This qualitative study examines the safety perceptions of female sex workers in Rotterdam's unlawful sex industry and the strategies they employ for protection, based on the Crime as Work perspective. Through interviews and observations, it reveals that sex workers may be compelled into the unlawful sector due to existing policies. Although authorities often view the lawful industry as safe and the unlawful industry as unsafe, many unlawfully working sex workers challenge this binary. They are aware of safety risks in both domains and employ diverse safeguards, yet acknowledge that no measures are completely foolproof. The study calls for further research.
Eggens et al. (Tue,) studied this question.