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York University, Canada
Title:Canadian sex workers discuss the effects of stigma on their work, their mental and physical health, and their overall occupational health and safety
Sex work has been widely stigmatized since the 1500s CE. This stigmatization continues to this day. The objective of this qualitative study is to explore the question: “What would sex workers want civilians (non-sex workers) to know about the effects of stigma on their work, their mental and physical health, and their overall occupational health and safety?” Members of the research team used a participatory research approach by forming a community- academic partnership with SWAP Hamilton, a sex worker support organization located in Hamilton, Canada. Using purposive and snowball sampling, sex workers across Canada were invited to participate in the qualitative study. By May 29, 2025, 52 sex workers responded. Sex workers had a choice of participating in interviews or focus groups. Focus group discussions were facilitated by a researcher with lived sex work experience. Using thematic content analysis, the focus group and interview transcripts will be analyzed by the research team using a coding framework based on Bowleg’s intersectional theoretical framework. However, it is expected that themes other than the ones contained in the theoretical framework will emerge. Previous research has documented that sex workers may be oppressed by legal, social and political structural determinants and marginalized by society. The qualitative analysis results are expected to reveal sex workers’ stories of the impacts of these determinants on their occupational health and safety.
Kathleen Cherrington is a PhD candidate at York University researching the political, legal, economic, and ethical dimensions of human-AI relationships in sextech. Grounded in posthumanist, anti-carceral, and critical disability frameworks, her work explores consent, surveillance, and the commodification of erotic labour. She presented on AI chatbot companions at Arse Elektronika 2025 in Vienna and will exhibit her AI-collaborated acrylic on canvas series Flesh Meets Machine at the 2025 Love and Sex with Robots conference in Montreal. Kathleen also chaired Beyond the Interface, a transnational conference investigating the impacts of emerging technologies within commercial sex industries through scholarship and creative practice.