Sarah Kingston

Experiencing stigma as sex work researchers in professional and personal lives

Researchers have demonstrated the challenges associated with sex work research; negotiating the stigma attached to its subject matter, the perceived dangerousness of participants, and the barriers faced in reaching hidden populations. By reflecting upon our separate research experiences and drawing upon a body of reflexive sex work research, this article explores how, as sex work researchers, we experienced stigma not only in our professional roles as researchers, but also in our personal lives. We apply Goffman’s (1968) notion of stigma by association; and consider how stigma often associated with prostitution became transposed onto us. In particular, we compare and contrast our separate experiences of conducting sex work research to demonstrate our similar experiences of stigma by association.

Prostitution in the community:attitudes, action and resistance

Prostitution often causes significant anxiety for communities. These communities have been known to campaign against its presence in ‘their’ neighbourhoods, seeking the removal of street sex workers and their male clients. Although research and literature has begun to explore prostitution from the standpoint of the community, there is no comprehensive text which brings together some of the current literature in this area. This book aspires to cast light on some of this work by exploring the nature, extent and visibility of prostitution in residential communities and business areas, considering the legal and social context in which it is situated, and the community responses of those who live and work in areas of sex work. This book aims to examine current literature on the impacts of prostitution in residential areas and considers how different policy approaches employed by the police and local authorities have mediated and shaped the nature of sex work in different communities. It explores what communities think about prostitution and those involved, as well as studies the techniques and strategies communities have utilized to take action against prostitution in their neighbourhoods. This book will also demonstrate the diversity of public attitudes, action and reaction to prostitution in the community. This book is a useful contribution for academics and researchers in the fields of Criminology and Sociology who wish to understand current policy initiatives surrounding the issue of prostitution in local, national and international community settings.

The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014: implications for sex workers and their clients

ABSTRACT The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 introduced new powers to deal with behaviour deemed to be ‘anti-social’. In this paper we consider how the new law could be used against sex workers and their clients and the impact this may have. Although the new powers were not intentionally designed to respond to prostitution, we suggest that they will be utilised to tackle it. We argue that the law will be used inconsistently in a way which will go directly against policy which seeks to ‘tackle demand’ and take a less punitive approach to dealing with sex workers. Despite a policy shift to see sex workers more as victims and less as offenders, we draw on existing evidence to demonstrate that the new anti-social behaviour order law will be utilised to exclude street sex workers from public spaces. We claim that a degree of ‘policy re-fraction’ will occur when the new laws are implemented by practitioners.

‘Cost’ calculations as a barrier to gaining information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 from the Police in England and Wales

ABSTRACT Previous research has identified the methodological value of using the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) to gain access to information held by the police, as well as its limitations. Very little attention, however, has been paid to the ways in which the police calculate the cost of FOI compliance and utilise cost exemptions to deny access to information. In this article, we present our empirical findings from our FOI requests made to the police in England and Wales that demonstrates how cost calculations became a barrier to our request for information. In addition, the responses received show that there were significant differences between the calculated cost needed to retrieve the information, the reasons given for the refusal for access to information, as well as regional variations with FOI compliance. We argue that excessive cost calculations, given as a reason for not providing access to information by the police, is a ‘metric’ for institutional limitations in data recording and data management. Furthermore, in a time of ‘austerity’ we suggest that with increases in police funding cuts the calculated cost of FOI compliance will increase, thereby undermining police transparency and accountability. We therefore question claims that the FOIA is a ‘powerful’ tool that social researchers should use more often.