scholarly journals An Innovative Approach to Sex Trafficking Research: The Methodological Advancement of Attride-Stirling’s Thematic Network Analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-59
Author(s):  
Avekadavie Parasramsingh Mano
Keyword(s):  
Network Analysis ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Innovative Approach ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Border Crossings ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Modern Day Slavery ◽  
Thematic Network Analysis

AbstractResearch into sex trafficking is considerably lacking despite its increasing global relevance. The trafficking in human beings has been documented within the literature as a form of modern-day slavery. It is commonly described as a form of organized crime that is highly profitable, involving the active participation of corrupt officials, politicians, financial institutions and criminal networks that facilitate document forgery, illegal border crossings, money laundering and the return of escaped victims. This paper discusses the thematic network analysis of recently collected qualitative data on sex trafficking in Belize. Jennifer Attride-Stirling’s (2001) thematic network analysis was applied to data gathered from face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with four distinct groups within the sex industry: sex traffickers, sex workers, clients and knowledgeable locally based officials Given the expansive nature of this research, thematic network analysis has been advanced to accommodate the specificities of each group, creating what has been termed here as asupra-global theme. This innovative approach facilitates the emergence of a deeper, more pertinent understanding of the intrinsic realities characteristic of Belize’s sex industry and may be applied to similar multi-group research.

scholarly journals 'I've Never Been So Exploited': The consequences of FOSTA-SESTA in Aotearoa New Zealand

2020 ◽  
pp. 99-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erin Tichenor
Keyword(s):  
Sex Work ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Safety Risks ◽  
Health And Safety Risks

Aotearoa New Zealand’s 2003 decriminalisation of sex work has reduced the exploitation of sex workers, as well as the health and safety risks in the industry. Nevertheless, United States-driven criminalising policies still influence sex workers abroad. The Fight Online Sex Trafficking and Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Acts (FOSTA-SESTA) effectively criminalised websites where sex workers advertise. Shortly before that, the FBI shut down the internationally used Backpage.com, leading many sex workers in both countries to return to the streets or brothels. These events contributed to the rising dominance of one advertising website, NewZealandGirls.com. Drawing on twenty semi-structured interviews and four observation cases with sex workers in Auckland, in this paper, I explore the international consequences of FOSTA-SESTA and the closure of Backpage on my participants. I show that this punitive approach to segments of the online sex industry has not only placed sex workers in greater financial insecurity, but has reduced their ability to control their working conditions. These outcomes, I conclude, have undermined the positive impacts of decriminalisation, while exacerbating socioeconomic, racial, gender, and legal inequalities in Auckland’s sex industry.

‘He Has Problems; He Is Not the Problem . . .’ A Qualitative Study of Non-Custodial Staff Providing Services for Young Offenders Assessed for Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in an Australian Youth Detention Centre

Youth Justice ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharynne L. Hamilton ◽  
Tracy Reibel ◽  
Rochelle Watkins ◽  
Raewyn C. Mutch ◽  
Natalie R. Kippin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Network Analysis ◽  
Young People ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Qualitative Inquiry ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Prevalence Study ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Detention Centre ◽  
Maximum Benefit ◽  
Thematic Network Analysis

Little is known about the challenges non-custodial youth detention centre staff face supporting young people with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). We undertook qualitative inquiry to identify and describe the perspectives of non-custodial staff detention staff regarding the value of an FASD prevalence study. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and focus groups and analysed using thematic network analysis. Staff held few concerns about the prevalence study and its impact on participating young people; however, they identified barriers related to study processes, and practices and culture within their workplace, which hindered gaining maximum benefit from the research and its findings.

scholarly journals COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on online sex advertising and sex trafficking

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Coxn ◽  
Vanessa Castro ◽  
Bridgette Carr ◽  
Glen Bredin ◽  
Seth Guikema
Keyword(s):  
Sex Workers ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Online Advertising ◽  
The United States ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Commercial Sex ◽  
Future Health ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Social Events ◽  
Inclusive Society

Disruptive social events like the Covid-19 pandemic can have significant impact on the commercial sex industry, yet these effects have been little understood. This paper examines the effect of the pandemic on one part of the commercial sex industry: sex trafficking. Our results from scraped sexual service advertisements show that the pandemic has had measurable impact on online advertising for sex trafficking in the United States, with a significant decrease associated with stay-at-home orders followed by an increase to levels well above prepandemic levels as Covid-related restrictions were relaxed. We contribute to the policy landscape by showing that the initial decrease was associated with a loss of demand for sexual services due to pandemic-related health concerns, but that a confluence of factors, including the lack of economic and social support, increased the number of people vulnerable to being exploited. This study can assist policy makers in predicting future changes in the sex industry to support a more just and inclusive society. In the context of future health crises, natural disasters, and major social disruptions it can guide policy makers in apportioning public aid in a way that does not leave vulnerable populations and existing sex workers powerless to being trafficked.

Sex Trafficking and Prostitution in South Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 653 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chandré Gould
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Work Environment ◽  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Cape Town ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
World Cup ◽  
The World ◽  
Depth Interviews

This article examines the complex arrangements within which women working in prostitution in South Africa find themselves, and documents their resilience in a hazardous work environment. Findings are drawn from a survey and in-depth interviews with sex workers in Cape Town that investigated the nature and extent of human trafficking in the sex industry, and from a separate survey of sex workers during the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. The findings provide the basis for a critique of Western rescue missions and the larger antitrafficking movement.

scholarly journals Clients Coming Out – Men speak out about purchasing sex in New Zealand’s decriminalised environment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Shannon Mower
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Contextual Knowledge ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Worker Rights ◽  
The Impact

<p>This thesis explores the client experience of purchasing sex in New Zealand in the context of decriminalisation. This research was conducted at a time when speculation over the impact of decriminalisation on the conduct of clients was at an all-time high. Despite vast speculation by critics, little to no research exists on client populations in New Zealand. This thesis addresses this knowledge gap and offers an initial insight into the experiences of clients in this context. The research that forms the basis of this thesis involved qualitative semi-structured interviews with 12 men and women who purchase sex in New Zealand, along with three key informants with broader contextual knowledge of clients. The clients interviewed constituted a diverse group, and in many ways, they challenged common stereotypes. For example, while all participants were motivated by sexual desire, half the sample placed more significance on their desire for human interaction. Hegemonic masculinity was also discussed as motivating their engagements with the sex industry. The interviews also revealed the impacts of purchasing sex on participants, which related more to their interactions with sex workers than the physical act of having sex. Lastly, the research explored participants’ interactions with sex workers under decriminalisation, finding that they emphasised clear communication, respect of sex worker’s boundaries, and a desire to purchase sex ethically. There are three key conclusions of this thesis. Firstly, that client stereotypes are inapplicable to the entire client population as the participants challenged many and provided support for the ‘every man perspective’. Second, that support exists for non-sexual client motivations, and following the impacts participants discussed, sex workers and their services can be considered therapeutic and supporting the well-being of participants. Lastly, that legal context does make a difference on the conduct within sex industries and under decriminalisation. The participants’ conduct was driven by an awareness for sex worker rights and working conditions, thus producing an informed, harm-reductionist approach to purchasing sex.</p>

scholarly journals The Power in Stories That Cannot Be Replaced

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Chrismas
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Social Problem ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Years Of Experience ◽  
Government Service ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Modern Day Slavery

This paper is based upon research that included interviews with 61 experts across Manitoba, including police, First Nations and other political leaders, government and non-government service providers and sex trafficking survivors, who collectively represent over 1,000 years of experience combatting victimization in the sex industry. It describes a researcher’s experience taking a qualitative, story-based approach to investigating the modern social problem of sex-trafficking. Based on his thesis, “Modern Day Slavery and the Sex Industry: Raising the Voices of Survivors and Collaborators While Confronting Sex Trafficking and Exploitation in Manitoba” the author highlights the power that the stories hold, emphasizing how no other method of research would be quite as effective. The power of the stories told simply cannot be replaced.

In a State of Limbo: Women, Sex Industry and Anti-trafficking Interventions in Assam

2018 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sawmya Ray
Keyword(s):  
Special Reference ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Commercial Sex ◽  
Specific Concern

This article attempts to understand anti-trafficking interventions in Assam with special reference to sex trafficking. It critically analyses ideologies determining the functioning of anti-trafficking networks and its impact on combating sex trafficking. Of specific concern is to understand the ways in which policies of rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration are implemented and whether such implementation places at its centre the standpoint of the marginalised, that is, women in commercial sex—trafficked or otherwise. This article is based on data collected from rescued trafficked women, current sex workers, state and non-state anti-trafficking personnel, observation at shelter homes and case studies. It argues that anti-trafficking networks in Assam work within the neo-abolitionist approach resulting in the patronisation and infantilisation of women in commercial sex. Despite its effectiveness in certain aspects, it more often than not leaves these women in a state of limbo.

scholarly journals Modern-day slavery, human rights and the sex industry

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bob Chrismas ◽  
Brandi Chrismas
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Sexual Exploitation ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sex Slavery ◽  
The Government ◽  
Modern Day Slavery

This article explores the sex industry in Canada as modern-day slavery and an ongoing violation of basic human rights. Some argue that the sex industry is something that women or children choose to do as a legitimate profession, and others argue that they are exploited and manipulated by other people for indebtedness, for clothing, food, shelter or to support substance or alcohol addictions. How should the laws around sex trafficking and sexual exploitation be designed? The government could be in a position to legally ensure dignity and human rights protection for those engaged in selling sex. This paper highlights the perspectives of survivors of the sex industry as they describe heart-wrenching experiences that include torture, physical threats, psychological fear, and manipulation. As the public discourse grows around this ongoing scourge, momentum for change is also growing. There have been numerous efforts to address, disrupt, and end this social scourge. Our awareness of modern-day sex slavery atrocities seems to coincide with a greater sense of respect for fundamental human rights and a desire to protect them.

scholarly journals Clients Coming Out – Men speak out about purchasing sex in New Zealand’s decriminalised environment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Shannon Mower
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Human Interaction ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Contextual Knowledge ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Worker Rights ◽  
The Impact

<p>This thesis explores the client experience of purchasing sex in New Zealand in the context of decriminalisation. This research was conducted at a time when speculation over the impact of decriminalisation on the conduct of clients was at an all-time high. Despite vast speculation by critics, little to no research exists on client populations in New Zealand. This thesis addresses this knowledge gap and offers an initial insight into the experiences of clients in this context. The research that forms the basis of this thesis involved qualitative semi-structured interviews with 12 men and women who purchase sex in New Zealand, along with three key informants with broader contextual knowledge of clients. The clients interviewed constituted a diverse group, and in many ways, they challenged common stereotypes. For example, while all participants were motivated by sexual desire, half the sample placed more significance on their desire for human interaction. Hegemonic masculinity was also discussed as motivating their engagements with the sex industry. The interviews also revealed the impacts of purchasing sex on participants, which related more to their interactions with sex workers than the physical act of having sex. Lastly, the research explored participants’ interactions with sex workers under decriminalisation, finding that they emphasised clear communication, respect of sex worker’s boundaries, and a desire to purchase sex ethically. There are three key conclusions of this thesis. Firstly, that client stereotypes are inapplicable to the entire client population as the participants challenged many and provided support for the ‘every man perspective’. Second, that support exists for non-sexual client motivations, and following the impacts participants discussed, sex workers and their services can be considered therapeutic and supporting the well-being of participants. Lastly, that legal context does make a difference on the conduct within sex industries and under decriminalisation. The participants’ conduct was driven by an awareness for sex worker rights and working conditions, thus producing an informed, harm-reductionist approach to purchasing sex.</p>

Dark skin, hourglass figure: The sexualisation of Black women in the Dutch sex industry

2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 315-330
Author(s):  
Tarah Paul
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Sex Workers ◽  
Sex Trafficking ◽  
Sex Industry ◽  
Relevant Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Racial Hierarchy ◽  
Male Clients ◽  
Racial Performance ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract This article explores racial performance and the hypersexualisation of Black women in the Dutch sex industry. In the global sex trade, racialised women are constantly regarded as victims of sex trafficking without any agency, particularly migrant sex workers in European countries. While there is plenty of literature on how racial hierarchy affects Black women in the U.S. sex industry, such relevant research is lacking in Europe. In this explorative research, I deconstruct the images of Black women and set its narrative in the Netherlands. With semi-directive and in-depth interviews, I intend to highlight how Black sex workers perform images of Blackness and racial stereotypes when seducing male clients. My theoretical framework includes Patricia Hill Collins’s ‘controlling images’, Gloria Wekker’s ‘cultural archive’, Philomena Essed’s ‘everyday racism’, and Sunita Patel’s ‘racial performance’.

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