Risk of HIV and illness are the dominant context in which sex work is discussed in India and there is a lacuna of social scientific analysis of sex workers’ lives. HIV interventions negotiated between global actors such as UNAIDS, World Bank, USAID etc, the Indian government, state level AIDS prevention bodies, and the local NGOs, have constructed ‘sex work’ as an epidemiological category rather than treating it as a social concept. Based on fieldwork in HIV prevention NGOs, and participant observation and interviews with sex workers in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, in August 2004-August 2005 to understand the realities of the sex workers lives, this thesis proposes research on sex workers, with specific reference to gender and sexuality. Theoretically the research seeks to answer the question: how to understand agency of vulnerable populations and how do sex workers use agency in oppressive environments? This thesis also engages with the feminist debate of selling sex as profession or as oppression of women’s rights. I argue that sex workers actively negotiate sex work and their lives with the means at their disposal. This is done not only in the context of negotiating the risks of sex work but also in the broader context of other needs, for example money, love and sexual desire. While sexuality is a taboo in India, the analysis contributes to the understanding of discourses of women’s sexuality and the sexual behaviour of sex workers in Chennai. While the women’s experiences are closely knit into the global nexus of the HIV industry, sex work comes across as a complicated knot of poverty, desire, women’s oppression, love, cooption, and motherhood.

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Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / There is a dearth of scholarly literature surrounding transgender female sex workers (TFSW) within South Africa. Their voices are often marginalised and not adequately heard in the literature and in a society that generally views gender as a fundamental element of the self, determining their subject positions against binaried heteronormative gender ideals. This process of the ‘othering’ of TFSW, is exacerbated by the moralistic judging of their occupation of sex work. This has left many TFSWs vulnerable to emotional abuse such as being socially stigmatised, discriminated against and socially isolated. The literature further echoes vulnerability to physical violence, such as hate crimes, rape, heightened HIV infection, homelessness, police brutality and murder. The current study aimed to explore the subjective experiences of TFSW within their families, occupations and the healthcare system within the Cape Town metropole, South Africa. The study was framed within an intersectional feminist epistemological position, highlighting intersecting identities that marginalise groups of people. Informant driven sampling was used in the case of this study where a total of eleven participants were individually interviewed using a semi-structed approach – interviews ranged from 35-90 minutes. The data collected was subsequently analysed using thematic analysis and the three themes that emerged were: transgender female (TGF), Sex work and HIV. Family rejection and abuse based on participants non-conforming gender identity was expressed by participants. Repressive home circumstances led to many opting to live on the street. Participants described being introduced to sex work through a network of other homeless TFSW, also described as ‘Sisters’ (who fulfil the role of family) as a means of survival. Sex work for TGFs is a particularly dangerous job, as sex workers run the risk of being exposed as TGFs, often resulting in severe physical harm for some. To cope with their severe realities of violence and homelessness, many reported turning to substances, such as alcohol and methamphetamine. A total of ten participants described being HIV positive and adherence was very poor among the group. This could be attributed to stigmatisation from health workers, substance use and homelessness. This group of women, though vulnerable and structurally oppressed, displayed exceptional resilience. It is suggested that further research should be conducted on this group in the South African context for a clearer understanding of their needs and improved policy, as well as interventions for TFSW.

The aim of this thesis is to study how the issue of sex work occurring within humanitarian contexts is addressed by the humanitarian sector, and what this in turn can say about how the problem itself is framed. The analysis focuses on three types of approaches which were identified. These are: to address humanitarian staff and their behaviour in the field in relation to using transactional sex; understanding sex work as a ‘negative coping strategy’ and addressing underlying vulnerabilities; and using a rights-based and community empowerment approach to sex work. By analysing codes of conducts, policies, guidelines, and literature suggesting ways for humanitarian workers and peacekeepers to deal with, position themselves against, and understand sex work in the field, I found that, besides the fact that this issue has not been given enough attention in the humanitarian sector, it has mostly been understood as a form of exploitation, and as a coping strategy either used or forced onto mostly women in contexts of crises. The recurrent themes in many of these approaches, have been the focus on gendered vulnerabilities and power structures between people working within or together with the humanitarian sector and the local population in contexts of crisis. Within these frameworks, the issue of to what extent women engaged in sex work are perceived to have agency is somewhat ambivalent, and some critics have argued that their agency has been denied and that not enough focus has been given to the actual needs and risks of those who engage in sex work. This critique has in turn inspired new guidelines and programmes to be developed. By linking the analysis to further debates on sex work and critique of the humanitarian sector, I conclude that the simplistic and victimising portrayal of people engaging in sex work and of people living in contexts of humanitarian crises, as well as the sometimes-lacking reflection of ideologies and frameworks motivating humanitarian operations, can blind us to the more nuanced and diverse needs that people in these situations might have. It can also negatively impact the approaches that we use to address stigmatised issues such as sex work. Therefore, I stress that it remains important to study the processes through which knowledge about these issues is produced, and whose voices are included in the process.

