Bridging Communities in

Sex Work Research

Elizabeth Anne WoodMichael Goodyear

SSSS St Petersburg, Florida June 5 2009

Elizabeth Anne WoodSociology

Nassau Community College, NY

Michael GoodyearMedicine, Research

EthicsDalhousie 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

researcherIf 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 curseI’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 EscortBlogs 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

Revealed: the truth about brothelsA 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

Wednesday 10 September 2008

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 EthicsSouth Australian Sex Industry

Network*

1. Collaboration2. Equality3. Dissemination4. 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

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

2. Equality

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

Sex workers and sex work organisations are encouraged to hiretheir 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.

4. Independence

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+female+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;6:5http://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/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/speakupmediatrainingmaterials.pdf

• http://myweb.dal.ca/mgoodyea/researchsex.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