Risky Business: Sex Work Victims
True crime is really all about the victims. Many people think police work is one of the most dangerous jobs, but police work kills about 12 people per 100,000.
Over half of police deaths are the result of traffic accidents; this is also the reason that delivery and roadside work is so dangerous. For police, that means only about 6 per 100,000 are killed due to felonious conduct.
Sex work is by far the most dangerous labor role. Sex worker disappearances are a common occurrence, and sex workers are often the target of various forms of violence… as in the case of serial killer Neal Falls and as alleged by the Serial Killer Stripper Falicia Blakely.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 3 most dangerous jobs are logging, which takes the lives about 111 workers per capita, followed by roofing and commercial hunting and fishing, which both take the lives of about 50 workers per capita.
By comparison, a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology suggests that sex workers are murdered at a rate of 229 per 100,000, over 45x the rate at which police are murdered, and more than twice the total deaths in logging, which is widely considered the most dangerous job by far.
With all that in mind, we thought we’d follow up with a special focus on the victimization of sex workers. Violence towards sex workers affects all levels of the sex work industry.
Minors who run away from home who are often forced into sex work, escorts like Heather Saul are often targeted, as are strippers working in gentleman’s clubs, even cam girls are at risk. One was found by her stalker after he tracked down her home by looking at a reflection in her pupil in a high resolution photo.
This article covers over 25 cases dating from the present day back to 1996. We mostly focus on the victimization of exotic dancers due to the nature of violent crimes that involve prostitution, most of which are simply missing persons reports, if that.
In 2024, the FBI raided a strip club just outside of Albany, NY, Shenanigan’s, and arrested the general manager, Luigi Canessa, on drug, wire fraud, and sex trafficking charges. After the raid, former employees and neighbors were interviewed by NEWS10.
Neighbors were unsurprised by the raid, and told NEWS10 that there’s always been a lot of suspicious activity at Shenanigan’s. Former Shenanigan’s dancers called the club “sketchy,” and some left the club because of the criminal activity.
Canessa was arrested after selling methamphetamine to an informant. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Reiner told the court that Canessa had recordings on his iPhone of customers engaged in sex acts with dancers.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Christian Hummel agreed that Canessa was a flight risk as well as a danger to the community, and ruled that he will remain jailed until his trial. Both sides agreed to waive the right to a speedy trial, so, he may be waiting awhile as he tries to work out a plea deal.
In 2024, a former city councilman from Botha, WA was arrested on murder charges after allegedly killing his 20-year-old girlfriend, Liliya Guyvoronsky. James McNeal Jr. served on the city council for eight years after becoming wealthy in the construction business.
Guyvoronsky was working as an exotic dancer when she met him, and he reportedly made her quit after they began seeing each other outside of the Seattle strip club where they met.
Her parents said that when she agreed that she’d stop working at the strip club McNeal agreed to support her financially. Prosecutors estimate that the support amounted to about $10,000 per month.
The relationship was described by her parents as troubled, and they reportedly had a big fight that resulted in a break up just days before her death.
The fight was over money, according to Guyvoronsky’s parents, who said that their daughter had told them that McNeal had an “annoying tantrum.”
Guyvoronsky’s diary included entries about McNeal, according to police. In one, she writes that he is mentally and emotionally abusive. Police also found handwritten notes she wrote herself reminding herself not to contact him and describing his emotional and mental abuse.