Over the last ten to fifteen years, prostitution policies in England have grown increasingly welfarist in tone, stressing the relative victimhood and vulnerability of women who sell sex. This thesis explores important facets of these emergent narratives. Using a qualitative multi-method approach, it investigates the manner in which 21 policy-actors and seven policy documents - principally originating from the English prostitution ‘policy subsystem’ - interpret and represent prostitution. From a methodological perspective, generated findings are explored through the dual interpretative frameworks of critical discourse analysis and sociological frame theory. These frameworks require that localised narratives be contextualised within, and explained by reference to, broader discursive and cultural conditions. In deference to this, findings are situated within rich bodies of academic literature which commentate on, promote and critique various political philosophies, ideological discourses, and critical social theories, such as (neo)-liberalism, a number of feminisms, and Bourdieusian sociology. More specifically, this thesis explores the way 21 policy actors, and four of the selected policy documents, represent the subjecthood of women who sell sex. It approaches this endeavour via discussions of vulnerability, subjectivity/choice, and gender. Here, it concludes that actors and documents draw on, and contribute to, a plurality of complimentary and contradictory ideological discourses, to interpret and represent certain facets of a woman in prostitution’s ‘self’. Substantively, it suggests that - whilst there is a broad consensus regarding the importance of the internal individualism of women who sell sex, and the instrumentality of externalities with regard to shaping her social spaces and ability to choose - questions of gender remain highly contested. Thereafter, this thesis explores the way the same policy-actors, and three distinct policy documents, discursively include/exclude prostitution from violence against women and girls (VAWG) narratives. It begins by exploring how documents and actors define violence in generic terms, and to what degree they adhere to a feminist sociological model when explaining the aetiology and causality of VAWG. It then discusses how prostitution’s relationship to VAWG is framed, and inclusion/exclusion is justified. Here, it concludes that whilst there is a general commitment to the feminist sociological model of VAWG, the question of whether or not prostitution should be included beneath its auspices is highly contentious – pitting classically oppositional coalitions of actors against one another and creating intramural disputes within coalitions themselves. Drawing these strands together, concluding chapters explore framing dynamics. In total, this thesis offers a number of contributions to the fields of prostitution and VAWG policy studies. It demonstrates that while debates in the English prostitution policy subsystem frequently appear to be comprised of two bitterly oppositional ‘advocacy coalitions’, the two groups share multiple areas of ideological consensus, at least with regard to how they understand prostitution. Indeed, more often than not, coalitions differ principally with regard to their prognostic frames and their judgments of material prevalence. In turn, this disrupts extant literature on advocacy coalitions, which suggests that policy-actors organise themselves into groups by reference to their core belief systems, whilst showing a willingness to compromise on secondary considerations. These areas of consensus by no means suggests that matters are straightforward, however. Indeed, this thesis provides evidence that many facets of the prostitution debate are nuanced, complex and ambivalent – that actors entertain and promote contradictory narratives, that coalitions suffer intra-mural fractures over discursive fault-lines, and that framing preferences are strategically engaged. With regard to the last point, this thesis makes a significant methodological contribution to the field of discourse analysis, insofar as it explores the manner in which respondents can be represented as both formed through, and active users of, discourse. It does so by bringing two distinct discourse theories/methods into dialogue with one another. Over and above this, this thesis seizes upon the theoretical opportunities presented when original findings and extant academic scholarship are used to elucidate and develop one another. Most notably it deploys the work of critical social theorists, Martha Fineman and Pierre Bourdieu, to explore new ways in which the harms of prostitution can be conceived.

