains largely unexamined. As argued by Szklo (1998), nonpopulation cohorts have contributed important knowledge on sensitive health issues. Self-selection surveys have also been used before us, where the researchers have wanted to reach less visible populations, such as men who have sex with men (Wallander, Tikkanen, Mannheimer, Östergren, & Plantin, 2015).

Internet Survey in This Study

The empirical data was collected by means of a survey, and respondents were contacted through a Swedish website which targets LGBTQ individuals and which functions as a discussion and contact forum. This is the largest LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer) web-based community in the Nordic countries with over 100,000 members. However, openly offering sex in return for payment is prohibited on the site. A short piece about the study was posted on the website in the form of a banner which people could click on to access the survey. The same banner was also placed on the website of an organization working with LGBTQ issues.

Ethical Questions

Ethical issues are especially important when it comes to this type of personal and sensitive information. Participation in the survey was voluntary. Respondents received no reimbursement for their participation. The survey clearly stated that no email addresses or IP numbers would be registered. Interviews could be canceled at any time, and the survey could be terminated at any time by clicking on the button “Cancel and clear replies.” The survey also referred to our website where there were instructions on how to remove browser history from the computer being used. The local Ethics Review Board in Sweden approved the main research project of which this study is a part, and its method and approach.

About Concepts Such as Risk, Denigration, Threats, and Violence

There are quite a few texts about most of these concepts in the literature. In our study, these concepts are important, too. At the beginning of our survey, we informed respondents about the purpose of the main study: In this study, we are particularly interested in knowing how men who have the experience of getting payment for sex with other men perceive various risk and their approach mitigating them, and any experiences they may have had of denigration, threats, and violence.

In this way, we distinguished between perceptions of and approaches to mitigating risks of unpleasant and unwelcome events in the future, and actual experiences of these unpleasant and unwelcome events in the forms of threats, denigration, and violence. Even in the survey, we separated questions that were linked to perceptions of risks and approaches to mitigating risks and those linked to experiences of actual events. This article focuses only on the risks of denigration, threats, and violence associated with the customer, because the responses we received in relation to other actors were too few to include.

Questions in the Survey

The quantitative questions in our study are mainly based on previous research on the vulnerability of sex sellers in relation to their customers. Discussions with our reference group have also been important in this process. They had done a similar study and has a solid clinical experience of men who sell sex to men. Based on this knowledge, we could notice that there were some interesting but not unexplored themes, such as question of risk experiences during the whole process of selling sex. Other questions in our study had been approached earlier, but seldom through a quantitative study as ours and especially not in Sweden.

The areas in focus in the survey included the following: personal information, factors contributing to the person’s involvement in the sex trade, arenas and methods of establishing contact, types of sexual services provided, and above all men’s perceptions of risks and approaches to mitigating these risks as well as their actual experiences of denigration, threats, and violence, and their preventive strategies.

The specific questions that we analyze in this article were formulated as follows in the survey: In Table 3, the question asked in the survey about risks was “How risky did you experience the followings situations to be the last time you were paid for sexual services?” In Table 4, we asked about the vulnerability related to denigration, threats, and violence: “Did you experience any of the following on the most recent occasion when you received payment for sex? If you now instead think of all of the occasions when you received payment for sex, have you ever experienced any of the following?” Table 5 is about broken agreements: “Did you experience any of the following events the last time you received payment for sexual services? Did you experience any of the following events at any time you have received payment for sexual services?” Table 6 is about strategies for selling safer sex: “How did you try to prevent various negative events the last time you received payment for sexual services?”

When it comes to qualitative material in this article we have obtained it from the open questions and from the men’s written comments at the end of the survey. We urged the men to express their thoughts freely about our study and other related questions they wanted to discuss. A number of the men took advantage of this opportunity and we received many interesting stories and comments.

