Representations Of Sex Workers Research Articles

Knowledge and representations of sex workers by GPs in Brussels: a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews.

A majority of sex-workers (SWers) do not have a GP aware of their professional activity, which prevents appropriate support to this group. One of the reasons is fear of the doctors' judgment. The objective of this research is to identify how sex-work is perceived by primary care practitioners, and how they follow-up this public. This qualitative study using semi-structured interviews with 12 GPs practicing in Brussels was conducted from October 2021 to March 2023. Results show a lack of understanding of what SW is, of the legal context and of the people who practice it. Doctors know about related health issues, but not about their proportion or origin. The main factor identified as leading to SW is economic insecurity. Sample analysis shows theoretical positions close to a pro-sex stance (néo-réglementarisme). This study demonstrates that primary care doctors' knowledge of SW is limited, and that these limitations can lead to stigmatisation and suboptimal treatment. The following recommendations are to: draw up a list of doctors who can welcome SWers without being judgmental and make this list available to associations active in the field of SW; co-construct a training course, in partnership with SWers, aimed at GPs (it would include sections on the historical and legal context, the approach to harm reduction and substance abuse, PreP, PEP, and a communication guide); and teach courses on marginalised populations with specific health needs during the initial training of medical students.

Innovative Storytelling and Representation of Sex Workers’ Perspectives in an “Ethno-graphic” Novel

Innovative Storytelling and Representation of Sex Workers’ Perspectives in an “Ethno-graphic” Novel

Evidence or stereotype? Health inequalities and representations of sex workers in health publications in England.

The health of sex workers is considerably influenced by their position in society and by the marginalisation and stigmatisation they face worldwide. They are frequently criminalised and labelled as deviant, disordered or 'vulnerable': stereotypes that simplify and misrepresent their realities. Sex work policies create social and structural barriers, creating dangerous work environments and exacerbating significant health inequalities. Health organisations and their policies play an important role in highlighting inequalities and guiding health systems in reducing them. In this article, we use a document analysis design to analyse how and when sex workers are depicted in policies and publications by English national health organisations: National Health Service (NHS) England, Public Health England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, along with the UK Department of Health. We find that sex workers are largely absent in these documents and, when present, are depicted not using evidence, but simplistically with moralistic undertones. The dichotomous constructions found in these texts: vulnerable yet also criminal 'prostitute' reflect wider political and social constructions of sex working women. This not only obscures their realities but also homogenises, blames and stigmatises, ultimately doing the opposite of what these organisations purport to do: it damages their health and well-being.

Representation of Sex-workers’ Plight in Mahasweta Devi’s Bedanabala and Rizia Rahman’s Letters of Blood

Mahasweta Devi’s Bedanabala and Rizia Rahman’s Letters of Blood portray the life of sex-workers in colonial Bengal and post-independence Bangladesh respectively. They are gripping tales of the marginalised lives of prostitutes. These two novels by Devi and Rahman can intimate great insight into the plight of sex-workers. Academic surveys and studies are not readily accessible or available to common people. Fiction has wider access and so novels like Mahasweta Devi’s Bedanabala and Rizia Rahman’s Letters of Blood can achieve what academic studies or narratives sometimes fail to do. This paper will attempt to analyse the potentials of the two novels in portraying the plight of sex-workers.

Representing sex workers in video games: feminisms, fantasies of exceptionalism, and the value of erotic labor

ABSTRACT This article critiques the representation of sex workers in “AAA” video games, with a focus on the devaluing of erotic labor. Existing feminist commentary has interpreted these representations as examples of the objectification of female game characters, perpetuating harmful misconceptions of sex work as fundamentally exploitative. By contrast, taking cues from feminist media studies, porn studies, and sex workers rights activism, I argue that what makes these representations of sex workers problematic is not their engagement in erotic labor but the ways that the games in which they appear devalue that labor, through both dialogue and interactive elements. Across their many appearances in AAA games, it is strikingly common for sex workers to offer their services to player-characters for free or at a discount, or for games to allow players to take their money back after erotic labor has been performed. This contributes to a gendered fantasy of exceptionalism in which a player-character’s masculinity is tied to being too attractive or too powerful to pay for sex. Critiquing these representations demonstrates how AAA video games prompt players to reenact widespread cultural biases against sex work. It also points toward the need for a diversity of feminisms within game studies.

Representations of sex workers’ needs and aspirations: A case for arts-based research

This article reviews the literature on sex work, highlighting ways in which women working in the sex industry are represented. The subjective experiences and voices of sex workers are seldom heard and their needs are consistently defined and represented by non-sex workers throughout history, in society and within academia. Historical representations have contributed to the stereotyping and stigmatization of sex workers. Academic research is consistently being done on sex workers instead of with them. However, arts-based methods allow for participatory, shared knowledge creation. Arts-based research also has the potential for empowerment, reaching the general public and changing negative stereotypes.

Identity management, negotiation and resistance among women in the sex trade in London, Ontario

Sex work, and ideas about women in the trade, have long been represented as tragic and/or threatening. However, such portrayals tell us very little about how women think about themselves and the kinds of work they do. The data for this paper come from an ethnographic, community-based study in London, Ontario, that involves women in street-based, indoor and transactional sex work. This discussion focuses on how women develop different individual identities, including the management of multiple selves, their sexual identities and what we have termed the ‘good junkie’ identity. We also examine how these women employ aspects of dominant representation of sex workers, namely the low status accorded to those in street-based work and the defamatory term ‘whore’ or ‘ho’, when negotiating the moral hierarchies that exist within various kinds of sex work (i.e., stripping, massage parlours) and making sense of their professional and personal lives. The work that goes into the creation and maintenance of the women's divergent identities sheds important light on this complicated and tremendously demanding, yet inadequately understood, aspect of life as women in the sex trade.

Living with the Other, Street Sex Work

There is substantial literature on how fears of Other populations are prompting the increased surveillance and regulation of public spaces at the heart of Western cities. Yet, in contrast to the consumer-oriented spaces of the city centre, there has been relatively little attention devoted to the quality of the street spaces in residential neighborhoods beyond the central city. In this article, we explore how media representations of sex workers as an abject and criminalized Other inform the reactions of residents to street sex work in such communities. Drawing on our work in a number of British cities we highlight the different degrees of tolerance which residents express towards street sex work. In light of the Home Office strategy document, A Coordinated Prostitution Strategy, this article concludes by advocating participatory action research and community conferencing as a means of resolving conflicts and assuaging fears of difference.