The St. James Infirmary: A history

St. James Infirmary (SJI), located in San Francisco, California is a peer-led occupational health and safety clinic for sex workers that opened on June 2, 1999. This reserch looks at the political and cultural events that led to the creation of this unique clinic. I will draw from the research I conducted, inclusive of one-on-one interviews with leaders of the organizations that came together to form St. James Infirmary, a review of archival material, and an exploration of the preexisting literature on sex workers rights movements and social rights movements to tell the story of SJI. The existence of the Infirmary results in an acknowledgement that sex work is a legitimate occupation. It also challenges cultural values and political institutions, and creates a community for sex workers.