Posts In: sex work
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.
Read more
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.
Read more
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.
Read more
Some thoughts about the Bua Modiri workshop encounter
In this blog post, maHp/ACMS artist and visual researcher Quinten Williams reflects on the recent Bua Modiri workshop encounter through the notions of combinations, expanded knowledge practices, and place-making.
Read more
Bua Modiri (2019)
Bua Modiri is Setswana for “speak out worker”. The name was chosen by a group of sex workers during a Sisonke meeting. Participants in this project were asked to focus on messages specific to their occupation.
Read more
Sex Work, Migration, and Human Trafficking in South Africa: From polarised arguments to potential partnerships
This paper draws on research with sex workers and a sex worker organisation in South Africa, as well as reflections shared at two Sex Workers’ Anti-trafficking Research Symposiums. In so doing, the authors propose the further development of a Sex Work, Exploitation, and Migration/Mobility Model that takes into consideration the complexities of the quotidian experiences of migration and selling sex.
Read more
Decriminalising sex work is the only rational choice to end stigma, discrimination and violence against sex workers
Marcel van der Watt’s recent opinion piece on the effects of decriminalising sex work in South Africa makes such outlandish claims that it’s tempting to ignore him, if what he wrote wasn’t so disturbing and misrepresentative of the sex workers’ rights movement.
Read more
‘Skeptics’ and ‘believers’: anti-trafficking, sex work, and migrant rights activism in South Africa
Very little is known about activism, as it relates to the issue of migration in South Africa. This paper fills this gap by exploring multi-level policies and advocacy experiences of activists working on migration in a post-colonial context of South Africa through the lens of key contestations around the trafficking discourse in South Africa from 2005 to 2018.
Read more
Sex work and condom use in Soweto, South Africa: a call for community-based interventions with clients
Despite public health interventions targeting sex workers in an attempt to increase condom use, HIV still remains a significant health issue for those involved in the sex industry in many countries. In this paper, the authors analyse data collected as part of an ethnographic study of sex work in Soweto, South Africa.
Read more
Izwi Lethu (Issue 17, 2018)
This issue brings us to the end of 2018 with a reflection on Sisonke’s 8th Annual National Meeting, and celebrates the movements resilience.
Read more
“We Fit in the Society by Force” Sex Work and Feminism in Africa
Drawing from two qualitative studies with two African sex worker groups in 2014 and 2015 — the South African movement of sex workers called Sisonke, and the African Sex Worker Alliance (ASWA) — this paper unpacks what it means to be an African sex worker feminist.
Read more
Preview ‘Izwi Lethu: Our Voice’ Issue 17
Izwi Lethu: Our Voice is a newsletter by sex workers for sex workers. Here you can read an excerpt of Issue 17 which will be published online soon.
Read more
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.
Read more
Izwi Lethu (Issue 16, 2018)
In this issue, as with the previous ones, Izwi Lethu: Our Voice continues to advocate for the decriminalisation of sex work and educate not only Sisonke members but also other sex workers and the general public about the challenges encountered in the industry.
Read more
‘If this isn’t for my children, who is it for?’ Exploring experiences of structural violence among migrant mothers who sell sex in Johannesburg
This article examines the vulnerabilities and forms of structural violence experienced by migrant mothers who sell sex.
Read more
Labels, victims, and insecurity: an exploration of the lived realities of migrant women who sell sex in South Africa
Based on research work among cross-border migrant women who sell sex in South Africa, this paper examines the ways in which the label ‘victim’ of human trafficking ignores the complex realities of human mobility.
Read more
‘We have the research but where is the influence?’ Constraints and opportunities for evidence-based policy impact in South Africa
This paper explores the research uptake and advocacy experiences of researchers and activists working on three unpopular and politically contentious causes; immigration, human trafficking and sex work – in a post-colonial context of South Africa.
Read more
Sex work decrim discussions continue
The decriminalisation of sex work discussions continue in South Africa. One of these discussions was organised by the Gauteng Office of the Premier as a Roundtable on Decriminalisation of Sex Work, held on the 23rd of March 2018 at the University of the Witwatersrand’s Sports Hall.
Read more
Sex Workers Organising for Change: Self-representation, community mobilisation, and working conditions (SA chapter)
In the South Africa chapter of this Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women (GAATW) report, maHp researcher and PhD candidate Ntokozo Yingwana documents how the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) and national sex worker movement Sisonke deal with human trafficking in the sex industry.
Read more
Izwi Lethu (Issue 15, 2017)
This is the last issue of Izwi Lethu of 2017. Our reporters have worked hard throughout the year to bring you stories from meetings, creative spaces, and our community.