The Last Occasion as an Indicator

Some of the questions in the survey focused on the most recent occasion that the respondent had received payment for sex. The advantage of this approach is that it generates cross-sectional data in the study regarding these experiences. Cross-sectional data can also provide an indication of occurrence over time. If the same question regarding the most recent occasion is repeated in a later study, for example, a few years later, you can get an indication of whether changes have occurred by comparing the two sets of data. For example, a study of American adolescents shows that in relation to sexual risk-taking and condom use, “the most recent occasion” is a reliable and valid metric at an aggregate level (Younge et al., 2008). The most recent occasion has been used in several large studies on sexualities, for example, a large European study on MSM and HIV—the European MSM Internet Survey (Weatherburn et al., 2013).

Reliability and Validity

When we received all the surveys, we first checked that the survey was completed in full and that the responses seemed reasonable. We removed surveys that were not complete or appeared unscrupulous. We were not able to check the IP address nor if one and the same person responded several times. However, when examining the responses, nothing emerged as evidence of this.

In our study, we had a lot of cooperation with our reference group. They participated in the development of the questions in the survey, and we have also presented the results to them. They perceived the results as both interesting and reasonable in relation to their experience and knowledge.

Analysis of the Material

The data were processed and analyzed using the statistics program SPSS version 22. Different estimates of frequencies and comparative analyses using cross tabulations and factor analyses were done initially to obtain the most relevant descriptive and comparative statistics in relation to the purpose of this article from the raw data.

The more theoretical part of the analysis occurred inductively after we found interesting and significant patterns in the data concerning risk mitigation, denigration, threats, and violence. We noticed that the revised routine activity theory by Finkelhor and Asdigian (1996) functioned very well for understanding the risks of violence in the interaction between men who sell sex and their customers. When we began to analyze the material in light of this theory, new discoveries emerged and in-depth interpretation could be done. In other words, our analysis became more deductive in this later phase.

As mentioned before the qualitative material in this article is collected through the open sections in the questionnaire. In the first phase, we made inductive analysis of these statements to create different patterns and categories. In the second phase, we selected those parts of this material that in a constructive way deepened and nuanced the analyses of the themes that we had obtained in the quantitative and theoretical analysis. Also Silverman (2004) and Bryman (2006) point to the advantages of combining both quantitative and qualitative materials because it can provide better interpretation and validation of results.

Sample Description

The quantitative analyses reported in this section are based on the responses of 156 men who reported that they at some point in their life had sold sex. Table 1 shows the number of sales the men report. Four men did not respond to this question.

Table 1.

Number of Sex Sales (N = 156).

Total Sales	1	2-10	11-40	41-	Total
Number of men	41	50	35	26	152
%	27	33	23	17	100

Table 2.

Men’s age (N = 156).

Age	15-22	23-31	32-41	42-51	52-	Total
Number of men	29	33	19	9	5	95
%	31	35	20	9	5	100

Only 95 of the 156 responded to the question concerning age. It is hard to know the reasons for this, and the amount of missing data means that the results must be treated with caution. Other questions too are missing data from all respondents. Analyses of this drop-off rate within the survey indicate that it was primarily men who only sold sex once who did not respond to all of the questions.

In relation to sexual self-identification, we asked the respondents, “How do you regard yourself?” This question was answered by all of the 156 respondents, of whom 91 self-identified themselves as exclusively homosexual, 53 as exclusively bisexual, three as both homosexual and bisexual, two as both heterosexual and bisexual, and seven as exclusively heterosexual.

Three quarters of the men had gained contact with their clients via the Internet on the most recent occasion they had sold sex. The remainder of the men gained contact with their clients at pubs and while cruising at sex cinemas and saunas, on the street, and through friends and acquaintances.

Results

In this section, we present the results of our analyses relating to the men’s perceptions of risks and approaches to mitigating risks and their experiences of denigration, threats, and violence. Furthermore, we discuss the strategies they use to minimize these risks and their vulnerability. The focus of the analyses in this section is in the sexual transaction, as it turned out to be the most risky and violent phase of the entire process.

