Greenwich Social Work Review 2020, Vol 1, No 2, 68-77 https://doi.org/10.21100/gswr.v1i1.1109 ISSN: 2633-4313 Contact: sgiwa@mun.ca 68 © Greenwich Social Work Review Female sex workers’ perspectives of front -line police officers’ ability to ensure their safety in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador AmyAnne Smith 1 , Danielle M. Tulk 1 , Megan Ropson 1 , Kaitlyn A. Snook 1 and Sulaimon Giwa 1,2,3 1 School of Social Work, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada 2 Department of Sociology, Police Studies, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada 3 Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, St. Thomas University, Fredericton, NB, Canada Received 23 April 2020 Accepted for publication 20 July 2020 Published 17 December 2020 Abstract The influence of stigma and discrimination on sex workers’ perceptions of safety is not well documented outside of Canada’s three largest provinces—Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec. This preliminary qualitative study examines sex workers’ perceptions of front-line police officers’ ability to ensure their safety. The research draws on four semi -structured, in-depth interviews with female sex workers in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador (NL). Guided by an anti -oppressive social justice framework, our thematic analysis of the interviews identified three major findings: (a) the existence of police stigma as undermining sex worker safety on and off the job; (b) the importance of alternative means of safety outside of law enforcement; and (c) the implications of existing legislation and its impacts on safe working conditions. Findings suggest the need for ongoing research to understand the challenges and barriers to sex worker safety, so that these issues can be addressed through evidence-informed stigma reduction strategies. Keywords: female sex worker, sex worker safety and protection, police and stigma, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada 1. Introduction Sex workers have varied and volatile interactions with police, the challenges of which are well documented (Williamson et al., 2007; Boittin, 2013; Bruckert and Hannem, 2013; Dewey and St. Germain, 2014; Armstrong, 2017). In Canada, sex workers’ experiences with law enforcement are overwhelmingly negative: the violation of their rights, the dismissal of their reported abuses, and the abuse by law enforcement officials are all issues that emerge in the existing literature (Bruckert and Hannem, 2013; Benoit et al., 2016). Safety is a complex topic for sex workers and much of their ability to keep safe is not facilitated by police (Benoit et al., 2016); sometimes, sex workers feel that it is the police from whom they need to be kept safe (Erausquin, Reed and Blankenship, 2011; Boittin, 2013; Odinokova et al., 2014). While there are studies examining the interactions between sex workers and police officers (e.g. Beattie et al., 2010; Decker et al., 2013), as well sex workers’ perceptions of safety (e.g. Krüsi, Kerr et al., 2016), these topics are underresearched in Canada. Existing literature focuses on Canada’s three largest provinces—Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec. It suggests that sex workers have low levels of confidence in police and are highly stigmatized by law enforcement officials (Bruckert and Hannem, 2013; Benoit et al., 2016; Krüsi, Kerr et al., 2016). Because Canada is highly regionalized, there is a gap in knowledge about sex