Brown, Kate orcid.org/0000-0002-4391-756X and Sanders, Teela (2017) Pragmatic, progressive, problematic: Addressing vulnerability through a local street sex work partnership initiative. Social Policy and Society. pp. 429-441. ISSN 1475-3073
Abstract
Whilst it remains a criminal activity to solicit sex publicly in the UK, it has become increasingly popular to configure sex workers as ‘vulnerable’, often as a means of foregrounding the significant levels of violence faced by female street sex workers. Sex work scholars have highlighted that this discourse can play an enabling role in a moralistic national policy agenda which criminalises and marginalises those who sell sex. Yet multiple and overlapping narratives of vulnerability circulate in this policy arena, raising questions about how these might operate at ground level. Drawing on empirical data gathered in the development of an innovative local street sex work partnership in Leeds, this article explores debates, discourses and realities of sex worker vulnerability. Setting applied insights within more theoretically-inclined analysis, we suggest how vulnerability might usefully be understood in relation to sex work, but also highlight how social justice for sex workers requires more than progressive discourses and local initiatives. Empirical findings highlight that whilst addressing vulnerability through a local street sex work partnership initiative can provide a valuable platform for shared action on violence in particular, more fundamental legal and social reform is required in order to address the differentiated and diverse lived experiences of sex worker vulnerability.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © Cambridge University Press 2017. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details. |
Keywords: | Vulnerability,decriminalisation,prostitution,safety,sex work |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Social Sciences (York) > Social Policy and Social Work (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 02 Dec 2016 10:32 |
Last Modified: | 16 Oct 2024 13:26 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1017/S1474746416000634 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/S1474746416000634 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:108861 |
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Filename: Themed_KB_Final_for_CUP_Brown_and_Sanders_29.11.16.docx
Description: Vulnerability in Street Sex Work - Brown and Sanders