Read more
Izwi Lethu (Issue 14, 2017)
It was just the month of the celebration of women in the world and roses are still all over! Our Izwi Lethu team has been hard at work to bring you this edition.
Read more
Celebrating sex workers’ stories at the Workers’ Museum
The Izwi Lethu team reflects on the recent launch of the MoVE: Methods: Visual: Explore exhibition at the Workers’ Museum.
Read more
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.
Read more
FACT-CHECKED: 2 claims about slavery & ‘child prostitutes’ in SA
maHp/ACMS postdoctoral research fellow Becky Walker was recently quoted in this Africa Check report, which investigated claims on “child prostitutes” in South Africa.
Read more
Sally-Jean Shackleton
Sally-Jean Shackleton is the Director of the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Task force (SWEAT) in South Africa. She facilitates the efforts of over 90 strong staff members to address stigma, improve health programming, deliver direct service, improve visibility and voice, and advocate for the decriminalisation of sex work.
Read more
Sex (work) and the City (tour)
maHp/ ACMS Masters student and intern Muluti Phiri blogs about the Asijiki Coalition AGM’s sex work city tour of Cape Town.
Read more
MoVE projects and public/private distinction
Visual researcher Quinten Williams blogs about the discussions held with MoVE participants regarding which of their images and stories could be shared with an audience outside the projects.
Read more
Sex work and the law: Should SA decriminalise sex work?
maHp student interns Muluti Phiri and Erika Massoud reflect on the ‘Sex work and the law: Should SA decriminalise sex work?’ dialogue, which was recently hosted by the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC), and Mail & Guardian.
Read more
Negotiating the city: Exploring the intersecting vulnerabilities of non-national migrant mothers who sell sex in Johannesburg, South Africa
This article explores the intersecting vulnerabilities of non-national migrant mothers who sell sex in Johannesburg, South Africa – one of the most unequal cities in the world.
Read more
Before you judge me, KNOW MY STORY: review by Joy Watson
Nasty Women blogger Joy Watson reviews maHp’s KNOW MY STORY participatory arts-based research project.
Read more
Before you judge me, KNOW MY STORY! (public exhibition and discussion)
This exhibition showcases the pictures, collages and stories created during the KNOW MY STORY project; an arts-based research that explored the lives, struggles and reasons for selling sex. The event will include a discussion, dance performance, and role play.
Read more
A productive tension in the messages from Nelspruit and Makhado
Visual researcher Quinten Williams provides some thoughts on the partnership that underpins the research and social activism of the Sex Worker Poster Project.
Read more
Izwi Lethu (Issue 13, 2017)
The first edition of Izwi Lethu 2017 has landed in your hands. The reading and empowering of the mind has begun.
Read more
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.
Read more ‘If this isn’t for my children, who is it for?’ Exploring experiences of structural violence among migrant mothers who sell sex in Johannesburg
This paper examines the vulnerabilities and forms of structural violence experienced by migrant mothers who sell sex in Johannesburg. It argues that to develop a greater understanding of this group of migrant mothers there is a need to further explore the challenges that they face as well as the multiple roles negotiated in everyday life.
Read more
Reading the Zine Image
The zines from the Sex Worker Zine Project are powerful visual and narrative accounts of personal struggles and successes, everyday realities, beliefs, hopes and dreams. These visual stories are crafted around aspects of participants’ lives that they wanted a public to know about.
Read more
Do You Hear Them Cry South Africa?
Today is the ‘International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers’. Participants of The Sex Worker Zine Project have been adding their voices to the #Decrim Blog Carnival. This project challenged stereotypes of migrant sex workers, calling for a move away from a single, rehearsed story. Here is Kagee‘s introduction to his zine, followed by its link.
Read more
Don’t Judge Me Just Because I Am A Sex Worker!
In commemoration of tomorrow’s ‘International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers’ (17 December) the maHp is taking part in the #Decrim Blog Carnival. Below is Doe-Doe’s introduction to her zine, which was produced as part of The Sex Worker Zine Project. This project challenged stereotypes of migrant sex workers, calling for a move away from a single, rehearsed story.
Read more
Izwi Lethu (Issue 12, 2016)
Thanks once more for making time to choose to read Izwi Lethu! 2016 has been a great year this far as we about to welcome 2017.
Read more
Policy dialogues
In partnership with the Johannesburg Migrant Health Forum, maHp is hosting a series of policy dialogues on issues relating to migration, health, policy and practice.
Read more