Technologies and Social Justice Outcomes in Sex Work Charities

Abstract

Sex workers' rights are human rights, and as such are an issue inherently based in social, criminal, and political justice debates. As HCI continues to move towards feminist and social justice oriented research and design approaches, we argue that we need to take into consideration the difficulties faced by sex workers; and explore how technology can and does mediate social justice outcomes for them. We contribute directly to this challenge by providing an empirical account of a charity whose work is built on the underlying move towards social and criminal justice for sex workers in the UK. Through ethnographic fieldwork, meetings, interviews, surveys, and creative workshops we describe the different points of view associated with the charity from a variety of stakeholders. We discuss their service provision and the ways in which HCI is uniquely positioned to be able respond to the needs of and to support sex work support services.

Between Grassroots and the Hierarchy

“…This domain is concerned with the design of technologies supporting new interactions and relationships between citizens, local community organisations and their local governments [18], with recent studies centering on the challenges of designing tools to support communities of marginalised people, e.g. the urban homeless [32], people with disabilities [14,40] and sex workers [44].…”

Conducting Research with Stigmatized Populations

“…Both the CSCW and HCI communities have recognized the importance of research in this area, and thus have conducted studies with stigmatized groups, such as those living with chronic mental and physical disorders such as anorexia nervosa, depression, addiction, and HIV/AIDS (e.g., [4,12,17,15,8,9].) Studies have also been conducted with those who have experienced stigmatized events, such as homelessness, disability, pregnancy loss, sexual abuse, as well as with those who engage in stigmatized behavior like sex work (e.g., [18,16,1,11,19].) Most of this research has centred around the design of technologies (mainly in the form of prototypes and mobile/web-based apps) that aim to help people with their symptoms, improve their mood, and change their maladaptive behaviors (e.g., not taking their medication in a timely manner).…”

“…A number of challenges exist when conducting research with these populations. Recruitment has been accomplished mostly in-person with the help of organizations such as clinics, charities, shelters, and community groups (e.g., [18,10].) Researchers have recognized the difficul-ties in reaching and recruiting participants from stigmatized groups without the help of such organizations, and even with their help, only a limited number of participants can be enrolled for studies that explore sensitive issues [18,6].…”

“…Recruitment has been accomplished mostly in-person with the help of organizations such as clinics, charities, shelters, and community groups (e.g., [18,10].) Researchers have recognized the difficul-ties in reaching and recruiting participants from stigmatized groups without the help of such organizations, and even with their help, only a limited number of participants can be enrolled for studies that explore sensitive issues [18,6]. To overcome the limitations of in-person recruitment, researchers in the social sciences have turned to web-based surveys and online content analyses to study stigmatized communities.…”

“…Furthermore, while researchers are developing and utilizing various strategies to overcome these challenges, we do not have a set of general "best practices" for working with stigmatized populations specifically in the context of HCI and CSCW. Particularly in the context of technology-based research (technology creation and technology used to conduct research), we need to have ongoing discussions about conducting research with individuals who face stigma because the technology that we develop as well as the methods and approaches that we use could further stigmatize these individuals [18].…”