Voicing Consent

This book draws on an international research project using extensive and multiple methods to explore sexual violence in sex work populations. Written by academics and practitioners who worked together for three years, the central question they explore is: how do social, legal, and judicial contexts shape the safety and well-being of people engaging in sex work? In particular, how does context shape experiences of sexual violence? The book compares survey and interview data conducted in 2022/3 across four different legal environments: legalisation (Nevada USA), criminalisation (Northern Ireland), decriminalisation (New Zealand) and partial criminalisation (Great Britain), using an innovative methodology of peer expert advisors. It explores how the interaction between legal consciousness (how people in sex work interpret law, consent, their rights, how or whether to report), legal norms (legal theory, case rulings, legal codes) and legal practices (what police, lawyers, judges actually do) affects sexual violence against sex workers and how this differs by gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, citizenship, by sex market, and by legal regime. This book advances understanding of the various layers regulating sexual autonomy for marginalized peoples - the specific factors that impact the negotiation, experiences, and disposition of crimes of sexual violence in different socio/legal contexts.

This is an open access book.