Lonely Gameis a collection of short stories exploring different manifestations and consequences of loneliness. Secondary thematic elements include perceptions based on unique life experiences, and how different perspectives play with one’s concept of reality.

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This is an queer theoretical intersectional feminist study about sex workers experiences and the prejudices they face in the Netherlands. Dutch sex workers do no get the same chances and opportunities as other workers in society. So, the overarching research problem of this study is the consequences of certain discourses that confine Dutch sex workers in their lives. The thesis aims that people will critically reflect upon this study and that they will take into account the different discourses and the non-uniformity of sex workers and sex work, in other words, to create awareness and a better understanding of the complex, diverse and various groups of sex workers and the sex industry. This study consists of two research methods: literature review and interview study. The literature review consists of the previous research and the theoretical framework. The theoretical framework presents discourse and stigma as part of respectability. Discourse as systems of thinking, which effects and affects. Also this study presents respectability, in relation to the so-called non-respectable bodies of sex workers and the missing respect and dignity towards sex workers, as well as stigma as part of respectability, as the experience deviant from the normative discourse. The interview study consists of four semi-structured interviews, conducted both online and face-to-face with four Dutch participants. The method thematic content analysis was applied to code the interview transcripts and divide the content into themes and sub-themes. The three main themes are: the discourses around sex work, the consequences of the discourses around sex work and sex work as a form of labour. Under these main themes I present related sub-themes. In the analysis the participants share their stories about the negative attitude from people towards their profession, this negative attitude manifested itself in different ways. According to the participants, this negative attitude, or so-called stigma, confines sex workers in their personal and professional lives.

This paper describes the experiences of exploitation and liberation for neo burlesque performers using feminist theory as the context for analysis. The project had the following goals: to identify using phenomenology, the essence of new burlesque participant experiences, to analyze those experiences using feminist theories of exploitation and liberation regarding sex work, to compare burlesque to stripping, and to compare new burlesque to classic burlesque for understanding how burlesque is different today. To obtain these goals, participant observations were done of neo burlesque shows and neo burlesque performers agreed to an interview in which questions were asked that highlight their perceptions. The phenomenological aspect of the studies emphasizes their experiences of exploitation and liberation. There were specific experiences regarding the structure of participation that allowed for differences between stripping and burlesque, as well as perceptions that burlesque is an empowering medium of self-expression.

Thesis advisor: David L. Blustein / This study focused on the assessment of counselor perceptions of prostitution and the examination of how perceptions influence counselors' clinical judgments. The preliminary study involved the development of Counselor Perceptions of Prostitution Scale (CPPS) designed to assess counselors' attitudes towards prostitution. The items developed based on the debate in the literature between those who view prostitution as social oppression and inherently traumatizing, and those who believe that prostitution is a self-determined career path were administered to seventy-two counselors-in-training. The measure demonstrated high internal consistency reliability (α = 0.87), had a significant negative correlation (r = -.68) with the Attitudes towards Prostitution Scale (ATPS) and exploratory factor analysis yielded a unidimensional scale. In the final study, three brief clinical vignettes were used to manipulate the variable of client's engagement in prostitution. Each vignette comprised of a client seeking services for depression while engaging in prostitution, selling marijuana, or working in a department store. One hundred and ninety-eight mental health providers rated their empathy, attribution of responsibility for the cause of and solution to the problem, assessment of client's functioning, and willingness to work with the client in response to the vignette assigned. They also completed CPPS and ATPS. Data was analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and canonical correlation analysis (CCA). Overall, results of the MANOVA revealed that empathy was the most significant contributor to the difference between conditions. Contrary to prediction, there was no difference in empathy for the client engaging in prostitution versus the client working overtime at the department store. However, counselors' demonstrated lower levels of empathy for the client selling marijuana. The CCA revealed that in response to the prostitution vignette, counselors who viewed prostitution as inherently traumatizing and also held accurate beliefs about prostitution were likely to be more empathic and attribute less personal responsibility to the client for solving her own problems. Limitations of this study and implications for counselor practice, education, and future research are discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology.