Digital Tech and Sex Work
Description
With the rise of OnlyFans, online camming, and digital labour transformations post-COVID-19, this book captures a defining moment in sex work and the gig economy. This book offers an up-to-date reflection from academic research (usually involving the sex work community, sex worker peer researchers or academic-sex worker led) on the current trends in how the sex industry across the globe is organised and operate through digital technologies. Reflecting on how this trend has gathered pace over the past twenty years with no evidence of this changing, the authors explore a range of different elements of the digital online commercial sex industries from a range of actors perspectives. The nature of this expanding platform labour is examined through the lens of sociologists, criminologists, political scientists and geographers to bring new research and commentary to light which helps us understand how the sex industry has changed. The book explores the provision of sex work in the online world building on our knowledge of how sex workers `do' sex work; it looks at the under-explored area of sex purchasing; how street based sex workers and using technology and the working practices and attitudes of online sex workers. This book directly engages with contemporary policy issues, ethical dilemmas, and regulatory frameworks related to platform governance, online safety, and labour rights. It appeals to academics, policymakers, practitioners, and digital rights advocates.
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Persons
Teela Sanders is Professor of Criminology at the University of Leicester, UK, and having previously been the Dean of Research and Enterprise for the College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities has been The Pro Vice Chancellor and Head of College since 2024.
Rachel Keighley (she/her) is the vice-chair of the British Society of Criminology Hate Crime Network and Research Associate in Criminology at the University of Leicester, UK.
Content
Introduction: The Impact of Technology on the Global Sex Industry.- Section 1: Platforms, Ethics, and Digital Infrastructures.- Ch 1 Can There Be Ethical Platforms? The Role of Adult Service Websites in Preventing Exploitation and Enabling Safety.- Ch 2 Sex Work, Digital Infrastructures, and the Rising Demand for Creative Labor.- Ch 3 Beyond Sexual Transactions: Sex Work Dynamics in Telegram's Digital Underground.- Section 2: Webcam Work and Online Performances.- Ch 4 Platform Sex Workers Against Work? The Pursuit of "Easy Money" and Better Work on OnlyFans.- Ch 5 Experiences of Webcam Performers: How Safe Is Safer?.- Ch 6 "The Camsite Itself Isn't Going to Care" - Agency and Informal Resistance Practices on Camming Platforms.- Ch 7 The Erotic Landscape of Webcam Viewers.- Section 3: Community, Rights, and Resistance.- Ch 8 Sex Workers' Online Humour as Evidence of Resilience.- Ch 9 Sex Workers rights in a Digital Age.- Ch 10 Bodies and the Senses in Online Sex Work.