Suchergebnisse

Our ability to provide affirming care to individuals who engage in sex work is limited by punitive foundations of social work. This study originates from within the sex worker rights movement. I utilize qualitative dialogues aligned with participatory principles to consider how a Black feminist disability framework can be employed to explore how intersectionality weaves itself into the lives and networks of 13 sex workers in Los Angeles, CA. Specifically, this study engaged in Participatory Action Research (PAR) and collective knowledge production to examine how criminalization operates within larger intersecting systems of oppression and complicates workers' relationships with each other. The results of this study put forth the conceptualization of the sex worker-informed stratified social hierarchy – described as the "whorearchy" – and the ways that collective care is used to combat it. I conclude with a discussion on centering restorative sex worker narratives in order to examine how criminalization hinders sex worker solidarity and how, similarly, the state's role limits the ways social workers can support sex worker liberation.

Abstract
Introduction
Research suggests that many sex workers are parents. This paper furthers the literature's understanding of everyday barriers plaguing sex working parents (SWP) that compound to complicate their ability to build connections with their child's world and other sex workers.

Methods
This Participatory Action Research study employed five focus groups in 2022 with thirteen English-speaking SWP in Los Angeles. The focus groups utilized group discussion in tandem with an art-based exercise to explore the value of sex work to parenting and where SWP require support.

Results
SWP reported benefits of engaging in sex work in terms of strengthening their relationships with their children and a concurrent constant fear that they could lose their parental rights if they were outed. This study applies Foucault's theoretical conceptualization of a discipline society (operating through the ever-present potential of punishment and surveillance, including by private actors) to the participant's lived experiences and self-conceptualization.

Conclusions
The paper explores the value of a sex worker–driven critique of stigma discourse for a more targeted description of the apprehension SWP experience.

Policy Implications
SWP are positioned at the intersection of various forms of surveillance, criminalization, and stigma. Recommendations highlight a need for building interdependence and representation with SWP to combat carceral surveillance practices.