SWAP Hamilton has signed on as the community partner for a forthcoming sex work musical production and research project, via @GBCollege Please see the attached poster for more details. Summary: In Canada, the stigma directed towards sex workers affects their occupational health and safety (OHS). This stigma is amplified in the media, TV shows, films, and the theatre, yet these media rarely ask sex workers about their lives and working conditions. This research project aims to counteract these portrayals and assist in dispelling the stigma surrounding sex work by incorporating the results of the interviews and focus group discussions into lyrics and incorporating the lyrics into a musical play. Sex workers have a long history of using art as a form of activism, ranging from performance to poetry and in their day-to-day experiences they employ what might be called ‘the erotic arts’. As with other oppressed and marginalized communities, sex workers’ artistic capacities are utilized as a form of resistance against systemic stigma and structural violence. This study will be conducted in partnership with SWAP (Sex Worker Action Project) Hamilton. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) have provided funding for the study. If you would like to participate in the musical, please email Thérèse Bernier, PMP, MSc, PhD (@InformaticsChic) at therese.bernier@georgebrown.ca at your earliest convenience. Warmly, Jelena Vermilion
