Beyond the Gaze is the largest study to explore online sex work in the UK and a key focus was exploring the strategies online sex workers use to try to protect their safety and also to examine crimes experienced by workers in this sector. Very little research prior to BtG had examined crimes experienced by online sex workers and BtG has we hope made an important contribution to research in this area which can inform policy and practice. Key BtG findings relating to safety strategies and crimes against sex workers were published in November 2018 in the British Journal of Sociology Campbell, R et al ‘Risking safety and rights 2018 online sex work, crimes and blended safety repertories’ To read the article go to https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1468-4446.12493. Rosie Campbell and Teela Sanders have written a blog post based upon this publication that originally appeared in Sociology Lens. An abstract of this will be published here on the BtG website on Monday 17th December 2018, to mark IDEVASW.
Also in recognition of IDEVASW Rosie, last year, wrote the below piece and we felt it fitting to re-post it here, with a few amendments to bring it up to date. Rosie is still very active in sex work research, writing her forthcoming book on sex work and hate crime and is now Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the University of York. Here is what Rosie has to say on IDEVASW:
International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers is marked every year globally on 17th December. This day was created to call attention to hate crimes committed against sex workers and to remember those who have been murdered. It was originally created by The sex workers outreach project in the US http://www.new.swopusa.org/ as a memorial and vigil for the victims of the “Green River Killer” in Seattle Washington. It has grown to be a global event, where sex workers, sex work support projects and their allies come together in towns and cities around the world to remember sex workers who have experienced violence, to highlight the need for sex worker rights to safety and protection to be respected and enshrined in laws and polices and to challenge stigma, criminalisation and laws which undermine sex worker safety and contribute to violence.
It’s a day when sex workers, sex worker rights organisations, sex work support projects and their supporters/allies come together to remember victims of violence, call attention to hate crimes committed against sex workers & reinforce the message that crimes against sex workers are unacceptable and a violation of sex worker’s rights.
Matt Valentine-Chase, a previous researcher (now webmaster) in the Beyond the Gaze team, has produced a short slide show video to mark the day on behalf of the team, this will be live on the site on Monday 17th December 2018.
On the 17th December and the days near two it lots of events, actions and remembrances are taking place across the globe including in the United Kingdom. National Ugly Mugs (NUM) lists some of these on their website where you can also find NUM’s 2018 IDEVASW campaign – ‘Say Their Names’ – this is a powerful and heartfelt initiative. Please visit www.uglymugs.org for further information. You can also download their PDF memorial flyer by clicking the link at the bottom of this post.
In solidarity with sex workers and in remembrance,
Rosie Campbell and the Beyond the Gaze Team
NUM ‘Say Their Names’ Memorial Card: International-Day-to-End-Violence-Against-Sex-Workers-Booklet