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Gender and Sexuality

Contemporary gender and sexuality studies have much to offer the study of sex work which involves men, women and transgenders as buyer and sellers of sexual services. 

Recent work on the production of sexual subjectivities under neoliberalism highlights the potential of a political economy approach to sex work - one that goes beyond debates about coercion and choice to understand better the structures of constraint and scenarios of agency within which sex is bought, sold and traded. The Paulo Longo Research Initiative will conduct new ethnographic studies that permit a more nuanced understanding of sex workers' negotiation of norms on gender and sexuality within their relationships. We will contribute to - as well as draw on -broader debates within the fields of gender and sexuality, whether on questions of masculinity and male sexualities, or on resistance and resilience, to offer new insights into the material conditions of sex work. Our work in this area will aim to move beyond understanding of the sex worker as a distinct type of sexual or economic subject toward exploration of commercial sex and transactional dimensions of sex as enmeshed in power relationships and economies of desire that are inherent within all sexualities.

Resources

  • A study of men who pay for sex, based on the Norwegian National Sex Surveys - 2010

    [This study] estimates the prevalence, time trends and factors associated with paid sex among men. Methods: Norwegian Sex Surveys using similar questions in 1992, 1997 and 2002 were analyzed using a cohort analysis and logistic regression. The questionnaires included demographic background, and several aspects of sexual behaviour. The following questions on paid sex were included:

  • Analysis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Related Activities in Round 8 and 9 Proposals - 2010

    This document from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (the Fund), authored by Adam Graham, analyses HIV proposals to the Fund in Rounds 8 and 9.

    It focuses on men who have sex with men, sex workers and transgendered people and looks at levels of participation and representation, the evidence base and service delivery.

  • Bibliography of Transgender Articles - 2010
  • Creative space workshop for Wonetha members - 2010

    WONETHA held a Creative Space Workshop for its members from 26th to 28th May 2010. The purpose of the workshop was to conduct learning sessions that are tailored for the needs of WONETHA Members who are sex workers, to enable them improve themselves, their interpersonal skills, self esteem, self development, and self awareness. The learning sessions tapped into the natural gifts and talents of the members through the use of learning methods that employed music, dance drama, art, poetry and story telling.

  • En la Calle: sex work in Quito - 2010

     A blog by Anna Wilkins an anthropologist working in Quito. 

  • From Client to Pimp: Male Violence Against Female Sex Workers - 2010

    Article by Karandikar S and Próspero M in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Vol. 25, No. 2, 257-273 (2010). The study explores intimate partner violence (IPV) among female sex workers from the red-light area based in Mumbai, India. Using a grounded theory approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with ten sex workers to explore their experiences of IPV in the context of commercial sex work. Narratives were analyzed and themes constructed.

  • HIV Gel Called Poor Substitute for Women's Rights - 2010

    VIENNA, Austria (WOMENSENEWS)--The preventive benefits of an HIV vaginal gel dominated the headlines of the International AIDS Conference in Vienna last week, but failed to allay the concerns that Mabel Bianco has about the public-health response to the epidemic.

  • Poll reveals details of Bogota's prostitution business - 2010

    A news story by Daniel Brody in the Columbia Reports. The story outlines the findings of an opinion survey of sex workers and their clients in Bogota which was taken by the Mayor's Office. There is no link to the original source so we cannot comment on the accuracy of the reporting or the methods used.

  • The State of Sex: Tourism, Sex and Sin in the New American Heartland (Contemporary Sociological Perspectives) - 2010

     The State of Sex is a study of Nevada’s brothels that situates the nation's only legal brothel industry in the political economy of contemporary tourism. Nevada is part of the "new American heartland," as its pastimes, people, and politics have become more central to the nation. The rise of a service and leisure economy over the past sixty years has propelled sexuality into the heart of contemporary markets. Yet, neoliberal laws in the United States promote business but limit sexual commerce.

  • When I dare to be powerful - Sex Worker Oral Herstory - 2010

    A Publication by Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA), written by Zawadi Nyong’o and edited by Christine Butegwa and Solome Nakaweesi-Kimbugwe.

    AMwA has been working in partnership with sex worker activists in Uganda and other countries in East Africa. This oral history project allowed women to speak for themselves to try and better understand the politics behind sexuality, sexual rights and sex work.

    The research tries to present the multiple dimensions of women’s lives,