Hello all,
Abstract:
Little is known about the extent of trafficking among persons involved in the exchange of sex for material gain. Media representations of erotic labor are inaccurate and sensationalistic, offering biased depictions of sex workers and their working conditions. While representations have been based on findings from methodologically weak research, they have been used to propagate narrow conceptualizations of sex work, sex workers, and their working conditions. Moreover, this attention has produced prohibitionist policies that increase the risk of negative outcomes for sex workers. We present findings from a pilot study that employs underutilized methodology to assess sex workers’ experiences with trafficking within the erotic labor market in the United States.
Jessica Bishop-Royse is the SSRC’s Senior Research Methodologist. She joined DePaul after completing a post-doctoral fellowship at the Florida State University College of Medicine. Her graduate work includes fieldwork in Malawi and internships/work experience with federal and state health agencies. She has also conducted program evaluations of county and state health programs. She earned her PhD in Sociology in 2010. Her dissertation examined the individual and community level characteristics associated with racial differences in cause-specific infant mortality. She has academic interest in: demography, health disparities, infant and maternal health, public health, methods, and statistics.
Serpent Libertine is a sex worker, activist, filmmaker, board member with Sex Workers Outreach Project-Chicago, former media team coordinator for the national sex worker organization Desiree Alliance, and created the sex worker-made media site Red Light District Chicago. She is part of the team behind the creation of the Adult Industry Truth and the Erotic Labor Market Survey.