Risk From a Process Perspective

In the research previously discussed, we did not find any studies that have closely examined perceived risks from a process perspective. One of our aims was to examine the entirety of the transactional process. The question in the survey was “How risky did you experience the followings situations to be, the last time you received payment for sexual services?”

From Table 3, it appears that just below 30% of the participants experienced some level of risk at the negotiation stage. Here, it needs to be noted that the negotiations often took place anonymously, for example, via Internet chat, or via phone.

Table 3.

Perception of Risk During the Sale Process (N = 156).

Degree of Risk	Number					%
Degree of Risk	A	B	C	D	E	A	B	C	D	E
No degree	99	73	94	106	111	71	52	68	76	80
Low degree	32	51	35	28	20	23	37	25	20	15
High degree	8	15	10	5	7	6	11	7	4	5
Total	139	139	139	139	138	100	100	100	100	100

Note. A = during negotiations; B = during the transaction; C = when receiving remuneration; D = when leaving the situation; E = afterward.

Table 4.

Experiences of Denigration, Threats, and Violence From a Customer on the Most Recent Occasion, and Across All Occasions When Selling Sex (N = 156).

	Experiences From the Most Recent Occasion (n = 141)		Experiences From All Occasions (n = 137)
	Number	%	Number	%
A	29	21	49	36
B	20	14	37	27
C	9	7	26	19
D	3	2	18	13

Note. A = denigrating words; B = physical violence of a sexual nature (sexual violence); C = threatening words; D = physical violence.

Table 5.

Broken Agreements, on the Most Recent Occasion and Across All Occasions When Sex Has Been Sold (N = 156).

	On the Most Recent Occasion (n = 141)		From All Occasions (n = 137)
	Number	%	Number	%
A	25	18	55	40
B	13	9	23	17
C	12	9	38	28
D	5	4	18	13

Note. A = had to carry out more and different services than agreed; B = the customer took off the condom without permission; C = received less payment than agreed; D = did not receive any payment.

Table 6.

Strategies for Safer Selling of Sex (N = 156).

	Number	%
I chose to protect myself against infection	26	19
I was on my guard during the whole process	21	15
I avoided certain customers after the first contact	20	14
I refrained from alcohol and drugs	19	14
I chose the place for the meeting	17	12
I chose not to carry out certain sexual acts	14	10
I presented myself as being self-confident	14	10
I checked out the customer on the Internet	12	9
I had a weapon with me	9	6
I had a guard with me	3	2

A large proportion (48%) indicated that they perceived the highest level of risk during the performance of the sexual service itself. At the time of receiving payment, the perceived risk reduces to 32%. When payment is received, and when they left the situation, this perceived risk reduces further to 24%. Finally, afterward, 20% perceived some level of risk.

It is perhaps hardly surprising that the actual sexual transaction is associated with the highest level of perceived risk. However, it was less anticipated that a proportion of the participants perceived a level of risk at the negotiation stage and at the point when they left the situation. This may indicate that some men are worried about potential negative consequences, most likely related to selling sex, and probably also related to their sexual orientation.

As previously discussed, cultural and institutional value positions concerning both homosexuals and people who sell sex contribute to a form of double stigmatization, or a “double closet” for men who sell sex to men (Koken et al., 2004). The fear of being outed is probably an enduring experience. Consequently, many men are careful about revealing their sexual orientation and that they sell sex (Kofod et al., 2011; Koken et al., 2004; Palhamn, 2016).

In our study, participants were also asked about the degree to which different circumstances had contributed to their most recent sale. The analyses generated four themes; here, the circumstances most frequently reported and appearing as most central are listed first: (a) the importance of payment, (b) the importance of the respondent’s own sexuality, (c) the importance of relational aspects, and (d) the importance of internal and external pressures.

