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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

  • Diversity of commercial sex among men and male-born trans people in three Peruvian cities - 2012

    In Peru, commercial sex involving men and male-born travestis, transgenders and transsexuals (CSMT) is usually represented as a dangerous practice carried out on the streets by people experiencing economic hardship and social exclusion. However, in reality little is known about the complexities of this practice in Peru.

  • Risk-Coping through Sexual Networks - 2012

    Why do women engage in transactional sex? While much of the explanation is that sex-for-money pays more than other jobs, we use a unique panel data set constructed from 192 self-reported diaries of sex workers in Western Kenya to show that women who supply transactional sex develop relationships with regular clients, and that these clients send transfers in response to negative income shocks.

  • Sex Work and Feminism - 2011
    This is a clear article that outlines debates around feminism and sex work by Australian activist Kate Holden.
  • Measuring perceived stigma in female sex workers in Chennai, India - 2011

    Although sex work is highly stigmatized throughout the world, a limited body of research has examined stigma among female sex workers (FSWs). We developed a Sex Worker Stigma (SWS) Index to measure perceived stigma among 150 FSWs in Chennai, India. These women were at a median age of 35 years and reported, on average, having engaged in sex work for nine out of the previous 12 months. The two-factor structure of the index was verified in both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses with acceptable goodness of fit.

  • A Psychosocial Study of Male-to-Female Transgendered and Male Hustler Sex Workers in São Paulo, Brazil - 2011

    This study examined sociodemographic variables, personality characteristics, and alcohol and drug misuse among male sex workers in the city of Santo André, São Paulo, Brazil. A total of 45 male-to-female transgender sex workers and 41 male hustlers were evaluated in face-to-face interviews at their place of work from 2008 to 2010. A “snowball” sampling procedure was used to access this hard-to-reach population.

  • Adolescent female sex workers: invisibility, violence and HIV - 2011

    Article in the Arch Dis Child doi:10.1136/adc.2009.178715.

  • Ain't I a Woman? A Global Dialogue between the Sex Workers’ Rights movement and the Stop Violence Against Women Movement - 2011

    This is a resource written by Bishakha Datta and sponsored by CASAM and CREA. The report documents a meeting entitled "Ain't I A Woman? A Global Dialogue between the Sex Workers Rights Movement and the Stop Violence against Women Movement" from 12-14 March 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand. 

    The report features the presentations from many great speakers including , Ruth Morgan Thomas, Anna-Louise Crago, Kaythi Win, Hua Sittipham Boonyapisomparn, Swapna Gayen and Meenakshi Kamble,Cheryl Overs and  Meena Seshu

  • An Exploratory Study of the Social Contexts, Practices and Risks of Men Who Sell Sex in Southern and Eastern Africa - 2011

    The aim of the research presented in this report was to explore the social contexts, life experiences, vulnerabilities and sexual risks experienced by men who sell sex in Southern and Eastern Africa, with a focus on five countries; Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe. It sought to better understand differing and similar socio-cultural scenarios and personal life stories of male sex workers in these countries and to improve the representation of male sex workers in relevant regional organisations, particularly within the African Sex Workers Alliance (ASWA).

  • Annual Report of the UN NSWP Advisory Group on Sex Work 2011 - 2011

    The Advisory Group offers a greater understanding of the situation of sex workers – an understanding that is necessary to address the abuses they face and to ensure they have universal access to HIV services. Every effort has been made to highlight good practices that enhance human rights protections for sex workers, as well as practices that create barriers to universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.

  • Beyond compassion: Children of sex workers in Kolkata’s Sonagachi - 2011

    Article in Childhood August 2011 vol. 18, no. 3, 333-349.

    In 2005, children of sex workers from Kolkata’s Sonagachi red-light district formed their own collective, Amra Padatik (‘We are Foot Soldiers’), to work to gain dignity for their mothers and claim their own rights as children of sex workers. In this article the authors speak to Amra Padatik’s founder members to demystify the culture of fear associated with their lives — perpetuated through popular representations. This is not to underplay their acute experiences of disadvantage, but to foreground them as politically astute citizens and decision-makers in policies that concern and affect them.

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