likely than the general population to do sex work, particularly trans women and trans people of color. In a study of female Indian sex workers, illiteracy and lower social status were more prevalent than among the general female population. One study of sex work in Tijuana, Mexico, found that the majority of sex workers there are young, female, and heterosexual. Many of these studies attempt to use smaller samples of sex workers and pimps in order to extrapolate about larger populations of sex workers. One report on the underground sex trade in the United States used known data on the illegal drug and weapon trades and interviews with sex workers and pimps in order to draw conclusions about the number of sex workers in eight American cities. However, studies like this one can come under scrutiny for a perceived emphasis on the activities and perspectives of pimps and other sex work managers rather than those of sex work providers themselves. Another criticism is that sex trafficking may not be adequately assessed in relation to sex work in these studies. Many studies struggle to gain demographic information about the prevalence of sex work, as many countries or cities have laws prohibiting prostitution or other sex work. In addition, sex trafficking, or forced sex work, is also difficult to quantify due to its underground and covert nature. In addition, finding a representative sample of sex workers in a given city can be nearly impossible because the size of the population itself is unknown. Maintaining privacy and confidentiality in research is also difficult because many sex workers may face prosecution and other consequences if their identities are revealed. Discrimination Sex workers may be stereotyped as deviant, hypersexual, sexually risky, and substance abusive. Sex workers cope with this stigmatization, or othering, in ways such as hiding their occupation from non-sex workers, social withdrawal, and creating a false self to perform at work. Sex-work-related stigma perpetuates rape culture and leads to slut-shaming. Sex work is also often conflated with sex trafficking, despite the fact that some sex workers choose to consensually engage in the sex trade. For example, the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act in the United States was passed to ostensibly protect victims of sex trafficking but included language making it illegal to advertise consensual sex online. Such laws have a significantly negative impact on sex workers. Globally, sex workers encounter barriers in accessing