When making comparisons between perceived risks in relation to these circumstances, the analysis shows that those who perceived the highest risk at the time of the actual transaction, were also the respondents who indicated some form of internal or external pressure as an important circumstance at the time of their most recent sale of sex. Over 60% of these men perceived risks at the time of the transaction. Looking at these factors in more detail, they entailed the seller’s own psychological ill-health (68%), coercion from the customer (61%), or being under the influence of alcohol or drugs (61%).

Among the responses to the open option, statements revealed what inner pressures could be found: “In my strong desire to prostitute myself are feelings of shame stemming from childhood, they grow and become a form of power.” Another man identifies a problematic relationship with a former partner as an important contributing factor:

Lived during that time in a very destructive relationship where I was often exposed to physical, psychological and sexual violence. After a while you learn how to switch off and you respond like an empty shell. Was easy to get guys/men and I felt that I could just as well earn money from my “shell” instead of it just being used.

This quote reveals personal experiences that have contributed to a form of internal pressure that also extends to selling sex. This suggests that this type of experience can, in some instances, lead to reduced self-control and increased vulnerability, when selling sex.

In conclusion, it is our interpretation that perceptions of risk arise out of the interplay of a number of personal circumstances that can be discussed in the main in terms of internal and external pressures, and the social stigmatization of men who sell sex to men.

Vulnerability Related to Denigration, Threats, and Violence

In our study, we not only investigated risk as a perception and fear, but also attempted to identify the actual circumstances of denigration, threats, and violence that these men have experienced as a consequence of selling sex. The survey contained two questions on this topic:

Did you experience any of the following on the most recent occasion when you received payment for sex?

If you now instead think of all of the occasions when you received payment for sex, have you ever experienced any of the following?

Experiences both from the most recent occasion and from all occasions show that denigrating words from the customer are relatively common, as 21% and 36%, respectively, of the men reported such occurrences. Verbal threats were rarer as 7% and 19%, respectively, of the men had these experiences. When it comes to physical violence, only 2% of the men experienced violence on the most recent occasion, and 13% experienced physical violence across all occasions.

In the survey, we have avoided using the term rape, as this is strongly associated with heterosexual relationships, and because men who are raped by another man do not always recognize this as rape (Knutagård, 2009). Instead, we use the term “physical violence of a sexual nature.” Experiences from the most recent occasion showed that 14% of the men had experienced sexual violence, and this increased to 27% across all occasions. Even if the term rape is not used in the survey, it is interesting to note that one of the men, in a response to the open question, actually wrote the word “rape.” How a high-risk situation can be experienced is illustrated in the following description provided by one of the respondents:

Happens sometimes that more men turn up. Friends of the customer. So, you have to carry out services for free. Everything. The violence increases when there is a group of men. You are a dirty whore because you need to scrape together for bills, things that other people take for granted.

Financial need emerges here as an important risk factor in that the option to avoid certain customers appears to decrease with the need to make basic payments. Here we also see how society’s denigration is reflected in utterances such as “dirty whore.” Some of the respondents also describe how violence can arise in the actual situation of providing a service: “[he] was violent when he had got inside me and violently came to his orgasm.” Here it appears that the seller experiences the customer’s behavior during the act of anal sex as violent. This indicates that there are certain services provided by sellers that increase their vulnerability and where they do not have control over the situation.

Risky sexual services

In a comparative analysis of experiences of sexual violence in relation to the services that the men sold on the most recent occasion, we could note that certain services are more strongly related to sexual violence than others. In this context, it is important to note that, on average, the men sold about three services on the previous occasion that a transaction took place. Only 15 men sold bondage, but of these, six (40%) experienced sexual violence. Of the 30 men who sold dominance, 10 (33%) experienced sexual violence. Of the 14 who sold SM (sadomasochism), four (29%) experienced sexual violence, and of the 87 who sold anal sex, 18 (21%) experienced sexual violence. These percentages are relatively high in relation to the 14% of men who on average reported experiencing sexual violence on the previous occasion they sold sex. On this basis, we claim that certain services constitute a greater risk of violence because they can reduce the seller’s defense capabilities and therefore provide an opportunity for antagonistically or otherwise motivated customers to carry out their own agendas. For men who do not assume a passive role when selling sex, the risks appear to be lower:

I am a young man who is studying and working part-time. And I first started to sell sex about 18 months ago, in part because I have a high sex drive, but also because I was short of money at the time. After that it was a little sporadic. Have only been active when I have sold sex, and have mostly sold sex to submissive men who like to be dominated by masculine men. Have never experienced anything negative, either financially or physically, and always enjoy it.

