In this article, the authors turn to sex work in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to better understand worker experiences and the role of NGOs. In doing so, they tell a powerful and complicated story that aims to upend assumptions related to sex work. Check out the abstract below, and then click through to the main article to learn more:
Agency and exploitation: Two sides of one coin? Women’s experiences of selling sex and engaging with NGOs in Dhaka
Peer-reviewed research by: Bethany Jennings, Viviene E Cree, and Steve Kirkwood
Social work has long been concerned about women’s involvement in the sex industry. This article asks what can be learned from sex workers themselves about how social work might better support those who work in the industry. Based on a qualitative study in Bangladesh, it is argued that although the non-governmental organisations who worked with these women helped to increase their feelings of agency, violence and abuse continued to feature in their daily lives. It is concluded that in order to more holistically meet sex workers’ needs, social workers should understand better the ways in which agency and exploitation co-exist.
Click here to read the full open-access article, published in 2022 in the journal International Social Work
Full Reference //
Jennings, B., Cree, V. E., & Kirkwood, S. (2022). Agency and exploitation: Two sides of one coin? Women’s experiences of selling sex and engaging with NGOs in Dhaka. International Social Work, 65(4), 761-772.
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
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