The Dangers of Defining Sex Work: Inclusion or Exclusion?

近些年来，什么是“性工作”，谁是“性工作者”，已经成为一个日益复杂和有争议的辩论。引发这场争论的原因是，从传统的街头性工作转向在线活动和交换礼物，而不是冰冷的现金。然而，像Laurie Bennet-Cook博士这样的一些人也提出了身份认同的问题，即如果一个人不认为自己是“性工作者”，那么他是否就是“性工作者”。例如，在性治疗领域，代孕伴侣和性学保健员往往觉得自己不属于性工作领域。参与这一对话的人从朱莉·宾德尔这样的记者到韦拉·霍布豪斯这样的政客，然而，行业内部存在一个明显的空白，尽管许多性工作者站出来批评这项法律，但他们往往被忽视。这种无知的一个原因是，认为性工作者不知道什么是他们最感兴趣的，或者是出于绝望而投入性工作，而这一点的一个主要原因是她们被认为是脆弱的。性工作者被认为是脆弱的，这是试图拯救和破坏她们的原因。这可以从堕落的女人被一次又一次地延续的叙事中看出，无论是在沃尔芬登的报告中将法律视为弱势群体的保护者，还是当代纪录片声称，性工作本质上更具剥削性，而不是赋予它权力。反对这一点的是那些将性工作者视为自主做出理性决定的人，认为法律是尊重这种自主权的一种手段。以自治为首的一些人认为，性工作者已经做出了选择，因此选择了一种不受法律保护的生活；这可以从沃尔芬登的结论中看出，该结论指出，法律不是保护弱势群体，而是保护公众免受这些“公共滋扰”。我将与相关部门的个人进行访谈，并将分析有关主题的当前文献，无论是期刊文章还是当前的改革建议。我的一位未来主管雷切尔·斯旺博士通过她自己的研究建立了一个人脉网络，我将利用她的网络联系我的参与者。在进行这项研究时，将重点关注特定的伦理问题，如匿名性、保密性以及对研究人员或参与者的伤害风险(S)。将通过获得知情和自愿同意来寻求参与，并将详细说明考虑参与和退出研究的适当时间框架。我将通过学校研究伦理程序申请伦理批准，并与另一位未来的导师Roxanna Dehaghani博士讨论，她是学校研究伦理主任。任何其他出现的问题都将得到适当的解决。数据收集的主要形式将是访谈。这些将是半结构化的，以保持研究的框架，并确保访谈之间的可复制性，但也为访谈结构留出空间，根据进展情况稍作调整，并允许进一步探索内容。之所以选择半结构化面试，是因为它们将允许参与者将自己的意义归因于研究(不同于结构化面试)，但也可以让数据被发现(不同于非结构化面试)。面试将以开放、对话的方式进行，面试日程将起到提醒或指导的作用，而不是计划。其次，将有一个法律理论分析，它将着眼于关于性工作监管主题的法律和政策著作。我的文件分析可能会超出这一范围，包括更广泛的叙述，例如记者的叙述，以便使我的研究范围多样化。

What counts as "sex work" and who is a "sex worker" has become an increasingly complex and contentious debate in recent years. This debate has been caused by a move away from traditional street sex work to online activity and the exchange of gifts rather than cold hard cash. However, some like Dr. Laurie Bennet-Cook have also brought up the subject of identity which asks whether one is a "sex worker" if they do not identify as such. For example, in the field of sexual healing where surrogate partners and sexological bodyworkers often feel that they do not fall within the field of sex work. Those engaging in this conversation range from journalists like Julie Bindel and politicians such as Wera Hobhouse, however, a noticeable void has been from within the industry as despite many sex workers coming forward with their own criticisms of the law, they are more often than not ignored. One reason for this ignorance is the belief that sex workers do not know what is in their best interests or have gone into sex work out of desperation and a major cause of this has been their perceived vulnerability.The perceived vulnerability of sex workers has been the cause for both attempts at saving and undermining them. This can be seen through the narrative of the fallen woman being perpetuated time and time again whether it be in the Wolfenden Report seeing the law as a protector of the vulnerable or contemporary documentaries claiming that "sex work" is inherently more exploitative than it is empowering. Opposing this are those who see sex workers as autonomous beings making rational decisions and that the law is a means of respecting this autonomy. Leading from autonomy, there are those who believe that sex workers have made their choices and have therefore chosen to lead a life outside of the law's protection; this can be seen in the conclusion of Wolfenden which stated that instead of protecting the vulnerable the law was to protect the public from these "public nuisances".I will be conducting interviews with individuals in the relevant sectors and will also be analysing current literature on the subjects whether these be journal articles or current proposals for reform. One of my prospective supervisors, Dr Rachel Swann, has an established network of contacts through her own research that I will utilize in order to access my participants.In conducting this research, particular ethical concerns will be focused on such as anonymity, confidentiality, and the risk of harm to researcher or participant(s). Participation will be sought through obtaining informed and voluntary consent, and appropriate timeframes for consideration to take part and withdrawal from the research will be detailed. I will apply for ethical approval through the School Research Ethics procedure, and in discussion with another prospective supervisor, Dr Roxanna Dehaghani, who is the School Research Ethics Officer. Any other concerns that emerge will be appropriately addressed.The main form of data collection will be interviews. These will be semi-structured to preserve the framework of the study and ensure replicability between interviews but to also allow room for the interview structure to be adapted slightly depending on how they progress and to allow for further exploration of the content. Semi-structured interviews have been chosen as they will allow participants to ascribe their own meaning to the research (unlike structured interviews) but can also allow data to be discovered (unlike unstructured interviews). The interview will be approached in an open, conversational manner, with the interview schedule acting as a reminder or guide rather than a plan. Secondly, there will be a legal doctrinal analysis which will look at legal and policy works on the topic of sex-work regulation. My document analysis may extend beyond this to include a wider range of accounts such as those by journalists in order to diversify the scope of my research.