Objectifs: Cette étude a documenté la collaboration intersectorielle entre les agents de santé communautaires (ASC) et les enseignants visant à combattre la violence à l’égard des femmes et des filles à Vulindlela, une communauté rurale Sud-Africaine. La collaboration entre ces acteurs, les facteurs qui influencent leur collaboration et les avenues possibles pour une amélioration de cette collaboration ont été explorés. Méthodes: Six ASC et cinq enseignants ont pris part à cette recherche participative qui a inclut l'utilisation du dessin comme méthodologie visuelle. La collecte de données a été réalisée en quatre phases, avec un total de huit entretiens de groupes. La stratégie d’analyse principale a inclus une approche dirigée du contenu narratif et une approche de comparaison constante. Résultats: Le système de collaboration entre les enseignants et les ASC manque de définition et ces acteurs ne peuvent donc en faire l’utilisation. Par conséquent la collaboration actuelle entre ces acteurs a été jugée peu développé, impromptue et informelle. De nombreuses contraintes à la collaboration ont été identifiées, y compris le manque de motivation de la part des enseignants, la nature des relations entre les acteurs, et la capacité individuelle limitée des ASC. Conclusion: Compte tenu des nombreuses contraintes à la collaboration entre ces ASC et les enseignants, il n'est pas évident que cette collaboration conduira aux résultats espérés. Dans l'absence de motivation suffisante et d’une prise de conscience réaliste des défis par les acteurs eux-mêmes, les initiatives externes pour améliorer la collaboration sont peu susceptibles de succès. / Objectives: This study had for objective to document intersectoral collaboration (ISC) between community health workers (CHWs) and teachers aimed at addressing violence against women and girls (VAW/G) in Vulindlela, a rural South African community. The current collaborative paths bringing CHWs and teachers together, the factors that influence their collaboration and potential avenues for future improvement of this collaborative were explored. Methods: A total of six CHWs and five teachers took part in this participatory research which included the use of drawing as a visual methodology. Data collection was divided into four phases and included a total of eight group interviews. The analysis of group interviews utilized a directed approach to narrative data analysis, and a constant comparative approach was used in the analysis of the participants` drawings. Results: There are no well-defined collaborative systems that CHWs and teachers are able to make use of. Consequently teacher-CHW collaboration was found to be poorly developed, unplanned and informal. Numerous barriers were identified as impeding collaboration including the teachers’ lack of motivation to collaborate, the nature of the relationships between these groups of actors and the CHWs’ overall lack of individual capacity. Conclusion: Given the numerous challenges facing collaboration between these CHWs and teacher, it is not clear that such collaboration would necessarily lead to effective outcomes. In the absence of sufficient motivation and a realistic awareness of the challenges from the actors themselves, external initiatives to foster collaboration are unlikely to be successful.

Objectifs: Cette étude a documenté la collaboration intersectorielle entre les agents de santé communautaires (ASC) et les enseignants visant à combattre la violence à l’égard des femmes et des filles à Vulindlela, une communauté rurale Sud-Africaine. La collaboration entre ces acteurs, les facteurs qui influencent leur collaboration et les avenues possibles pour une amélioration de cette collaboration ont été explorés. Méthodes: Six ASC et cinq enseignants ont pris part à cette recherche participative qui a inclut l'utilisation du dessin comme méthodologie visuelle. La collecte de données a été réalisée en quatre phases, avec un total de huit entretiens de groupes. La stratégie d’analyse principale a inclus une approche dirigée du contenu narratif et une approche de comparaison constante. Résultats: Le système de collaboration entre les enseignants et les ASC manque de définition et ces acteurs ne peuvent donc en faire l’utilisation. Par conséquent la collaboration actuelle entre ces acteurs a été jugée peu développé, impromptue et informelle. De nombreuses contraintes à la collaboration ont été identifiées, y compris le manque de motivation de la part des enseignants, la nature des relations entre les acteurs, et la capacité individuelle limitée des ASC. Conclusion: Compte tenu des nombreuses contraintes à la collaboration entre ces ASC et les enseignants, il n'est pas évident que cette collaboration conduira aux résultats espérés. Dans l'absence de motivation suffisante et d’une prise de conscience réaliste des défis par les acteurs eux-mêmes, les initiatives externes pour améliorer la collaboration sont peu susceptibles de succès. / Objectives: This study had for objective to document intersectoral collaboration (ISC) between community health workers (CHWs) and teachers aimed at addressing violence against women and girls (VAW/G) in Vulindlela, a rural South African community. The current collaborative paths bringing CHWs and teachers together, the factors that influence their collaboration and potential avenues for future improvement of this collaborative were explored. Methods: A total of six CHWs and five teachers took part in this participatory research which included the use of drawing as a visual methodology. Data collection was divided into four phases and included a total of eight group interviews. The analysis of group interviews utilized a directed approach to narrative data analysis, and a constant comparative approach was used in the analysis of the participants` drawings. Results: There are no well-defined collaborative systems that CHWs and teachers are able to make use of. Consequently teacher-CHW collaboration was found to be poorly developed, unplanned and informal. Numerous barriers were identified as impeding collaboration including the teachers’ lack of motivation to collaborate, the nature of the relationships between these groups of actors and the CHWs’ overall lack of individual capacity. Conclusion: Given the numerous challenges facing collaboration between these CHWs and teacher, it is not clear that such collaboration would necessarily lead to effective outcomes. In the absence of sufficient motivation and a realistic awareness of the challenges from the actors themselves, external initiatives to foster collaboration are unlikely to be successful.