Bridging Communities
in
Sex Work Research
Elizabeth Anne Wood
Michael Goodyear
SSSS
St Petersburg, Florida June 5 2009
Elizabeth Anne Wood
Sociology
Nassau Community College, NY
Michael Goodyear
Medicine, Research Ethics
Dalhousie University
Nova Scotia
DISCLOSURE
Elizabeth
Michael
X Chromosomally Challenged
Learning objectives I
• Understand why sex workers distrust and
lie to researchers
• Understand how research and the
research agenda harms sex workers
• Propose ways to repair damaged trust
• Understand ethical issues in sex work
research and how to navigate them to
produce research of high ethical and
scientific quality
Learning objectives II
• Use examples of collaborative and
problematic research in order to suggest
ways of improving problematic studies
Learning objectives III
Participatory research
• Roleplay an escort negotiating with a
difficult researcher
• Roleplay a pro domme negotiating with a
difficult client
• Perform a passable pole dance.
• Become a better ally or sex worker
researcher
If you can stay awake long enough
Audience input
• Your learning objectives
• What disciplines/backgrounds
represented?
• Who has performed sex work research?
• Is planning to?
• Your experiences?
• Sex work experience?
Brief overview
• Why we do research
• Research design
• Research dissemination
• Responding to research
• Discussion
– ethics
– ways of knowing
– funding dilemmas
• New directions for sex work research
Why do we do research?
The pursuit of knowledge
“The aim of science is not to open
a door to infinite wisdom but to
set a limit to infinite error”
Brecht B. The Life of Galileo (Leben des Galilei) 1943
Bertolt Brecht (1898 –1956)
Why we do research
•
•
•
•
Academic advancement
Professional reputation
Funding agencies
Government priorities
• - How does the Research Agenda
construct ‘social problems’
Issues
• The Research Agenda
– highly politicised*
– ethical implications largely overlooked
– sex workers mistrust and resist researchers
“living off the backs of sex workers”
*Kempner J (2008) The Chilling effect: How Do Researchers React to Controversy? PLoS Med 5(11): e222
Ethical principle
– “act as to treat humanity…in every case as an
end..never as a means”
• Kant I. Groundwork of the metaphysics of
morals (1785)
The Internet:
A blessing and a curse
I’m a labor economist researching the escort market and
got your email off the internet. I’m hoping to collect some
field evidence from current or former workers in this
profession.
Any feedback that you could give would be great, and will
of course be kept completely confidential and used for
research purposes only.
1. Do you still provide escort or companionship services?
a. I’m still active.
b. No, I’m no longer active.
The Internet:
A blessing and a curse
•Greetings,
You have been randomly selected to participate in a survey
by the Criminal Justice Department at UNC Charlotte. This
is a study designed to understand the ways that you use
technology, including computers and the Internet in the
course of your profession and day to day lives.
…This study will also ask questions addressing when you
first began to use the Internet in the course of your job
and your reasons for using websites, such as the Escort
Blogs as a means to communicate with clients and other
providers. …
Big Brothel - A Survey of the off-street
sex industry in London.
Poppy Project, August 2008
Wednesday 10 September 2008
Revealed: the truth about brothels
A survey into London's off-street sex
industry has exposed just how widespread
it is - and documents in disturbing detail
the plight of the women trapped in it.
Julie Bindel reports
Friday 3 October 2008
Big Brothel research 'seriously
flawed'
Poppy Project research into sex workers
"was based on flawed data" and "cannot
be substantiated"
AN ACADEMIC RESPONSE TO
“BIG BROTHEL”
Dr Teela Sanders, University of Leeds , Jane Pitcher, Independent Researcher,
Rosie Campbell, Chair, UK Network of Sex Work Projects & Loughborough
University , Dr Belinda Brooks-Gordon, Birbeck College, University of London , Dr
Maggie O’Neill, Loughborough University, Dr Jo Phoenix, Durham University,
Professor Phil Hubbard, Loughborough University, Mary Whowell, Loughborough
University, Dr Nick Mai, London Metropolitan University, Dr Linda Cusick,
University of the West of Scotland ,Dr Tracey Sagar, Swansea University , Kate
Hardy, Queen Mary, University of London , Dr Ron Roberts, Kingston University,
Jane Scoular, Strathclyde University, Professor Graham Scambler, University
College London , Hilary Kinnell, Author, “Violence & Sex Work in Britain” (2008)
, Dr Petra Boynton, University College London , Justin Gaffney, Clinical
Specialist, Sohoboyz , Dr Elizabeth Wood, Nassau Community College , Dr
Michael Goodyear, Dalhousie University, Professor Ron Weitzer, George
Washington University, Dr Jackie West, Bristol University, Dr Helen Self, Author
“Prostitution, Women & Misuse of the Law” (2003), Dr Hera Cook, University of
Birmingham, Dr Sophie Day, Goldsmiths College, London, Dr Helen Ward,
Imperial College, London, Tiggey May, Institute for Criminal Policy Research,
King's College, London
Researchers’ responsibilities
• Beneficence
– Research must benefit the subjects of
research
Issues in Research Design
• Participation of the community is key
Nothing About Us
Without Us
International Conference on Prostitution
Los Angeles, 1997
Recommendations on Research Ethics
South Australian Sex Industry Network*
1.
2.
3.
4.
Collaboration
Equality
Dissemination
Independence
*Wahab and Sloan. Ethical dilemmas in sex work research. Research for Sex Work (7) 2004
1. Collaboration
Researchers must collaborate with
the sex workers they seek to
study
This collaboration must include all
aspects of research design,
theoretical framework, methods,
and dissemination
2. Equality
Researchers must be cognisant of issues of
social, political, economic and personal
power and seek to equalise power
relationships with the sex workers they
study
This can be accomplished by
acknowledging that sex workers are the
experts on their own lives; researchers are
the experts on research methods, and we
all stand to learn from one another
3. Dissemination
Researchers must bring the results back
to the sex workers they study to ensure
that the researchers’ interpretation of
the data is accurate
4. Independence
Sex workers and sex work organisations
are encouraged to hire
their own researchers to conduct research
of relevance to sex workers.
Or, sex workers and sex work
organisations are encouraged to obtain
training or consultation that would enable
them to conduct their own research.
Collaboration requires trust
• Work with community based organizations
– Learn their needs
– Demonstrate your own commitment
– Be willing to commit significant time and
effort
– (NOTE: This is not simply about entrée)
Collaboration requires trust
• Read sex worker blogs and comment
where appropriate.
– By listening you learn the language and the
issues
– By commenting
• reveal your perspective and your willingness to
learn
• reveal what you have to offer
Participatory Action Research
WALSALL PROSTITUTION CONSULTATION RESEARCH
(UK)
MAKA Project
(Vancouver, BC)
In the fall of 2004, the MAKA Project, a partnership
with the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS,
undertook a study to assess the health needs of the
women who use the Drop-In Centre at WISH.
Non-malevolence
(do no harm)
• Anticipating potential harm
– Stigmatisation
– Outing
– Use of research for other purposes
Taxonomy –
Avoiding conflation
• Highly stratified activity
• Conflation
• Generalisations
• Terminology e.g. Sex Worker
– Definitions
– Categories
– Identity
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/quarter+Vancouver+fe
male+trade+workers+infected+with/1354034/story.html
HIV/AIDS in Vancouver,
British Columbia: a growing
epidemic.
McInnes CW, Druyts E, Harvard SS,
Gilbert M, Tyndall MW, Lima VD,
Wood E, Montaner JS, Hogg RS.
Harm Reduct J. 2009 Mar 5;6:5
http://www.harmreductionjournal.com/content/6/1/5
Essentialism (Ontology)
• Confusing behaviour with identity
– “I am not my job”
• Evidence vs Belief
• Defining subject of research
Barriers to research
How do barriers shape nature of research?
• Funding
• Research ethics oversight
– Confidentiality
– Safety
– Consent
– Bringing issues to IRBs
– Alternative models – CARAS
• Attacks on researchers
Dissemination
• Who owns the data? (a priori)
• Community rights to access
– Data
– Interpretation
– Communication strategy
• Collaborative design
• Whose interests?
– Subjects
– Broader community
Media
• Media training
– Journalistic ethics
– Media agenda
– Soundbites
– Avoiding nuance
– Clear message
– Getting feedback
Responsiveness
• Positioning studies and reports
• Critical appraisal
• Addressing implications for community
Questions for Discussion I
• Researchers agenda & responsibilities
• Community agenda & responsibilities
• Considerations
• Beneficence
• Engagement
• Collaboration
Questions for Discussion II
• Managing conflicting values
– Duty to subjects v society
– Researchers v Subjects interests
– Applied v Theoretical research
– Concept of expert (researcher, subject)
Questions for Discussion III
• Epistemology (Ways of Knowing)
– Theoretical, Empirical, Experiential
– Privileging of positions
– Blurring of occupations:
• Sexworker researchers
• Degrees of outness, subjectivity
Questions for Discussion IV
• Funding and the agenda
– Whose responsibility to shift priorities
– Resistance
– Organisation
• Political agenda
– Lessons from infiltration of State and Justice
Departments – eg PEPFAR
– Working with the new Administration
Questions for Discussion V
• Framing and re-framing the agenda
– Health
– Women and Girls
– Rights and Discrimination
• Human, Civil, Women, Labour
– Constitutionality
– Sexual expression
– Global responsibilities
Questions for Discussion VI
• Framing and reframing the agenda cont’d
– Crime, Violence
• Prohibition
• War on Drugs
New Directions
• Balancing Micro, Meso and Macro factors
– Political, Social and Economic factors
• Emphasising structural factors
• Push and Pull drivers
• Social citizenship and responsibilisation
– Social inclusion and exclusion
• Organisation factors
– Moral panic and moral crusades
New directions
• Holistic examination of sex work in
relation to sexuality and commerce
– Balanced examination of actors and sectors
– How controls are applied discriminately
• Societal benefits
– Economic
– Sexual needs of specific groups
– Health promotion
– Therapists
New directions
• Vulnerability and the disadvantaged
– Societal effects of discrimination against
groups
Summary I
• Historically sex work research has made a
number of false steps through failure to
engage the sex work community
• Collaborative research provides
opportunities to produce more meaningful
results that benefit both sex workers and
society
Summary II
• Principles of Good Sex Work Research
– To benefit sex workers
– To influence the research agenda
– To engage the sex work community
– To ensure responsible collaborative
dissemination of results
– To apply results constructively
– To critically respond to studies and reports that
are harmful , misrepresented or misleading
Resources I
• Community Academic Consortium for
Research on Alternative Sexualities:
www.caras.ws
• Speak up! Media Training Materials:
http://www.sexworkawareness.org/wpcontent/uploads/2009/05/speakupmediatr
ainingmaterials.pdf
• http://myweb.dal.ca/mgoodyea/researchs
ex.htm#ethic
Resources II
• Bound not Gagged
deepthroated.wordpress.com
• Desiree Alliance
desireealliance.org
Contacts
• Elizabeth Anne Wood
– elizabeth.wood@ncc.edu
– http://sexinthepublicsquare.org
• Michael Goodyear
– mgoodyear@dal.ca
– http://myweb.dal.ca/mgoodyea/goodyear.html