In this description, it appears that there is a strong sense of agency which is grounded in the fact that this respondent sells sex sporadically, for his own pleasure, and has the opportunity to select his customers. Compared with men who experience stronger internal and external pressures, and who prefer more passive roles in the services they provide, this man appears to be much less at risk of exposure to violence.

In a Danish research (Kofod et al., 2011), it was noted that 25% of men working as escorts had experienced physical violence in connection with selling sex over the period of a year (2010). This proportion appears high in comparison with our findings, where 27% of men report having been the victim of sexual violence over the totality of the time they have sold sex. However, this can be related to the fact that for the men in this Danish study, selling sex is a more regular occupation and they offer more services than the Swedish men. It can also be noted that both Danish and Swedish escort services involve greater violence compared with clinics in Denmark (only 4% in 2010).

To conclude, it is notable that the customer’s potentially transgressional tendencies and antagonism are afforded greater opportunities for expression when the seller’s vulnerability is enhanced, which is evidenced in the context of selling BDSM services and when sex is sold on an individual basis, and not in organized forms such as in clinics in Denmark.

Vulnerability, Violence, and Broken Agreements

This section covers problems that involve interactions with customers where promised payment is withheld, or agreements are broken in other ways. Here we analyze the four most common problems.

The responses reveal that the most common problem, both in relation to the previous occasion (18%) and across all experiences (40%), was that the respondent had to carry out more and different services than agreed. Other broken agreements include the customer taking off the condom without permission (9% and 17%, respectively), and that a reduced payment was received (9% and 28%, respectively). Withholding payment affected 4% of the men on the previous occasion and 13% at some time across all occasions.

Our analyses of the relationship between broken agreements and sexual violence during the act on previous occasion show the following: Of the men who reported that the customer took off the condom without permission, 81% also reported being the victim of sexual violence; of those who reported not receiving any payment, this proportion was 72%; of those having to perform more or different services than originally agreed, the proportion was 61%; and of those who received less payment than agreed, 49% reported being exposed to sexual violence. When we compare these figures with the 14% of the men who stated that they were exposed to sexual violence the last time they sold sex, we can conclude that there is a strong correlation between broken agreements and exposure to sexual violence. The question is how this should be interpreted. One way of understanding this correlation is that men who are exposed to sexual violence are also vulnerable to broken agreements. But it could equally be that when a customer violates the agreement, this can be experienced as sexual violence by the seller. However, based on the current data, it is hard to come to any definitive conclusion as to whether some or both of these interpretations are valid, or if they differ depending on the situation.

When it comes to the comments made in response to the open option in this theme, the following type of statement emerges: “The customer tried to include sexual acts that were not OK.” Another man identifies both positive and negative transactions with customers:

I have previously had sex with similar age guys. Sometimes it has been a little hard, but mostly normal anal and oral sex, and I liked it. However, I have always had submissive fantasies, where I get fucked hard and exploited by older men. Met an older man for sex the first time two years ago, and began selling myself last spring. I have enjoyed many of these meetings. They have been what I have been fantasizing about for many years. Other men are boring, and I have to be drunk or high to not think it is boring. One of these older guys has been in love with me, and I make use of that a lot. I hate that man. He once pulled off the condom without me knowing, wanted to change what we had agreed on at the last second and such. Other customers I like. There is one who lives in the same town who I visit sometimes. Visit now and again and do business. He has the same fantasies as me and usually ties me up and fucks me hard and is dominant. After sex though he is nice and kind. He has the same interests and we normally talk quite a lot. I never feel bad about selling myself to him. Sometimes I can feel bad if I sell myself to someone else, but I like that man. If all customers were like him I wouldn’t feel bad about it. I would probably continue to sell myself even if I didn’t need money. But I am ashamed of what I do and only my two closest friends know what I do. The others have no idea.

