Elsa Oliveira
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Elsa Oliveira is a postdoctoral researcher at the African Centre for Migration and Society (ACMS), Wits University, where she is also the co-coordinator of the MoVE (methods:visual:explore) project.
Since 2010, Elsa has been involved in a wide range of participatory arts-based projects with diverse migrant populations in rural and urban areas of South Africa. She has a PhD in Migration and Displacement and is interested in the areas of gender, migration, sexualities, wellbeing, and informal livelihood strategies.
Posts by Author
Narratives in a Time of Crisis (2022)
Narratives in a Time of Crisis is a MoVE (method.visual.explore) project that uses citizen journalism as a participatory (arts-based) research strategy to prioritize the perspectives, needs and concerns of international and domestic migrants involved in sex work in South Africa. The project invited a small group of individuals to share their stories of love, hope and hardship following one of the world’s harshest Covid-19 lockdowns.
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OP-ED: No country for poor people – South African government must act on its motto of ‘saving lives and protecting livelihoods’
In this Daily Maverick op-ed, maHp/ACMS postdoctoral fellow Elsa Oliveira and research associate Rebecca Walker argue that, “government must support and protect all who live here, including foreign-born migrants”.
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CfP: Special Issue – (Re)imagining Research, Activism, and Rights at the Intersections of Sexuality, Health, and Social Justice
This special issue of Global Public Health seeks to bring scholars, activists, allies, and artists together to (re)imagine research and activism in the complex and divisive terrain of sexuality, health, and rights.
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SeaM: Security at the Margins
Read and download for free the SeaM – Security at the Margins project e-book.
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The personal is political: a feminist reflection on a journey into participatory arts-based research with sex worker migrants in South Africa
maHp/ACMS postdoctoral researcher Elsa Oliveira offers a personal reflection of their journey into participatory arts-based research with sex work migrants in South Africa.
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Mapping Trends: Power imbalances and the circulation of information on sex work
maHp doctoral researcher Elsa Oliveira helps map the global and regional trends in information produced about sex work in an effort to shed light on these imbalances.
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Making Research and Building Knowledge with Communities: Examining Three Participatory Visual and Narrative Projects with Migrants Who Sell Sex in South Africa
In this chapter, maHp researchers Elsa Oliveira and Jo Vearey present and discuss three related participatory arts-based research projects conducted in partnership with Sisonke: the national sex worker movement in South Africa.
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Examining the use of participatory visual and narrative methods to explore the lived experience of migrants in Southern Africa
In this paper, we explore the opportunities – and challenges – associated with visual research methodologies.
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Beyond the single story: creative research approaches with migrant sex workers in South Africa
This article shares insights into why we need to think differently about ways of doing research with marginalised migrant groups – including migrant sex workers in South Africa.
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Queer Crossings
Oliveira, E., Meyers, S. and Vearey, J. (eds) (2016) Queer Crossings. MoVE and ACMS: Johannesburg
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The Sex Worker Zine Project
Oliveira, E. and Vearey, J. (eds) (2016) The Sex Worker Zine Project. MoVE and ACMS: Johannesburg
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‘Know me! But, remember that this is only part of who I am’: a participatory photo research project with migrant women sex workers in inner-city Johannesburg, South Africa
Oliveira, E. and Vearey, J. (2016) ‘Know me! But, remember that this is only part of who I am’: a participatory photo research project with migrant women sex workers in inner-city Johannesburg, South Africa. In: Arnold, M. and Meskimmon, M. (eds) Homeland: Migration, Women, Citizenship. Liverpool University Press: Liverpool
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Empowering, invasive or a little bit of both? A reflection on the use of visual and narrative methods in research with migrant sex workers in South Africa
In this article, the author presents and discusses three participatory visual and narrative research projects that have been conducted with migrant men, women and transgender persons who sell sex in two provinces of South Africa and examine the suitability of these approaches.
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I am more than just a sex worker but you have to also know that I sell sex and it’s okay: Lived Experiences of Migrant Sex Workers in Inner-City Johannesburg, South Africa
A perceived opportunity for improved livelihoods has made Johannesburg a target destination for many internal migrants moving within the borders of South Africa, as well as for cross-border migrants from around the continent and beyond.
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