Migrant sex work
Because of their illegal and vulnerable economic status, some migrant sex workers may find themselves in situations where coercion and forced sex work may be present. Under international legal definitions of human trafficking, forced and coercive forms of sex work are considered to be instances of involuntary sex trafficking. However, many scholars caution against categorizing sex workers as either completely voluntary or completely involuntary. They often argue that sex work, like other forms of labor, can span a spectrum between the two extremes, with most circumstances falling in the middle through various labor rights violations. Nevertheless, the vulnerability of migrant sex workers can make them susceptible to exploitative or coercive labor practices that can resemble or be human trafficking.
Migrant sex work
Migrant sex work is the work done by migrant workers in prostitution. Migrant sex work is significant because of its role as a dominant demographic of commercial sex workers internationally. Migrant sex work shares several similarities across various contexts, such as their migration from rural to urban areas or between developing to industrialized nations and the economic push and pull factors that help determine their migrant status. Migrant sex workers have also been at the center of complex discussions over the legality of sex work, the differentiation or conflation of sex work from sex trafficking, and responses from national governments and non-governmental organizations over the regulation of sex work and the provision of services for victims of sex trafficking.