This long comment contains an interesting description of how, when meeting good customers who stick to an agreement, selling sex can provide an outlet for the seller’s own sexual fantasies. Furthermore, when the content of a transaction is agreed on, and becomes part of a role-play in the act, it is not understood as a sexual transgression. But here too are examples of broken agreements, which are experienced as very adverse and as having a negative influence on relationships with customers.

In addition, these comments contain an interesting discussion about the stigma that means that sellers of sex refrain from talking about their experiences anyone other than close friends. Scott et al. (2005) argue that it is shame and stigma that prevents both parties—seller and customer—from reporting incidents of violence to the authorities as they fear being outed. Consequently, such crimes are underrepresented in official reports of criminal offenses.

In this section, there were a number of occasions when the client’s antagonism is expressed, but above all, the customer seeking sexual gratification outside of the agreement is obvious. The experience of having been exploited and as being the victim of sexual violence emerges very clearly in these cases.

Preventive Strategies for Safer Selling of Sex

A number of different preventive strategies were used by the men to create safer conditions when selling sex.

Describing these preventive strategies in process form, it appears that after the first contact, 9% of the men carry out Internet checks of the customer, and make some kind of risk assessment. When they then decide to take the job, 10% make decisions as to what type of sexual service is included, and 12% decide on the location for the transaction. At the transaction, 13% refrain from alcohol and drugs, and 19% protect themselves from infection by using a condom. Two men had a guard with them, and nine carried some kind of weapon with them.

When it comes to the decision not carry out certain sexual services, in responses to the open option, the men list the following: anal sex and BDSM services such as SM, bondage, and dominance. This opt-out strategy closely corresponds to those services in the statistical analyses which are related to increased risks of sexual violence. A similar avoidance of BDSM services was also found in the study by Larsdotter et al. (2011).

We can conclude that when we compare the results from our study with Kofod et al. (2011) it appears that men in Denmark indicate more frequently (64%) that they have used some form of preventive strategy. This could be in part explained by the fact that the Danish study did not focus on the immediately preceding transaction, but was concerned with experiences more generally, and that the men in their study could be classified as regular sex workers. It is hard to say why relatively few men in our study have provide safer conditions, but several of the strategies reported here are similar in nature to those discussed by Kayes (2007), Kofod et al. (2011), and Larsdotter et al. (2011).

Discussion and Analysis

Here we discuss our results from the revised routine activity theory perspective, with a focus on the interaction and correspondence between perpetrator and victim, or target congruence as Finkelhor and Asdigian (1996) put it. It is worth noting that, while in our study client’s antagonism toward sellers of sex does occur, exposure to violence seem to be primarily connected to clients seeking additional gratification. The study also shows that the vulnerability of sellers of sexual services is connected to personal circumstances, spatial and factual conditions pertaining to the transaction, and the sociocultural and legal context.

With regard to the men’s personal circumstances, our results indicate that the men who are influenced by psychological ill-health, the customer’s persuasiveness, or being under the influence of alcohol or drugs, perceive relatively high levels of risk when selling sex. It appears that these circumstances restrict men’s own agency and contributes to their vulnerability.

The circumstances of the situation when men perform sexual services are also crucial for understanding antagonism, gratification, and vulnerability. For example, seeking gratification seems to have a different meaning in sex work than in contexts beyond this kind of service market. This special situation is premised on the act of achieving gratification, but here through paid-for services that have been agreed in advance. Consequently, issues involving consent, deals, and agreements are of central importance when selling sex. Our study shows that customers are quite often seeking gratification beyond that which has been agreed beforehand. If they succeed in this, then this act can be transformed from a business agreement into an interaction more appropriately described in terms of violence, rape, and as an act that constitutes a criminal offense.

