Studying & Researching Sex Work

Are you a student wanting to conduct research on sex work? Thank you for your interest in this topic!

If you are not already familiar with it, we highly suggest you to read this media guide about how to write about sex work and sex workers created by Reimagining Sex Work. Please also look through the European Sex Workers Rights Alliance’s guidelines on safe and ethical sex work research.

If you wish to interview sex workers specifically, consider why it would be of interest and relevance for them to contribute their time and expertise to your research. The reality is that there are a lot of students eager to interview sex workers and it therefore may not be easy to find many workers willing to participate. Note that PIC cannot help you with identifying sex workers for your research, you need to do that yourself.

Thinking about a topic to study? Over the past few years, many students have approached us about wanting to research Amsterdam’s erotic center project in relation to window workers. We feel this topic has already been extensively covered and we encourage students to look beyond this.

Here is a list of topics about sex work we find useful to explore:

How do local governments in the Netherlands make decisions around sex work laws and policy? What does this process look like and to what extent are sex workers involved?
Where do law/policy-makers get their information about sex work from? How does this influence their law/policy-making around sex work?
How do ‘rescue’ organizations operate? What is their impact on sex workers and the sex industry?
What do ‘exit’ programmes in the Netherlands actually offer and what are their results? What is the difference between switching careers for sex workers compared to people in other sectors, and why is this so?
How has public perception of sex work and sex workers changed over time and why?
How do different media (news, or film for example) report on sex work? Also consider exploring different parts of the industry (camming, porn, escort, brothels, etc). How do racism, sexism, transphobia and other intersectionalities play a role?
How do health services reach and cater to the needs of sex workers? What advise can be given to educational institutions and service providers in how they can improve?
How does sex work stigma impact brothel owners and managers?
How have different political parties navigated sex work over time? And how can differences between local political programs and national (and EU) ones be understood?
Document good practices on sex workers’ rights activism, policies and programs.
To what extent is the statement “nothing about us without us” applicable in current programs and policy development?

Do you want to interview somebody from the PIC team? We offer interviews at a suggested donation of €25 per interview. It is helpful to provide us with a list of questions and topics before the interview. Please request an interview at least two weeks in advance. Most of our team members conduct interviews in person, rather than over Zoom or phone calls. Please let us know what your interview deadline is so we can try to meet your needs. Send us an email at PIC [AT] pic-amsterdam [DOT] com.