Antagonism and seeking additional gratification seem to be quite common when it comes to sexual services such as BDSM. Here antagonism can take the form of play-acted aggression and can even contain violence and wounding (Turley, 2016). In this role-playing, it is though possible, even outside the sex trade, to transgress the boundaries of what has been agreed (Haviv, 2016).

We can conclude that in particular when sellers perform a sex act and for a short time thereafter are somewhat hazardous situations. It is at these points that customers who have planned from the outset not to respect the seller’s boundaries and personal integrity, as well as those who decide to do so during the act, can exploit the seller’s potential vulnerability. Similar points have been made by Lowman (2000) in a study of heterosexual prostitution in Canada. Whether the violence is planned or arises on the spur of the moment, it can be expressed through verbal aggression, rape, and even murder. Lowman argues that these acts are never fully separated from the general picture of prostitution, which also influences the perceptions of perpetrators. Even if Lowman’s study is about the heterosexual sex trade, we believe that these questions are also of importance for how violence and vulnerability are shaped and understood in male sex transactions. Negative public perceptions, together with social policy and legislation, are important for how men can sell sex and manage their personal safety, and the ways in which they are able to initiate contacts with public agencies when in need of support and help, or when they become victims of crime.

Limitations and Conclusion

The results of this study should not be understood as statistically generalizable. The empirical material has not been derived from a random sample, but from a self-selected group of respondents. In the analyses, we have therefore focused on the internal covariations in the data, and have highlighted the men’s own voices. We see this study as explorative, and the results we present are tentative pointers to some important questions concerning the male sex trade in Sweden, and which need to be more systematically followed up in more extensive future work. Most importantly, more detailed studies need to be focused on the sex act itself to more properly understand the relationship between broken promises and experiences of violence in sex-for-money transactions.

In terms of the development of theoretical perspectives, our study suggests that, conceptually, discussion about revised routine activity theory and target congruence can be fruitful, although it needs to be better adapted to the situation where the perpetrator and the victim have a more or less commercial relationship. In our study, violence does not appear to be very strongly correlated with antagonism and preplanned acts, but more with seeking additional gratification in an interaction with the seller’s potential vulnerability. Questions that require further study include when and how antagonism arises, or whether, in the current context, crimes take place without antagonism, and are simply the consequence of seeking gratification which, in the heat of the moment, becomes transgressional.

Concerning the practical consequences arising from this study, we can conclude that current Swedish legislation does not allow for transactions involving selling sex to take place in more secure forms, such as in collective indoor enterprises. “Apartment bordellos” which are frequently the subject of media attentions are often short-term, and are closed down following police surveillance. Customers who buy sex are prosecuted, as are those who are the occupiers of these apartments. The lack of any other forms of protection than those the sellers themselves can muster, make it more likely that customers can breach agreements and carry out their own agendas. In this connection, it is interesting to note that in Denmark too, with its more liberal legislation, men in the escort business also experience a high degree of violence, and the same is also true for street prostitution. This indicates that, irrespective of legislation, customers can more easily express their antagonism and seek additional forms of gratification than in the clinics and brothels where systems of protection have been created. In these contexts, however, other forms of exploitation can occur, for example, between owners and employees. However, this is an issue for another study.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

We want to thank The Swedish Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority (Brottsoffermyndigheten) for funding this study.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study upon which this article is based was funded by The Swedish Crime Victim Compensation and Support Authority (Brottsoffermyndigheten). Grant 04523/2010, AB 6.

Ethical Approval

The study methods were approved by the regional research ethics board in the region, where the study was conducted. Registration number: 1025-11.

Notes

Author Biographies

Jari Kuosmanen, university lecturer, is an associate professor. His areas of interest include prostitution, criminology, and social work.

Annelie de Cabo, university adjunct, is a PhD student. Her areas of interest include prostitution, gay studies, criminology, and social work.

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